Doctor Strange

Comic book movies have been so numerous the last 10 years that now we are starting to see greater deviations from the standard fare with the likes of Deadpool, Winter Soldier and, yes, even Batman v Superman. The origin story of heroes has been worked down to an exact formula by Hollywood, with most conforming to a similar structure to Nolan’s Batman Begins or the Original Iron Man movie. As such, Doctor Strange was poised to offer a new take on the origin story as the first purely magic character leading a film. The titular character is played by the always great Benedict Cumberbatch, Doctor Steven Strange, a truly gifted neurosurgeon with an arrogance to match who suffers a horrific injury that prevents him working. In search for a cure he stumbles across a mystical figure known only as the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) who can offer a path to recovery and much more. Strange takes up the mystic arts, stumbling in to a conflict beyond his imagination. Magic is a risky proposition on film but is fantastically realised here. The effects are as mind bending as they are hypnotising to begin with, each flick of a wrist causing the world around them to bend, collapse and shift like Inception on steroids. The downside to the effects heavy scenery twisting is after a while the spectacle wears off, leaving a scene that looks great but is ultimately devoid of reason, even by the films vague standards. Much like a real stage magician, the film feels pressed to move quickly away from any exposition or strangeness it offers before you examine what you saw too hard. Often, it will simply assert that something is, simply because it is and then rapidly move on to something else. This gives much of the film a shallow feeling, lacking the depth of character or narrative to truly invest you in the events going on. The performers do their level best with what they have, Swinton and Chiwetel Ejiofor provide more than solid support to Cumberbatch throughout but the story and relationships are very paint by numbers. Cumberbatch, sadly, fails to convincingly carry the American accent off, sounding like Benedict Cumberbatch attempting an accent rather than an actual accent. The writing is solid enough throughout, if not a little standard, that had some genuinely good laughs littered across. The continued Marvel Universe building is once again a small feature with more mentions of Infinity Stones and dangers from other dimensions. Had this film come out 10 years ago, it would have blown audiences minds but the hyper-saturated comic genre waters down its offerings, in the present it will stand out for its effects and look but little more stands out. Probably best summed up as another “solid Marvel film” indicates the issues facing the genre as a whole. As films that should be seen as significant ventures are seen more as standard fare, truly impressing the audiences becomes a more difficult task. Nevertheless, Doctor Strange hits all the right beats with a good array of effects and performances. While a standard Marvel outing, we can’t forget that the Marvel Standard is exceptionally high; that they continue to make well dressed, solid stories is a testament to the team behind the scenes. Strange is an overall enjoyable journey that opens many new avenues for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and perhaps the genre as a whole, to explore. Blu Ray Special Features The director’s commentary track is enjoyable and insightful enough to warrant watching. Scott Derickson goes in to depth with how he tried to play with the already established clichés of the MCU such as the “hole in sky opens, city gets destroyed” by inverting it to a keeping the hole in the sky open to rebuild a city, as well as highlighting how he did his utmost to give layers to his villain(s) to break the standard Marvel mould. Its good to see directors having the control to do such things in the midst of the might Marvel/Disney machine. The features are filled out with the five of the usual featurettes, a Marvel Phase 3 preview, deleted scenes and part 2 of the “Team Thor” clip released on the Blu-Ray of “Civil War” in which Thor shows what he was doing whilst his Avenging comrades battled one another. A great satirical short in which Thor and his roommate Daryl provide a hilarious look at super heroes in general

Comic book movies have been so numerous the last 10 years that now we are starting to see greater deviations from the standard fare with the likes of Deadpool, Winter Soldier and, yes, even Batman v Superman. The origin story of heroes has been worked down to an exact formula by Hollywood, with most conforming to a similar structure to Nolan’s Batman Begins or the Original Iron Man movie. As such, Doctor Strange was poised to offer a new take on the origin story as the first purely magic character leading a film. The titular character is played by the always great Benedict Cumberbatch, Doctor Steven Strange, a truly gifted neurosurgeon with an arrogance to match who suffers a horrific injury that prevents him working. In search for a cure he stumbles across a mystical figure known only as the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) who can offer a path to recovery and much more. Strange takes up the mystic arts, stumbling in to a conflict beyond his imagination. Magic is a risky proposition on film but is fantastically realised here. The effects are as mind bending as they are hypnotising to begin with, each flick of a wrist causing the world around them to bend, collapse and shift like Inception on steroids. The downside to the effects heavy scenery twisting is after a while the spectacle wears off, leaving a scene that looks great but is ultimately devoid of reason, even by the films vague standards. Much like a real stage magician, the film feels pressed to move quickly away from any exposition or strangeness it offers before you examine what you saw too hard. Often, it will simply assert that something is, simply because it is and then rapidly move on to something else. This gives much of the film a shallow feeling, lacking the depth of character or narrative to truly invest you in the events going on. The performers do their level best with what they have, Swinton and Chiwetel Ejiofor provide more than solid support to Cumberbatch throughout but the story and relationships are very paint by numbers. Cumberbatch, sadly, fails to convincingly carry the American accent off, sounding like Benedict Cumberbatch attempting an accent rather than an actual accent. The writing is solid enough throughout, if not a little standard, that had some genuinely good laughs littered across. The continued Marvel Universe building is once again a small feature with more mentions of Infinity Stones and dangers from other dimensions. Had this film come out 10 years ago, it would have blown audiences minds but the hyper-saturated comic genre waters down its offerings, in the present it will stand out for its effects and look but little more stands out. Probably best summed up as another “solid Marvel film” indicates the issues facing the genre as a whole. As films that should be seen as significant ventures are seen more as standard fare, truly impressing the audiences becomes a more difficult task. Nevertheless, Doctor Strange hits all the right beats with a good array of effects and performances. While a standard Marvel outing, we can’t forget that the Marvel Standard is exceptionally high; that they continue to make well dressed, solid stories is a testament to the team behind the scenes. Strange is an overall enjoyable journey that opens many new avenues for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and perhaps the genre as a whole, to explore. Blu Ray Special Features The director’s commentary track is enjoyable and insightful enough to warrant watching. Scott Derickson goes in to depth with how he tried to play with the already established clichés of the MCU such as the “hole in sky opens, city gets destroyed” by inverting it to a keeping the hole in the sky open to rebuild a city, as well as highlighting how he did his utmost to give layers to his villain(s) to break the standard Marvel mould. Its good to see directors having the control to do such things in the midst of the might Marvel/Disney machine. The features are filled out with the five of the usual featurettes, a Marvel Phase 3 preview, deleted scenes and part 2 of the “Team Thor” clip released on the Blu-Ray of “Civil War” in which Thor shows what he was doing whilst his Avenging comrades battled one another. A great satirical short in which Thor and his roommate Daryl provide a hilarious look at super heroes in general