I didn’t plan to see Doctor Strange on opening weekend, but I did because Marvel has trained me well since 2008. Doctor Strange is an origin story that introduces the titular character to the Marvel cinematic universe. A renown surgeon loses the ability to use his hands and out of desperation, stumbles on a world of alternate dimensions and mystical arts.
Objectively I understand that Doctor Strange is a solidly entertaining movie and was not mad that I bought a ticket. Doctor Strange sports an amazing cast of extremely talented actors such as Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton, Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Stuhlbarg. Doctor Strange’s cast is fairly diverse though it can obviously do better as critics of the whitewashing of the Ancient One have correctly pointed out.
I also thought it was intentionally hilarious. Doctor Strange is basically the mystical equivalent of a precocious toddler playing with nuclear bombs and out of the necessity of a civil war and in order to avoid a possible inter-dimensional invasion, got promoted way above his pay grade. The Cloak of Levitation was his babysitter. The Beyonce gag works. The face off against the big bad is simultaneously sacrificial, heroic and humorous.
Subjectively Doctor Strange is not my cup of tea. First, I can suspend disbelief and watch Xena: The Warrior Princess without questioning her ability to fight a legion of Roman soldiers or Greek gods or do multiple flips to get over a cavern, but the minute that she fought Alti, a shamaness who used visions of pain to kill her opponents, I could not take it seriously. The fight was basically two actors voguing and making faces at each other while wincing in pain. I just can’t buy it. It is ridiculous. Doctor Strange has a lot of fight voguing, especially when the characters are casting spells.
Second, I was not a fan of Inception, and Doctor Strange uses a lot of the special effects conceived by Christopher Nolan to depict inter-dimensional travel. If you are not like me and loved Inception, then you should watch Doctor Strange immediately. You are going to be impressed.
Third, Doctor Strange made the Matrix mistake. Don’t do anything that will disfigure your hot actor’s face, especially the eyes. My fine Mads Mikkelsen had dreadful makeup to indicate that he was on the wrong side of history. Nooooooooo! They kind of made up for it by making Benedict Cumberbatch visually shout out Vincent Price, but you can’t give me Mads then ruin it. What a waste!
Aside from my own proclivities, I think Doctor Strange could have been a stronger movie. It felt weird that Doctor Strange only shows two of the three Sanctums. I’m not saying that we have to see them, but there are only three. The chemistry between Rachel McAdams and Benedict Cumberbatch was believable as work spouses, but not as former love interests. I am not blaming them for this, but I don’t see it. Doctor Strange went to all that trouble to give me an Ancient One who is Celtic, and I don’t get more of a backstory to find out why and how. Prequel please.
Despite my criticisms, both objective and subjective, Doctor Strange is far from being one of the weaker entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I would say that it is a solid movie, but not in the top tier. Also perhaps I have seen too many movies because I expected the final post credits scene plot twist that revealed a certain character would be a future villain. Hint:
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Serenity!