What did you think? What did you like and what did you question? What would you have done differently and what exceeded your expectations? Did Benedict Cumberbatch make Strange real? How about Mordo? Wong? Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One? And Dormammu?
Did you feel that the magic was adequately depicted? Was the Eye of Agamotto how you envisioned it? How about the Cloak of Levitation? The Sanctum Santorum? Or the Dark Domain? Was Ditko honored or forgotten?
I thoroughly enjoyed the film and saw it in the 3-D IMAX format. The visuals were stunning. I liked that the story stayed relatively faithful to the comic book. I respected that they showed a significant amount of Strange prior to the accident and during his training. Despite being an origin story, I did not feel it was entirely predictable. I thought it was risky to make Stephen Strange so selfish and egotistical, but I think that helped show his evolutionary path. His first mind trip was fantastic. As far as weaknesses go, I thought Dormammu was insufficient and would have preferred the entity be kept mysterious and hidden for future episodes. And I definitely would have liked him to be portrayed more consistently with the comics. While I liked the concept of the resolution with a time loop, I thought the explanation and execution was a bit rushed. I also am on the fence about the Cloak's characterization - initially I really enjoyed the scenes but in retrospect I question if giving the cloak an almost Disney-like personality will work in the long run. I have to say I really liked the set design, particularly for the Sanctum Sanctorum. I am very torn on Tilda Swinton's portrayal of the Ancient One; while she is a fine actress, there were times when I was distracted and pulled out of the film by her portrayal and by the choice to cast her.
So now it is your turn - break down the plot and rate the movie in comparison to other Marvel offerings. How does it stand in terms of cinema origins? On a scale of Seven Rings of Raggadorr - how would you grade the movie?
The floor is yours! Redartz and I will join in with our own comments and musings.
12 comments:
I thought that the film was passable but not a sterling outing from the cinematic house of ideas.
The storytelling was a little too pat throughout, and there wasn't much depth of character development.
Although the visuals were interesting, it felt newer and more exciting way back in 1998 when Dark City explored similar territory.
And frankly the time reversal trope shouldn't be rolled out after its use by Christopher Reeve.
Dormammu just continued the trend of the Marvel films limply handling the major villains.
While the movies are fun, they lack the attention to storytelling and depth which is handled more adeptly by the Netflix outings.
I give Doctor Strange a 6 out of 10.
It definitely sits in the bottom half in my ranking of the Marvel movies.
Tetrahedron
Visuals were great, as were the 3D effects. Though to these failing eyes it was a tad too dark.
I thought Tilda's performance was odd, and some of her faces and line deliveries didn't work for me.
The repeating gag with Dormammu was funny and effective. Will watch it again before rendering final verdict.
Yoyo
I found it to be quite enjoyable, appealing visually and pretty true to the source material. Plenty of "Easter eggs " to be found; it was a kick seeing the Wand of Watoomb and the Evil Eye. There was much more;I need to go back and see it again. I found Mordo's portrayal and motivations more than acceptable. And as Yoyo noted, the climactic bit with Strange trapping Dormammu in the time loop was great.
Actually, the only element of the film that disappointed me at all was the look of Dormammu himself. Being kind of blue and indistinct, he brought to mind the appearance of Galactus in the FF movie. Dormammu needs that flaming red head (and yes, I know he was depicted in green at times in the comics)...
I'm with you on Dormammu. At first - early in the picture - when they just showed his eyes ala Sauron, I was fine with it. I thought they would build up this other-worldly dimensional despot to be the big bad in future episodes. I felt at the end however that they rushed his intro. Not only did it feel a bit like they ran out of special effects dollars but it also seemed a bit Wizard of Oz like. That's the only way I can put it. I had hoped that as Mads Mikkelson's character slowly lost the flesh around his eyes that it would reveal the true fiery Dormammu beneath - but that never happened.
What did you think of the Cloak? Like I said I was torn. I really laughed a couple times in the theater to the Cloak's antics, but afterward it maybe too much reminded me of the flying carpet from Alladin
Overall though I liked this film and thought it better than some of the other origin stories. I'd rather see this one again rather than some of the others. Sure it was a bit more lightweight, but I think they needed to do some serious setup for people who had no idea who Strange is. What did you think of the credit scenes? I did like that Strange was wearing his yellow gloves.
