Marvel is laying out the groundwork for the new guard of heroes that will lead the charge. Like the Tom Holland version of Spider-Man, BlackPanther, and now Doctor Strange. After being name dropped within Winter Solider (go back and watch it you missed it), it’s time we see how another egotistical genius thinks of others for once and rises to the charge as a superhero.
If you haven’t seen it yet, come back after you have as there are mild spoilers below. Here’s our take on Doctor Strange.
Every single actor/actress did their thing. I mean it is a cast full of amazing thespians. Cumberbatch nailed Strange and brought some personality to the character. Ejiofor nailed Mordo as I look forward to seeing in future films. Despite the whitewashing backlash, Swinton brought an interesting take on The Ancient One. And everything Mikkelsen does is a homerun. Some may argue that Rachel McAdams isn’t a part of that but she did a great job as well.
If you think the entire film will be an Inception, LSD-like acid trip, it is not. They did a crazy good job on the visuals. They make sure to explain the powers, artifacts, and touch on some of the realities and the multiverse. This is Marvels’ 1st step into the realm of magic and mysticism (after a teaser at the end of Ant-Man) and they pulled off an awesome introduction to it.
Think the 1st Iron Man shrouded w/ Harry Potter-like elements.
I thought the story flowed great. Not too much downtime or filled scenes. They explained the motives of everyone, offered a great balance of story-building and action. There is a death (2 if you’re getting technical) and a betrayal. We told you mild spoilers. Although I wished it was maybe had a run time of 2 hours & 30 mins to see a bit more, coming in at just under 2 hours worked just fine. There is an Infinity Stone in the movie BTW. It definitely isn’t the focus as it is just mentioned in a one-liner. So yeah, it’s just another stop on Thanos’ quest to bring them all together.
It’s not all perfect and roses and stuff w/ it. There is some (or very little humor) involved and the jokes at times can be a bit of a hit-or-miss. Dormammu is shown as it is all CGI. Think of him like a slightly improved version of the Galactus cloud monster form Fantastic Four 2.
Marvel has done an amazing job in bringing less than interesting character onto the screen and making them enjoyable to watch. For me as a comic book reader, I never cared about Dr. Strange or Ghost Rider. They just didn’t do ti for me. Now, Robbie Reyes is the best thing to happen to Agents of Shield show and I’m looking forward to seeing Doctor Strange in Infinity War.
For me, this is easily within my top 3 Marvel movies. Your top 3 will probably differ from mines as I have Iron Man, Winter Soldier, and then Doctor Strange. So when you get a chance please go see it and if you can, spend the extra $$$ for IMAX 3D. The scenes w/ the insane visuals along are worth it.
If you’ve seen it, how did you like it and where does it rank in your favorite Marvel movies?
