Hello and welcome to another one of my very professional reviews! (Joking haha, don’t completely take my word for it). Today I’ll be telling you everything I thought about a very highly anticipated and well-received movie, from one film buff to another (or rather others, depending on how many people actually read this). Okay, clearly gone overboard on the sarcasm. Moving on!
I went to see a movie that I have been kicking myself for not seeing sooner, especially before my midterms since it would’ve brought on a significantly increase good mood. Marvel’s Doctor Strange!
Let me just tell you now that I’m a bit biased when it comes to this movie since it stars my bae, Benedict Cumberbatch. HUGE fan of all his work, and I have a major celebrity crush on him. But for you, my dear Readers, I’ll take the professional approach. Let’s begin, shall we? (BTW, Benedict if by some weird chance you’re reading this, I freaking love you.)
A little background story for the Readers who are not among major Marvel fans, spoiler free! This is a movie about a famous neurosurgeon named Dr. Steven Strange who lost his career to a car accident damaging his hands and he seeks other non-conventional methods of healing himself outside of modern medicine after it has completely failed him, which eventually leads to him becoming a powerful inter-dimensional sorcerer. This movie is an origin story of a character that has, up until now, been portrayed in the comics. Let’s see how Marvel did bringing him into the cinematic universe.
First, which is the talk of the town about this movie, is the freaking graphics…OH MY GOD they were insane and trippy just like how reviews described them. Very inception-y, that’s for sure. This movie is one that has to absolutely be watched in 3D because you will not get high on visual stimulation otherwise. And this wasn’t just like inception. This was something that looked like it required intense engineering because buildings were folding on themselves with waves of perfectly geometric 3D shapes. Did I see this coming? No. Was I happy to watch it? Hell yes. I’m usually the kind of person that gets a bit dizzy when things are spinning around me, on screen or IRL, but this was very visually pleasing and just mind-boggling in a good way. So Doctor Strange gets the point for graphics.
Next, we’ll be discussing the filmography. This movie not only included trippy reality bending, it also had amazing fight scenes, truly dramatic moments, and so much hilarious comedic moments. Everything you’d expect a Marvel movie to be. It was a great mix. I didn’t find myself laughing almost all through the movie since it was only when there was a genuinely funny intended scene, I was thoroughly impressed with the fight scenes (ask anyone in the theatre since I was literally one of those people who exclaim “WOAH OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO FREAKING COOL”), and was absolutely gripped by the dramatic scenes in the film. My rating of the filmography: Complete immersion. You will not be able to take your eyes off for a second. Another point to Doctor Strange.
Now, where bae comes in, the casting. Let’s of course start with our (or my) superstar, Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch! Playing the leading role of Steven Strange himself, Benedict surprised me first of all with how great of an American accent he uses (he’s British in case you didn’t know). Also, he completely captured the persona of Steven Strange. Arrogant, proud, intelligent, with a mix of kind, sarcastic, and humorous. No surprise Benedict landed the role of Dr. Strange, since he’s well renowned for playing several roles fitting that description (Sherlock Holmes, Alan Turing, etc.) Also, the guy just made the character really come to life! The hand signs for casting a spell, on point. The way he levitated with the cloak, excellent. The fighting sequences, were really good. He was just perfect. I can’t think of anyone else to fit this role.
Next we have his leading lady, kind of, played by Rachel McAdams, Dr. Christine Palmer. Her and Strange weren’t in a relationship, rather they were broken up but on friendly terms, so this movie isn’t relationship focused (thankfully, we don’t need another Amazing Spiderman 2). But you can clearly see the chemistry and the tension between the two. It wasn’t hard to figure out. Rachel did a great job at being the not-really love interest of Strange, although she didn’t have that much screen time. That does make sense because the two characters weren’t closely involved. McAdams is known for playing several leading ladies in her previous films (The Notebook, The Vow, Wedding Crashers), and I kinda saw that in her acting. She was sarcastic, witty, and caring.
Now, kinda the real leady lady for Dr. Strange, The Ancient One played by Tilda Swinton. The Ancient One is the sorcerer supreme who trains all the other sorcerer masters and who trained and mentored Strange. Tilda Swinton is an old favorite childhood actress of mine since I saw her in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. She was a total badass in Doctor Strange, not playing an old woman who only teaches, but kind of an immortal being that has plenty of power and can fight with the best of them. The Ancient One was also a bit of a complex character, particularly because she was the type to keep secrets from her students. She was also a contradiction. Merciless in her training and teaching, but kind-natured when guiding her students towards the path they were meant for. The Ancient One, despite being what she was, was also very much human, showing us she feared death just as much as any human being does and appreciates the little things, but taking her responsibilities seriously as a protector of the multiverse with all its dangers. Tilda was amazing at playing The Ancient one and portrayed that personality excellently.
Next we have the antagonist of the film, Kaecilius, played by Mads Mikkelsen. I’m not quite a fan of Mads. He definitely looks like the “bad guy” and usually plays the bad guy, but I’m not so sure his portrayal of Kaecilius appealed to me. I thought he had zero emotion in this role. He was cold but I’m not sure he should have been, though. Kaecilius was basically a former student of The Ancient One’s and turned on her and the other masters because of a secret she held, therefore he felt betrayed. I didn’t see a betrayed man. I mean betrayal should be sensed and deeply felt, but it wasn’t from Mads. He did great on the fight scenes and the conjuring of spells, but as a character I didn’t see where he fit into the plot. This was because of his lack of emotional portrayal, in my opinion.
Lastly, we have the partner to Dr. Strange in most of the film. Baron Mordo played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. I have seen him in several other films and he is for sure an amazing actor, so I think he did great on his part in this movie. Mordo started off as a mentor to Strange and then eventually became his equal as Strange advanced in his training. Mordo was also indebted to The Ancient One as she took him in a broken man, and therefore he was extremely loyal to her. But, as I have previously stated, The Ancient One’s secrets have caused a lot of grief, including for Mordo. This lead to a complete role revearsal at the end of the movie, but you don’t get to see anything of it until the next movie. Chiwetel portrayed every emotion perfectly and also performed really well in the fight scenes and conjuring. Comic book fans know that Mordo is Dr. Strange’s mortal enemy, but you’ll actually like the character a bit in this movie, thanks to Ejiofor’s acting.
So, to sum up a hit success, the graphics were absolutely mind-blowing and I enjoyed every minute of watching reality and dimensions being warped in front of my eyes, The casting was great except for Mads because I think he could have done better or they could have chosen someone more fitting of the role, and the filmography is a perfect blend of action, drama, comedy, and sci-fi. Out of a perfect 5, I would give this movie a strong 4.8 only because of my not liking Mads’ acting.
There you have it! I kept this spoiler free as much as possible so you can go enjoy the movie yourselves because I very very HIGHLY recommend it. If you’ve seen the movie, let me know what you thought of it in the comments section and give me any opinions on my opinions on this movie. If you’re not already, subscribe to my blog to be updated whenever I post something here on the website and like the Facebook page for an extra alert and for any other additional updates. Like, comment, share, and happy reading! Hue Mann, over and out!! ;)