Forced drug puns aside, Scott Derrikson’s DOCTOR STRANGE is a wonderfully trippy and mesmerizing spectacle, popping in some kaleidoscope contact lenses while sitting down to yet another warm and enjoyable Marvel experience. I broke my usual “no 3D” rule to see what the fuss was about and I have to say it does go in to my very short list of films that are actively improved by the often gimmicky and annoying technology. (AVATAR and GRAVITY being the others)
In a parallel to IRON MAN‘s Tony Stark, Stephen Strange starts out cocky, arrogant, a little cold but unmatched in his brilliance. Stephen powered his way to the top of neurosurgery by being incredibly meticulous and building a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge over a range of topics. Think of him like Greg House, just without the leg pain and bitterness. Big accident, life changed, soul-searching journey begins, yadda yadda.
The story is a fairly by the numbers superhero origin and if there’s a criticism to level at the film, it’s that it does suffer from trying to get it all up and running when there’s so much to savour and explore in this fantastic new world of mystical artifacts and enchanted garments. I wanted to spend more time watching him learn his magical craft, to explore a room full of interesting looking contraptions and ancient texts, rather than power through it all. At times it feels like being on a strict time-table when going through a theme park, you want to go over there, see what that’s about, but the film is intent on sticking to its schedule and hitting the marks. It doesn’t spoil the film, and its something that will surely be remedied in a sequel now that the heavy lifting is done and dusted, but it might have benefited from a more relaxed and slower pace, especially alongside the magic mushroom visuals.
A consequence of that, as can happen with origin stories focused on the titular hero, some of the side character do feel every so slightly shortchanged. Strange gets enough time to grow, and by the end those initial parallels to Stark are (for me at least) very distant memories, but some characters do end up suffering slightly. While what we get is very enjoyable, Rachel McAdams would’ve benefitted from more time, same with Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Mordo who did fare better but his beliefs and motivations could have been beefed up a smidgen. They’re great characters, and the actors do a fantastic job with them, I just wanted more.
Where you aren’t left wanting more are the visuals. When they hit, boy are they something to behold. Your eyes dash across the screen (find the biggest one you can), trying desperately to take it all in as it bends and dazzles through dimensions and time itself. It will be compared to the city bending scenes of INCEPTION, but what we are treated to here are more like if Cobb took a powerful hallucinogenic before slipping into that dreamworld. Buildings don’t just bend, they shatter and collapse in on themselves like a fractal, all while wizards battle amongst them, conjuring vibrant, glowing weapons from thin air, its genuinely unlike anything I’ve seen and well worth the price of admission alone.
Cumberbumblepatch makes his transition into blockbuster leading man with ease, borrowing some genius from his Sherlock work, sometimes it doesn’t feel quite the same arrogant Strange from the comics, but he is eminently watchable with his rather decent American accent. And without wanting to get into the whitewashing issue (that is unfortunately present), Tilda Swinton is magnificent as the Ancient One. It’s a real joy to watch them onscreen together, especially as she introduces a reluctant Stephen to a whole body psychedelic wild ride experience, with all the creativity of that classic Ditko artwork. The whole thing is laid over a great score by Michael Giacchino, the master who worked on Pixar classics such as UP and INSIDE OUT, as well as the recent STAR TREK films. Its a much needed boost to Marvel, who’s music has often lacked any real zing, this is probably the first time since AVENGERS that I’ve caught myself humming a tune on my way home.
This is the 14th instalment of the MCU juggernaut and it’s starting to look like there’s really no brakes on this train. Far from stumbling, they keep finding fresh and inventive things to do with their stories. Even while it is a pretty simple tale, Derrikson and co. put wonderful twists on it, featuring a fight scene that takes place in the astral plane (that also partially affects the real world), and a glorious time bending sequence in the third act that is simultaneously brilliant to watch and also a delightfully clever answer to the common criticism of city-wide destruction in superhero films. Like so often with Marvel, it draws its strength from being comfortable with their source material, instead of ashamed of it. It doesn’t shy away from the inherent silliness of having a wizard as a hero, of other dimensions and demons prowling them, it leans into it, even adding personality to his cloak in probably my absolute favourite scene in the film.
that lego guy 