I watch a lot of movies (and television, although less than I do movies). I’m also kind of lazy, so here’s a five-point review for Doctor Strange, the 2016 entry into the Marvel movie franchise that stars Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role.
- While the whitewashing of The Ancient One — a character that was originally Tibetan, but changed to Caucasian in the movie — is definitely something to be aware of, Tilda Swinton acts the shit out of everything she does, even in superhero movies.
- And while I’m at it, Mads Mikkelsen and Chiwetel Ejiofor aren’t exactly slouches in the acting department either.
- I never quite grooved with the character of Doctor Strange. Like, doesn’t Marvel already have the archetype of “wealthy, supremely talented jerk gets some poetic justice to the face, learns a Lesson(tm), and then saves the world” in Ironman? And why is Dr. Strange’s karmic reward for a lifetime of being insufferable to everyone around him the ability to fly and a role in one of the most powerful organizations in the world (The Avengers)? Man, no wonder happens — I’d be pretty pissed off at fancy “wizards” too by this point.
- I think the special effects crew watched Inception and said, “Nah, we can beat that.” The world-flippy stuff was really, really great.
- I’m not a Cumberbatch fan in the first place, to be fair, but his accent in this movie bugged me. I realized near the end that it sounded exactly like Hugo Weaving’s super flat accent as Mr. Smith in the Matrix movies. That fits well when spoken by a sentient computer program, but less so when it’s supposed to be a real human American local.
Final verdict: 3/5, go watch Civil War again instead
Cinemaxica 