I have a mixed opinion of this.
One the one hand it's a creative and innovative film that makes full use of the tools at its disposal, taking you on a truly entertaining ride filled with stunning visuals.
On the other hand, I agree with whykecoakfly as far as the plot and the characters are concerned. It's not a bad story and the pacing is good, but there's nothing special about it, and all the characters are flat, stereotypical and comical.
Dr. Strange himself is a somewhat interesting mix between a witty and (at times) cynical genius (a role Cumberbatch definately knows how to play...) who just naturally excells at everything and a "blank sheet character" that the viewers can easily project themselves onto as they follow him through the story.
There's only two things that really don't work well in the film, in my opinion:
First, the villian. Mads Mikkelsen is great, but his character is neither interesting to the viewer nor truly challenging for the heroes.
And secondly, I find the film suffers heavily from a fundamental problem with almost everything involving magic - you don't know what the rules are, you don't know what's possible, or how one magic thing compares to another. New spells and magic items are introduced constantly and dispite the good choreography, effects and editing even the fight scenes are not so great, because you can never know what the stakes are. You can think, "that spell looks cool", "nice weapon", "this attack is a neat move", "the mirror dimension looks great" - but you just have to go with whatever happens, as everything might change at any moment.
Most visually interesting Marvel movie in my opinion. The action is really creative and fresh.
Too bad that's about it. Overall it's a very 'by the number' Marvel movie. The story is very 'safe' and standard. The characters are not very memorable. A little too many jokes for my taste. I know that's expected in Marvel movie but there are some scenes that don't need any jokes for them to work but they still force some jokes into it. *sigh*
Also *mild spoiler* I don't like how the main villain is defeated. I feel it's a little too easy and cheap.
6/10
As far as superhero origins go, Doctor Strange doesn't reinvent the wheel, but the world of magic is one we haven't seen done as a superhero narrative yet, and the film is an effects-driven visual feast with better than average acting (even if I'll never get used to Cumberbatch's American accent). As with the comics, it's really the Iron Man formula, right down to the arrogant protagonist, but that was a winning formula. If the structure is fairly standard, the set pieces are instead inventive - anything can happen including an astral form kung fu fight!). From the trailer, the movie looked a lot like Inception, and I was afraid it would look "mechanical" all the way through, but the Dark Dimension really does look like what artist Steve Ditko imagined back in the '60s, and there are plenty of winks to Marvel Comics besides (for fans, none of which are distracting for the uninitiated). And while the villain suffers from what most MCU villains do, the fact that they're taking their time building Baron Mordo means he might well become one of their best (alongside Loki). Marvel adds another viable franchise to its stable in Doctor Strange!
Visual effects are pure eye candy and easily the best part of the film. Reminiscent of how they were able to capture a Kirby-esque feel in the architecture and layout of Asgard in the Thor films, they are able to capture a Ditko-esque feel in the Astral plane in this film. That's what I love about Marvel. Each film feels like its own vehicle with its own unique appearance but still somehow fit in with each other. I was actually thinking that this would be one of the poorer installments in the Marvel series but I was pleasantly surprised.
It doesn't feel like it has quite as much depth as Marvel movies go. As far as intro movies for Marvel characters there is a lot thrown at you and as another commenter mentioned we don't know the "rules" of this universe and it is far from explained. It forces you to just go with the flow, unfortunately it isn't flowing down river very well.
Mads Mikkelsen is a great actor and has shown he can play great villains (hello Le Chiffre from Casino Royale and Dr. Hannibal Lecter himself) but he is underused and underdeveloped here. So much time is spent on Strange and his journey that most of the development the villain gets is off-screen which is a poor substitute for actually seeing it. Very entertaining though, some of the city shots immediately take you back to something like Inception, but to the max.
I disagree with a few points raised by crazy_bitch, having just seen the movie - and before I go on, let me say that I was initially quite cynical of the film. It's why I didn't bother go out watching it when it was released, and only got to see it just now on blu-ray.