As stated in the non-spoiler post, I liked it quite a bit. I thought both Strange and Mordo had very solid character arcs, which in the case of Mordo's turn at the end did pack some emotional punch; being a comics reader, I knew Mordo was destined to become a bad guy, but throughout I found myself hoping that wouldn't be the case - I just liked the character as portrayed that much. It'll be interesting seeing how the Strange/Mordo confrontation plays out in future films (I'm assuming, based on the first post-credit scene, that Strange at least will figure prominently in the next Thor movie).
I also thought the way he defeated Dormammu at the end was quite brilliant: I loved that he simply outwitted him rather having the spell-wielding equivalent to a slugfest. And I didn't find myself too troubled by Dormammu's appearance. Yes, maybe that giant head should have been all aflame, but that wasn't a deal-breaker for me. Otherwise, I liked that the manifestations of the Dark Dimension, those little globes with tendrils coming out of them, looked so Ditkoesque.
Another f***-yeah! moment for me was when Strange cast that spell and began reversing all the destruction in Hong Kong. With all of the criticism the superhero movies get for seeming to revel in mass devastation, that was a really refreshing twist.
My only criticism would still be the portrayal of the Ancient One. Swinton more or less won me over, but I still found the whitewashing troubling, as well as he ageism: one thing I liked about the comics version is that he's not only called the Ancient One, he also looks ancient. I think it would have been so cool if they cast someone much older, or made up Swinton to look much older, but still have the character do all of the awesome things she did.
And one more minor quibble - the fact that it's unclear how long Strange spent in Nepal learning the mystic arts. In the comics, it apparently took years. In the movie, the Ancient One tells him it takes years of study. However, when the action starts and he re-connects with some of his acquaintances in New York, it seems like only a few months passed at most.
Regardless of that, I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and look forward to future appearances by Strange in the movies.
Oh, yeah, the cloak: I loved it, precisely because it reminded me of the magic carpet in Aladdin. It was a very endearing and humorous touch.
Let me start with my first rant and then I'll devolve (Da Volvo?) from there.
As we have discussed before in other blogs, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has taken the foundation as laid out during the Bronze Age to craft their movies. There have been tweeks, Hawkeye and Black Widow in, Wasp ant Ant-Man out of the Avengers. Tony and Pepper together etc etc et al ibid and so on and so forth. One of the little shout outs we, the Bronzers, would get was the page flip at the beginning of the movies. Well, we're firmly into Phase Three. The page flip has been now replaced with scenes from previous MCU movies. What!?! Gah-rate!!! Oh well, such is life....
There was talk on the internet about Tilda Swinton's casting as a hedge bet against the Chinese market. But the Ancient One's sanctuary is still in Nepal. So I guess that's okay?
I agree with Edo, the training did seem a bit rushed. There was a bit of an acknowledgement with Strange being an intense student. Also, and I'll throw this out, there was the plot point about the Ancient One using dark magic to prolong her life. Could she also have been bending time around the sanctuary to allow Strange and others to learn and train. Could his broken watch have been a clue to time being broken?
Okay, final question. The cloak was depicted as being a separate sentient being. During some of the fight scenes, Strange was falling, while wearing the Cloak of Levitation. Was it overwhelmed as well, can it only float in certain planes of existence but not others?
Overall, I did enjoy it. The Thor scene was good. The Mordo one set up his story arc. I still can't understand why people would pay to go see a Marvel movie and not stay for the end credits. Inconceivable.....
(You can make money, you can make good friends
You can make mistakes and you can make amends
You can make it easy when push comes to shove, but-
You can't make love
You can make advances, you can make big plans
Plant sloppy kisses all over her hands
You can tell her everything you're dreamin' of but-
You can't make love
Love's a little word that's been kicked around
Used too much, beaten down
What in the world are you thinkin' of?
You can't make love
You can go through the motions with your magic spells
Buy all the potions the Fifth Avenue sells
You can try to call down all the stars above, but-
You can't make love
You can buy her diamonds, you can go out in style
You can make a promise, you can walk down the aisle
You can make a life for her that fits like a glove, but-
You can't make love
Oh, it takes so long
You gotta be strong
Before it's gone
What in the world were you thinkin' of, boy-
You can't make love).
PS: If robots had a prom, would the only dance be The Robot?
By the Bolts of Bishru! No, that's not it ....
