C+Directed by Scott Derrickson Starring Tilda Swinton, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Mads Mikkelson Review by Jon Kissel |  |
There's been so many superhero origin stories that any viewer whose paid cursory attention to the last decade of big-budget moviemaking can see the requisite plot markers coming. If the storytelling is a lost cause, unable to surprise, then what remains is the spectacle and, especially, the characters. Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant Man, and Deadpool each spun rote tales of MacGuffins, heists, and revenge, but a comedic tone and characters with specific quirks and worldviews made it easy for the viewer to discount, or at minimum distract from, the predictability in the story. Doctor Strange, the latest Marvel character to get his own origin story, certainly gets the spectacle part down with its journey through the mind-shredding multiverse, but its characters don't differentiate themselves enough from the dozen or so other similar tales.
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange, Doctor Strange begins with its titular surgeon at the top of his field, only to be humbled by a hand-shattering car accident. Now unable to perform in the operating room, he's directed towards Eastern mysticism by the story of a former parapalegic who somehow walked again. Using what remains of his fortune to travel to Tibet and the temple of Kamar-Taj, a still-incredulous Strange begs on the doorstep to be let in and trained. The sorcerers inside, particularly Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Sorcerer Supreme, The Ancient One (a bald and androgynous Tilda Swinton), take pity on the now-pathetic Strange, bringing him in and opening his third eye, sending his caroming through the universe and beyond in a psychedelic light show. He learns how to manipulate the energy of the cosmos, opening portals, crossing into other dimensions, and how to fight with ethereal whips and defend with glowing shields. The sorcerers need all the help they can get against the rebel Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelson), a former acolyte of The Ancient One who has turned against the old ways and seeks to break the barriers protecting earth from the forces in the universe that would swallow the planet whole.
As expected, the plot follows a straightforward hero's journey, albeit one on a unique playground. In training montages or climactic fights, Doctor Strange isn't surprising with its story beats but it is wowing the viewer with its imagery and its cleverness. Director Scott Derrickson, a vet of the horror genre, is allowed to paint on a multi-million dollar canvas limited only by his imagination, and in the film's highlights, he goes for it. Strange's awakening, the various fight scenes, particularly inter-dimensional chases that start with the city-folding of Inception and add layer after layer, and dispatching the big bad at the end each take unique, mind-bending paths towards expected results. Marvel surely understands that many of its entries are structurally identical, and with more origin stories coming, handing the reins to visionaries like Derrickson is a surefire way to at least keep their films from becoming stale, at least in the near term.
If Doctor Strange had the characters or the dialogue to match its trippy visuals, it would be one of Marvel's better outings. Alas, there's little here that impresses despite the wealth of accolades bestowed on the high-caliber actors in the cast. Strange is very similar to Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark, a wealthy playboy and master of his domain brought low by injury and resurrected by a twist on his former life. Cumberbatch has no problem with the imperiousness both men share, but the impishness of the character is less interesting than Stark's self-loathing and sarcastic deflection. Ejiofor serves as a rule-following philosophical counterpoint to the more spontaneous Strange, and doesn't get much more of an opportunity beyond that. Mikkelson is cashing a paycheck as one more unmemorable Marvel villain. In the non-magic-practicing world back at the hospital, Rachel McAdams is yet another actress wasted as a love interest to the super-powered center of the film, while Michael Stuhlbarg has even less to do as a doctor Strange delights in humiliating. The bright spot is Swinton, beautifully, if controversially, cast as Strange's mentor. A bald expert eternally calm and casually all-knowing, she has the ability to make the most fantastical dialogue sound credible, and that ability is put to great use.
Doctor Strange is a delicious confection, appealing in the moment but forgettable in the wake of so many other superhero films. Spectacle, which it has in spades, can only get it so far. It engages in what's becoming a cardinal sin for superhero films, where the entire planet is at stake despite the presence of more Marvel films in the hopper. Why can't the sorcerers deal with a more local issue, something that would maybe make it easier for the looming villains of Avengers sequels to attack earth down the road, instead of looming space clouds reminiscent of laughable superhero films like Fantastic Four: Rise of Silver Surfer and The Green Lantern? Doctor Strange is stuck in the middle of Marvel's heap, though the paths it opens for the future of the franchise are more interesting than the vast majority of the characters within Derrickson's visually impressive but emotionally inert film. C+
As expected, the plot follows a straightforward hero's journey, albeit one on a unique playground. In training montages or climactic fights, Doctor Strange isn't surprising with its story beats but it is wowing the viewer with its imagery and its cleverness. Director Scott Derrickson, a vet of the horror genre, is allowed to paint on a multi-million dollar canvas limited only by his imagination, and in the film's highlights, he goes for it. Strange's awakening, the various fight scenes, particularly inter-dimensional chases that start with the city-folding of Inception and add layer after layer, and dispatching the big bad at the end each take unique, mind-bending paths towards expected results. Marvel surely understands that many of its entries are structurally identical, and with more origin stories coming, handing the reins to visionaries like Derrickson is a surefire way to at least keep their films from becoming stale, at least in the near term.
If Doctor Strange had the characters or the dialogue to match its trippy visuals, it would be one of Marvel's better outings. Alas, there's little here that impresses despite the wealth of accolades bestowed on the high-caliber actors in the cast. Strange is very similar to Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark, a wealthy playboy and master of his domain brought low by injury and resurrected by a twist on his former life. Cumberbatch has no problem with the imperiousness both men share, but the impishness of the character is less interesting than Stark's self-loathing and sarcastic deflection. Ejiofor serves as a rule-following philosophical counterpoint to the more spontaneous Strange, and doesn't get much more of an opportunity beyond that. Mikkelson is cashing a paycheck as one more unmemorable Marvel villain. In the non-magic-practicing world back at the hospital, Rachel McAdams is yet another actress wasted as a love interest to the super-powered center of the film, while Michael Stuhlbarg has even less to do as a doctor Strange delights in humiliating. The bright spot is Swinton, beautifully, if controversially, cast as Strange's mentor. A bald expert eternally calm and casually all-knowing, she has the ability to make the most fantastical dialogue sound credible, and that ability is put to great use.
Doctor Strange is a delicious confection, appealing in the moment but forgettable in the wake of so many other superhero films. Spectacle, which it has in spades, can only get it so far. It engages in what's becoming a cardinal sin for superhero films, where the entire planet is at stake despite the presence of more Marvel films in the hopper. Why can't the sorcerers deal with a more local issue, something that would maybe make it easier for the looming villains of Avengers sequels to attack earth down the road, instead of looming space clouds reminiscent of laughable superhero films like Fantastic Four: Rise of Silver Surfer and The Green Lantern? Doctor Strange is stuck in the middle of Marvel's heap, though the paths it opens for the future of the franchise are more interesting than the vast majority of the characters within Derrickson's visually impressive but emotionally inert film. C+
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