First of all, the villain wasn't uninteresting or unchallenging - the former is my opinion, the latter is kinda a fact. He's interesting when you think of the film as a spiritual counterpart to Iron Man. No, not the same meaning as "spiritual sequel". What I'm talking about is that Doctor Strange, the film, deals with spiritual themes like redemption, enlightenment, and acceptance of oneself. Kaecilius was mentioned to have lost his wife, thus he yearns for the power to control time. Now, I don't know if you've personally experienced trauma that makes you crave that illusion of control in your life, but that's a very relatable topic, and I could easily see why Kaecilius fell into temptation.
And that's where the second point comes in - Kaecilius is a polar opposite of Strange, a classic textbook antagonist challenging the protagonist. So yes, he is challenging in a sense, because what he falls into temptation to, Strange fights against. Instead of going back to his old life to gain that stupid sense of control, Strange chose the more noble path for the good of mankind.
So yes, it is very textbooky in terms of storytelling, and not particularly interesting, but what's not interesting isn't really the villain here, but the fundamental root of the story itself, specifically the thing that's supposed to hold it together, the protagonist and his conflict. It's boring, and it's been done before.
Finally, I don't really care about the magic being mystical - magic is supposed to be mystical and unexplainable. That's what makes it so cool. It's the same as horror movie villains. You explain their backstory, the magic is gone. Yes, there seems to be no real stakes, but that only force the writers to come up with more creative ways to have illusionary stakes.
The Ancient One could have lived forever, but she chose not to and died anyway. Strange could just turn back time and face Dormammu stuck in that time-loop forever, but he'll be stuck in a prison, forever unhappy.
Stakes are what we see as stakes, especially in this case where the logic and morality of using magic are so malleable.
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Comments 1 - 15 of 32
crazy_bitch
I have a mixed opinion of this.One the one hand it's a creative and innovative film that makes full use of the tools at its disposal, taking you on a truly entertaining ride filled with stunning visuals.
On the other hand, I agree with whykecoakfly as far as the plot and the characters are concerned. It's not a bad story and the pacing is good, but there's nothing special about it, and all the characters are flat, stereotypical and comical.
Dr. Strange himself is a somewhat interesting mix between a witty and (at times) cynical genius (a role Cumberbatch definately knows how to play...) who just naturally excells at everything and a "blank sheet character" that the viewers can easily project themselves onto as they follow him through the story.
There's only two things that really don't work well in the film, in my opinion:
First, the villian. Mads Mikkelsen is great, but his character is neither interesting to the viewer nor truly challenging for the heroes.
And secondly, I find the film suffers heavily from a fundamental problem with almost everything involving magic - you don't know what the rules are, you don't know what's possible, or how one magic thing compares to another. New spells and magic items are introduced constantly and dispite the good choreography, effects and editing even the fight scenes are not so great, because you can never know what the stakes are. You can think, "that spell looks cool", "nice weapon", "this attack is a neat move", "the mirror dimension looks great" - but you just have to go with whatever happens, as everything might change at any moment.
whykecoakfly
Most visually interesting Marvel movie in my opinion. The action is really creative and fresh.Too bad that's about it. Overall it's a very 'by the number' Marvel movie. The story is very 'safe' and standard. The characters are not very memorable. A little too many jokes for my taste. I know that's expected in Marvel movie but there are some scenes that don't need any jokes for them to work but they still force some jokes into it. *sigh*
Also *mild spoiler* I don't like how the main villain is defeated. I feel it's a little too easy and cheap.
