It’s here, it’s finally here! My beloved Benedict Cumberbatch as a superhero! Not to mention any superhero, but the Sorcerer Supreme himself.
Those not familiar with the Marvel universe may have no idea what I’m talking about or why I’m excited. Doctor Strange is one of the more surreal superheroes, and yes that’s saying something even for within the Marvel (or DC) universe.
Visually it’s like “The Matrix” meets “Inception” with a hint of 70’s drug trip. It’s fun to get an origins story again after so many of the sequels. While you benefit if you’ve seen the other films in the MCU, you won’t at all be lost if this is your first Marvel film.
Benedict Cumberbatch plays our titular hero, Doctor Stephen Strange, an arrogant but brilliant neurosurgeon who gets in a horrific car accident and loses the fine usage of his hands.
His journey eventually leads him to Nepal and he encounters a consortium of sorcerers who are led by Tilda Swinton as The Ancient.
I would be remiss if I did not flag that this character in the comics is from the Himalayas, I don’t appreciate whitewashing in Hollywood. The excuse of saying oh well in this version she’s Celtic doesn’t fly in my book. I certainly think they could easily have tried to cast someone of Asian descent.
Aside from that she does a good job as the Yoda of the film.
Some of the supporting cast includes Rachel McAdams as Doctor Christine Palmer. Who is clearly meant to bring the emotional core of the film. While she is a great actress, their chemistry felt cookie cutter at best. However you’re probably not going to see “Doctor Strange” for a love story.
Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Mordo (Marvel nerds should be excited about this) and Benedict Wong plays… Wong. There are some fun scenes with them, particularly during the “Rocky” training phase of the film.
Unfortunately as with many Marvel movies, the film falls a bit flat on the villain. What I loved about “Captain America: Civil War” and the Civil War comics is that there wasn’t a clear villain or antagonist. It was two sides who both had merit to their arguments, locked in opposition. We cared about all of the characters already. I feel like perhaps Doctor Strange tried to emulate this by making the villain’s motivations seeeeeem reasonable, but try as Mads Mikkelson might, it is just a generic quasi disposable villain.
I really really enjoyed the film in spite of it’s flaws (I’m also it’s target audience probably) but my friend, who is not a superhero junkie, also enjoyed it.
Also stay through to the very very very end.
The other film this week is “Trolls” from Dreamworks Animation. It’s based on the tremendously ugly toys from the 70’s.
When I found out they were making this film I was somewhat shocked, as there’s no mythology or backstory to the Trolls, and again, they are not very appealing.
Dreamworks turned them into a technicolor musical…
Which ended up not being a terrible choice. It looks like a rainbow threw up visually.
The cast is all star. Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, James Corden, Russell Brand, Zooey Deschanel, Gwen Stefani. The list goes on.
Justin Timberlake also served as the executive music producer, and man does that guy know how to make and mix music. It’s a medley of 70’s, 80’s, contemporary, and original songs.
So plot wise they had a blank canvas to play with, so the mythology they came up with was there are terribly unhappy creatures called Bergens (who design wise are impressively unappealing but also cool for an animated film?) who find out they can only achieve happiness by eating a Troll. Therefore they develop a weird Bacchanalian ritual where they harvest the Trolls once a year…. Oh yeah did I mention it’s a kids movie?
The Trolls then escape and live peacefully for a while. Of course it’s a movie so something has to disturb that peace, and thus our adventure ensues.
The first third of the film is almost manic energy wise. It’s very in your face singing/happy. So if you’re going to go brace yourself. It definitely calms down for the second and third act.
There are also pockets of heartfelt moments that I thought did a fine job, they are going to go over most kid’s heads, but as an adult they’re there to prevent you from gouging your eyes out if you have to go see the film.
I think kids will respond well to the design, texture (shout out to the surfacing team) and overall humor. If you’re an adult without children, perhaps see Doctor Strange instead.
