Doctor Strange is the 14th instalment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) directed by Scott Derrickson (Director of The Day the Earth Stood Still, Sinister and Sinister 2) and starring Benedict Cumberbatch as The Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Stephen Strange, Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius and Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer.
This is a story about a brilliant neurosurgeon named Stephen Strange, who, after a terrible car accident (DO NOT TEXT WHILE DRIVING!!), seeks healing of all sorts and stumbles into the path to the mystic arts… and now we have ourselves a Doctor Strange movie!
Doctor Strange has its ups and downs, to be perfectly honest. Yes, the visual effects are stunning, but it has the tendency to make you feel like you’re in a washing machine with colors, flashes and buildings with a bunch of people doing mystic fight scenes. If you have epilepsy or nausea, then this movie is not for you.
Like what was shown in the trailer, that fight scene in New York City… I thought it would be cool to watch reality being bent by sorcerers. Well, it was great; however, some scenes made me and my friends a bit dizzy. I was expecting to be left in awe by the visuals, but instead experienced a hallucinogenic trip. It’s like watching a kaleidoscope squeezed in between scenes, but for the most part, the graphics are pretty but move too fast.
Marvel’s DOCTOR STRANGE..New York City..Photo Credit: Film Frame ..©2016 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.
Story-wise, it was anotherby-the-book origin story, which was faithful to the comics, about a neurosurgeon who thinks solely of himself and gets in a horrific car accident that leads Dr. Stephen Strange on a quest to heal on a spiritual level. Would have been great to see more of Strange’s training and evolution from renowned neurosurgeon to Sorcerer Supreme. This could have been a better opportunity to showcase on how brilliant Stephen Strange really is.
I was not a fan of the villain in this movie; Marvel seriously needs to get their villain choices checked. They need more villains worth remembering – villains like Red Skull, Winter Soldier, Loki and Ultron, to name a few, were iconic in their own right. To be perfectly honest, I don’t really remember the villains from Thor 2 and the Iron Man series. Do not get me wrong here; Mads Mikkelsen is an excellent actor, born to be a villain – just not the right villainous role for him in my opinion. The villain in this movie to me was too generic and in a few days I will probably forget who the villain is.
And to talk about Strange and Christine’s relationship, almost nothing in the movie made me believe that there was chemistry between the two. There was a scene in the movie that made me feel like I should care, but I didn’t since there was no real connection between Strange and Christine for me.
Tilda Swinton… What can I say? She was good in Constantine as Gabriel, but as The Ancient One? I say we replace her with Donnie Yen, Jet Li or Chow Yun Fat to play the part. My biggest gripe about the characters, though, would be Baron Mordo and Kaecilius. It just was not working for me, and they could have utilized Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mads Mikkelsen in a number of ways to make this movie better.
The cast was great on paper, but the chemistry just was not really there for me. I wish there was more banter between Strange and Modor to establish a conflict in their beliefs. The ones that stood out for me were Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) and Wong played by Benedict Wong. Benedict Wong is perfect as WONG which provided chemistry and humor to the movie! Benedict Cumberbatch makes a good Doctor Strange, (except for the accent… I can still hear the British accent from Cumberbatch, but he still kicks major butt as Doctor Strange)!
To sum it all up, Doctor Strange is visually pretty for some and has the tendency to nauseate an individual, but nonetheless, stunning – bravo Marvel! The origin story is great and loyal to the comics, the characters are greatly acted, everyone did what they had to do. The villains are plain, and they could do better villain development. Again, Marvel played this one way too safe; this movie had so much potential. I would give Doctor Strange a 8.3/10.
OHHH! There are two after-credit scenes, btw! One in the mid-credits and one in the ending of the credits, so stick around if you wanna see more! Special thanks to PMCM Management and Resorts World Manila for the awesome screening last night!
SHAMBALLA! Have you seen Doctor Strange ? What did you think?