6/10
tommy_leazaq
On each MCU films, the visuals getting better and the writing getting worserbathkuyp
"Dormammu, I've Come To Bargain"Earring72
Great special effects but that's all. Boring "story" with lots of mumbo jumbo and ongoing assault of noise. Cast is largely wasted.Siskoid
As far as superhero origins go, Doctor Strange doesn't reinvent the wheel, but the world of magic is one we haven't seen done as a superhero narrative yet, and the film is an effects-driven visual feast with better than average acting (even if I'll never get used to Cumberbatch's American accent). As with the comics, it's really the Iron Man formula, right down to the arrogant protagonist, but that was a winning formula. If the structure is fairly standard, the set pieces are instead inventive - anything can happen including an astral form kung fu fight!). From the trailer, the movie looked a lot like Inception, and I was afraid it would look "mechanical" all the way through, but the Dark Dimension really does look like what artist Steve Ditko imagined back in the '60s, and there are plenty of winks to Marvel Comics besides (for fans, none of which are distracting for the uninitiated). And while the villain suffers from what most MCU villains do, the fact that they're taking their time building Baron Mordo means he might well become one of their best (alongside Loki). Marvel adds another viable franchise to its stable in Doctor Strange!essaywhu
Visual effects are pure eye candy and easily the best part of the film. Reminiscent of how they were able to capture a Kirby-esque feel in the architecture and layout of Asgard in the Thor films, they are able to capture a Ditko-esque feel in the Astral plane in this film. That's what I love about Marvel. Each film feels like its own vehicle with its own unique appearance but still somehow fit in with each other. I was actually thinking that this would be one of the poorer installments in the Marvel series but I was pleasantly surprised.DisneyStitch
It doesn't feel like it has quite as much depth as Marvel movies go. As far as intro movies for Marvel characters there is a lot thrown at you and as another commenter mentioned we don't know the "rules" of this universe and it is far from explained. It forces you to just go with the flow, unfortunately it isn't flowing down river very well.Mads Mikkelsen is a great actor and has shown he can play great villains (hello Le Chiffre from Casino Royale and Dr. Hannibal Lecter himself) but he is underused and underdeveloped here. So much time is spent on Strange and his journey that most of the development the villain gets is off-screen which is a poor substitute for actually seeing it. Very entertaining though, some of the city shots immediately take you back to something like Inception, but to the max.
Unfortunate Synopsis
Avengers: Groundhog Dayskinny_much
Just awful.Camille Deadpan
'Interstellar Overdrive' is in this!MemphisRyder
I disagree with a few points raised by crazy_bitch, having just seen the movie - and before I go on, let me say that I was initially quite cynical of the film. It's why I didn't bother go out watching it when it was released, and only got to see it just now on blu-ray.First of all, the villain wasn't uninteresting or unchallenging - the former is my opinion, the latter is kinda a fact. He's interesting when you think of the film as a spiritual counterpart to Iron Man. No, not the same meaning as "spiritual sequel". What I'm talking about is that Doctor Strange, the film, deals with spiritual themes like redemption, enlightenment, and acceptance of oneself. Kaecilius was mentioned to have lost his wife, thus he yearns for the power to control time. Now, I don't know if you've personally experienced trauma that makes you crave that illusion of control in your life, but that's a very relatable topic, and I could easily see why Kaecilius fell into temptation.
And that's where the second point comes in - Kaecilius is a polar opposite of Strange, a classic textbook antagonist challenging the protagonist. So yes, he is challenging in a sense, because what he falls into temptation to, Strange fights against. Instead of going back to his old life to gain that stupid sense of control, Strange chose the more noble path for the good of mankind.
So yes, it is very textbooky in terms of storytelling, and not particularly interesting, but what's not interesting isn't really the villain here, but the fundamental root of the story itself, specifically the thing that's supposed to hold it together, the protagonist and his conflict. It's boring, and it's been done before.
Finally, I don't really care about the magic being mystical - magic is supposed to be mystical and unexplainable. That's what makes it so cool. It's the same as horror movie villains. You explain their backstory, the magic is gone. Yes, there seems to be no real stakes, but that only force the writers to come up with more creative ways to have illusionary stakes.
Yama
Oh God, even the post-credit scenes suck!chunkylefunga
A decent origin story, sure it's not the best marvel has to offer but hopefully the sequel will build on this and make for a good movie.Biggest letdown was Cumberbatch's god awful 'American' accent.
PolarCow
This was a Strange movie... :PShowing items 1 – 15 of 32