Doctor Strange (Rated T)
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton
Genre: Fantasy/ Science fiction
Dwight's Rating: 3 Stars
This feels awfully familiar!
Thankfully, in a mostly good way!
Familiar, in that it seems that a lot of the first-time films from Marvel Studios start off as promising as does their newest comic book-based flick, "Doctor Strange".
We saw this with the original "Iron Man" with Robert Downey Jr., and with the Tobey Maguire "Spider-Man" and its even better sequel, "Spider-Man 2". And of course, few movie franchises get off to the rollicking start of the stupendous "Guardians of the Galaxy".
These introductory films take their time establishing and developing their characters. We come to understand them, and get to the root of their motivations, along with the requisite dose of action fantasy. But then the sequels start coming in, and everything falls apart.
Focused more on the action and blowing things up, we don't get to see much of the characters we came to love, as they are pushed aside by more fanciful special effects or new and often-annoying side-kicks or over-the-top villains. And the more the sequels, the worse things get. Subsequent editions of "Iron-Man" were almost unwatchable, and anything involving Spider-Man since the first sequel -- including the questionable reboot -- has been just unnecessary. I'm praying hard they don't ruin "Guardians", which is slated for part two next year.
And while striking the right tone in an original edition is not always guaranteed -- "The Avengers" (while successful and popular) has been formulaic and overstuffed from the start, and what in God's name was "Ant-Man"? -- "Doctor Strange" seems to be taking the "familiar" path laid out by "Iron Man" eight years ago. In fact, one could say it feels like Marvel Studios now has a recipe on how to launch new would-be franchises. "Doctor Strange" just narrowly avoids a conveyor belt essence on the strength of its impressive cast and their performances.
Oscar-nominee Benedict Cumberbatch ("The Imitation Game"), best known for his Emmy-winning role as TV's "Sherlock", and fellow Oscar-nominee Chitwetel Ejiofor ("12 Years a Slave"), become full-fledged action stars, and are joined by Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton ("Michael Clayton") and Benedict Wong. They're all British actors, by the way. The two other major roles are played by Canadian Rachel McAdams ("The Notebook") and Danish Mads Mikkelsen ("Casino Royale" and TV's "Hannibal"). Americans must not have been available.
No worries though! Cumberbatch plays Dr. Stephen Strange, whose life changes after a car accident robs him of the use of his hands. When traditional medicine fails him, he looks for healing and hope in a mysterious enclave. He quickly learns that the enclave is at the front line of a battle against unseen dark forces bent on destroying reality. Before long, Strange is forced to choose between his life of fortune and status or leave it all behind to defend the world as the most powerful sorcerer in existence.
Let's get the few issues out of the way first. Mikkelsen, who's usually so good at being bad, heads the (as-expected) goofy, cartoony villains. Why are the villains always so unreasonable and silly? And all this talk of spells and sorcery and "dark forces" lends a pronounced "Harry Potter for adults" feel to the whole production. That's not necessarily a good thing.
Another movie that comes to mind is "Inception", especially in the abundant use of character-generated effects, with buildings and streets constantly folding and spinning, and characters walking on walls and ceilings. You'll also likely be reminded of that same Leo DiCaprio mind-bender when you get the whole explanation as to what the villains are trying to accomplish, and the various physics-defying theories, and how the saving the world from the dark forces is supposed to work. It's so ridiculous that I zoned out from time to time.
But that's fine. It's not even really important. Again this is a performance driven spectacle. It has long been accepted that Cumberbatch and Ejiofor are fine actors. But here, like never before, mass audiences will see Cumberbatch excel at humor, an American accent, and action sequences. Ejiofor, too, is quite a credible action hero. Who would have thought?
Scene-stealer Wong and the always-wonderful Swinton are strong, and McAdams definitely needs to be in more films.
But alas, now come the fears about the inevitable sequel. Over half this film -- the best half -- was used to set the stage for the action to come in its final moments. As we've seen over and over, with nothing left to establish, the sequel often is primarily two hours or so of noise and destruction.
We can hope that Cumberbatch and Co. would continue to be strong enough to save both the planet and that future film from destruction. But in the meantime, this initial go at "Doctor Strange" works and works well, and is quite a bit of fun.
o Dwight Strachan is the host/producer of " Morning Blend" on Guardian Radio. He is a television producer and writer, and an avid TV history and film buff. Email dwight@nasguard.com and follow him on twitter @morningblend969.
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