By the Fatal Flames of Faltine! Nope, that's not it either ....
By the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak! Nah....
Oh, wait I know the correct spell now - Accio Patronum! :)
Just kiddin'! Actually, Dr. Strange does have some similarities to that other Sorcerer Supreme, Harry Potter, which I will get into later.
OK, first off, I enjoyed this movie, the major pluses being Benedict Cumberbatch's and Tilda Swinton's performances and of course the Ditko-inspired trippy special effects, of which there are a ton of in this movie.
Prowler, you took the words right out of my mouth - Strange's cloak of levitation acts like a sentient being, preventing Kaecilius from stabbing Strange, clobbering an acolyte by itself, pulling Strange to the right weapon, and even wiping away his tears! I liked it, even though some viewers did not. Is this a case of the magical artifact choosing its wielder, like the wand choosing its owner as in Harry Potter? Hmm. Also, Mordo brandishes the 'staff of the Living Tribunal' in one scene. Does the MCU version of the Living Tribunal have a staff?
I also liked how Mordo was portrayed in this movie. The comics Mordo was a straight up power hungry bad guy, but the MCU Mordo is a much more sympathetic character. You gotta feel for the guy, wouldn't you feel disillusioned and betrayed too when your master says don't mess with the Dark Dimension but then you find out she was prolonging her lifespan by tapping into the same Dark Dimension she forbade you to access?
The minor bad points are the rushed confrontation with Dormammu - if his dimension exists 'beyond time' how could Strange use a time loop there? The revelation that the Ancient One was using the energy of the Dark Dimension to prolong her life was unsettling too. To me, this was more upsetting than the real life controversy surrounding the casting of Swinton as the Ancient One. I guess the producers are trying to break the trope of the all-wise morally correct mentor like Gandalf the White or Obi-Wan Kenobi. Similar to Harry Potter too, JK Rowling endowed Dumbledore with human failing, e.g. sealing his fate by trying to contact his family with a cursed ring. Dormammu? He kinda looked like Baron Zemo to me with that striped face!
All in all, I give Doctor Strange 5 out of 7 Rings of Ragaddor!
- Mike 'you know what's wrong with the world? Too many sorcerers!' from Trinidad & Tobago.
Martinex1- man, I missed the yellow gloves. See, I need to see it again...
Edo- great point about Strange correcting the destruction. It really fits with his rep as Sorcerer Supreme, and his devotion to protecting this dimension.
Mike from T and T- you also have a great point about the cloak and it's parallel to Harry Potter'series wand. That was a nice touch, and added an intriguing element to the cloak.
I'm way late this party so no one will probably ever read this, but I actually just saw the movie today. And I must say I actually enjoyed it quite a lot. In fact a lot more than I thought I would. I'd personally give it an 8 out 10. (Maybe even a 9).
It took a while to get around to seeing this one because I've never been a really big fan of Doctor Strange as a solo character, but I really enjoyed the take on his character in this movie.
The reason I never really got into the Dr. Strange solo comics is that I always found the sorcery thing to be a bit boring. Magic in comics is usually either portrayed as being way too powerful, so that the user can do pretty much anything. Or they come up with some lame excuse why their power won't work in a given situation. "Oh no! He has the Orb of Ongo Bongo! My powers are useless against it." etc.
However in this movie the sorcerers were portrayed more as being mystic martial artists as opposed to all-powerful wizards. I am a huge fan of martial arts movies, so I really appreciated that aspect of this film.
To me, some of the Marvel movies tend to drag a bit, but I thought this one moved along at a really nice pace and was very entertaining from start to finish. I never found myself getting bored or wishing things would move along. And In the end, I think it is one of the Marvel movies that stayed truest to its comic book rootsl. Doctor Strange looked just like Doctor Strange should, and his Sanctum looked like it was literally pulled right out the comics. The overall feeling of the film was pretty much spot on for what I'd want from a comic book movie.
I forgot to mention that, like others here, I was not real happy with the way Dormmamu was portrayed. He was just sort of thrown in at the end of the movie and then he was just a giant talking head that looked like it was made out of Legos. I think they could have done a little better than that.
William- guess what, I read your comment! :)
And pretty much agree with your take on the movie. Overall very good, and a successful introduction to the character for those unfamiliar with him. And as you say, it really stayed faithful to the comics from which it came...
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