A new Marvel movie has graced our screens so time yet again
for me sing their praises as onlookers sweep my opinion aside as bias. I jest.
A bit. I really didn’t like DC’s 2016 pair of car crashes. I wanted to though, I
blooming love comics and the superhero genre. Not just Marvel. My desire for
these films to be good is the half the reason I get so worked up and angry when
they’re not good. I’m still maintaining that Suicide Squad and BvS are awful
films, but I’ve seen a lot of awful films I don’t want to rant about or inflict
physical pain when folk they tell me they were good. The point I’m labouring
over is that I’m not biased towards Marvel films over DC’s…
Do you believe me? Good. By the way Doctor Strange is way
better than this year’s DC movies. Obviously.
What does it get right? The main thing is the visuals. The
spectacle. Reality warping, gravity defying gymnastics as cityscapes warp to the
whims of our leading characters. Peeks at other dimensions that are presented like
some kind of massive drug fuelled vision. A twist on outer body projections
used for fun set piece. Time slowed and reversed, like the bullet dodging scene
in the Matrix but with 100 plus bystanders instead of one leather clad Keanu.
It’s Marvels most visually inventive film, taking the crown from Ant-Man before
it (criminally underrated) It has to be as yet again we have a hero the average cinema goer hasn’t heard of,
in a genre filled with people who can fly and hit things very hard. That’s not
enough anymore. Our eyeballs need massaged by some new trickery and Strange
delivers it in abundance.
Next good thing: the jokes. Well most of them. There’s a few
that did nothing for me, like a certain one around names but it eventually paid
off. Marvel films always have jokes but what they’ve really perfected is
getting humour into action scenes. Avoiding spoilers here, but I enjoyed the flip
out of the set piece involving a certain red, floaty accomplice.
The supporting characters work well enough too and a lot
have some nice moments (though moments are what some are restricted too, see the
next paragraph). Avenger’s references are littered all over the show and the obligatory
Stan Lee cameo was fun.
Bad stuff? Well it is another origin story. The love interest
hasn’t much to do and the villain is pretty much there as someone to be beaten
in a finale. Standard first film mechanics but you can’t really fault it for that.
That’s stuff to correct in Doctor Strange 2. Benedict Cumberbatch is enjoyable
in the role but his story is that of an arrogant prick who has to learn to be a
selfless hero for the greater good. Basically he’s Tony Stark. Unfortunately he’s’
not as witty or charismatic as Robert Downey Jr so again I’m hoping the sequel
improves this facet, making him a bit more unique.
Other bad stuff… My wife hated it. Just in case you want a
balanced opinion. Her reactions included “all that magic stuff is too weird,”
(because gods of thunder and super soldiers are perfectly normal) and the
fantastic conclusion that because some visuals take you through time and space,
and because it has ‘Doctor’ in the title… “It’s too much like Doctor Who, I don’t
like Doctor Who”
I’d like to clarify that it’s nothing like Doctor Who.
Overall then… I really, really enjoyed it. It’s a Marvel
movie but it’s different enough to stand out as something fresh. It’s brimming
with confidence and flair and as foundations it’s sturdier than Banners purple
trousers. Bring on an Avengers movie with Strange and Spider-Man, biased me
will lap it right up.
