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Movie Review: “Doctor Strange” Awes With Visuals, Disappoints With Story

[yasr_overall_rating]
 

A former neurosurgeon embarks on a journey of healing only to be drawn into the world of the mystic arts.

Marvel films have issues avoiding the tropes of a new superhero introduction: a more-or-less regular human is confronted with a magical power, learns how to harness it, encounters a formidable foe and ultimately defeats it, just to pave the path for an even more gargantuan, world-destructing force in the sequel (see: “Spider-Man,” “Captain America,” “Ant-Man,” “Iron Man,” etc). Who can blame them – the formula clearly works; the box-office numbers speak for themselves. We are now in Marvel’s Phase II, where barely any of the dots between films connect, but they try oh-so-hard, and the public laps it up. Who cares that there are now three Spider-Men, three Hulks and eight members of the Fantastic Four? No one pays too much attention that the Avengers “are busy” during the apocalyptic events of “Captain America,” or that the X-Men are conspicuously absent from the majority of non-X-Men Marvel outings.

Even off-kilter films like James Gunn’s berserk “Guardians of the Galaxy” (still the best Marvel offering, along with “Deadpool”), which attempted to redefine the formula – and came THIS close – still adhered to the aforementioned structure and tried to tie it all together into a coherent universe. Actually, make that universes, as Scott Derrickson’s “Doctor Strange” boldly takes Marvel into parallel dimensions, with spectacular, psychedelic visuals and a strong central performance by Mr. Sherlock Holmes himself, Benedict Cumberbatch – or B.Cumbs, as I like to call him. Unfortunately, despite the phantasmagoria on display, all the occult mumbo-jumbo becomes a little too much, derailing the plot into “uber-silly” territory in the film’s second half. However, the main issue I had with this Doctor is that he didn’t take a scalpel and trim all the fat – specifically, the unnecessary city-destructing plot with a weak, spacey villain, and the random references to other Marvel entries (including the groan-inducing post-credit sequence).

The film starts off with a bang: as a city folds upon itself, “Inception”-style, Mads Mikkelsen’s baddy, Kaecilius (I’m still waiting for a villain with the name Orneosciliorocious), along with his posse of samurai-like warriors, escape a power-wielding monk. In the meantime, the arrogant-but-brilliant Dr. Stephen Strange (B.Cumbs), along with the help of his beautiful assistant – and potential love interest – Christine (Rachel McAdams – a “Night Nurse” spin-off is probably in the brewing as we speak), extracts a bullet from a patient’s brain, ever-so-gently. Soon after, a car crash leaves our fame-hungry hero with paralyzed hands. “No one could’ve done it better,” Christine reassures him in the hospital. “I could’ve done it better,” the doctor vehemently replies. “You ruined me.” This kind of attitude rapidly alienates him from his colleagues and friends; in search of a cure for his limp shaking hands, Stephen travels to Kathmandu, to seek a magical place that cured another patient, Jonathan (Benjamin Bratt, in what amounts to little more than a cameo).

Mr. – sorry – Dr. Strange encounters Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who, with a cryptic “forget everything you know,” leads him to The Ancient One (an androgynous Tilda Swinton), an “unpredictable, merciless yet kind” Buddha-like being – and therein, the trip begins. And by “trip” I literally mean a hallucinatory assault on the senses, as The Ancient One “pulls [Stephen’s] astral form out of his physical form” and introduces the pragmatic doctor to numerous parallel worlds, scrambling his scientific brain. Apparently, there are multiple sanctums all over the world that protect humanity from mystical threats, while the Avengers focus on physical dangers (though it can be argued that Thor’s storyline does a fine balancing act there). Spacial paradoxes abound, along with time leaps, inter-dimensional portals and space-time continuums. The evil villain, striving for nothing less than eternal life, resurfaces, with an even bigger villain behind his back. Ultimately, it’s up to Stephen, now sporting a cape and a frankly ridiculous-looking outfit, to save the day.

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“Doctor Strange” is crammed with pseudo-spiritual musings, the best of which brought to mind the entire moral of the brilliant horror film “Babadook”: “We never learn to leave our demons. We only learn to live above them.” Aside from a few more resonant lines, it’s best not to take any of the doctor’s travails too seriously or think too deeply about the events unfurling on screen, like the jaw-dropping but nonsensical time-reversal battle at the end. Steeped in the occult but never seeming to know how to properly utilize its teachings (a-la Alan Moore), “Doctor Strange” is more “Bulletproof Monk” than “Watchmen.” Perhaps that’s a bit harsh, considering the truly awe-inspiring visuals (seemingly intended for HEAVY drug consumption) and the dedicated lead performance, but after a promising start, the film’s potential depth dissipates into a series of fortune-teller Chakra-speak.

B.Cumbs excels as usual, the theatrical, Baritone-voiced pro that he is – although I couldn’t quite figure out what he was doing with the accent (Britamerican?). Rachel McAdams, a charming actress, is a bit underused but does shine in the small reaction-shot moments. The producers figured, in this day and age of feminist progression, it makes sense to delegate a couple of moderately funny one-liners and goofy facial expressions to one of our more promising young actresses. Go figure. Benedict Wong – as Wong (original!) – has some funny one-liners, but again, plays a one-dimensional character in a multi-dimensional universe. The standout would have to be the stunning Swinton, who can act anything, anytime, anywhere.

“Doctor Strange” succeeds at defying the laws of physics, yet struggles when it comes to defying the established Marvel narrative structure. Props for trying, but, akin to Stephen Strange himself, voluntarily trapped in a time loop in the film’s finale, Marvel seems to be stuck in a swamp of self-plagiarism. Maybe it’s time to transport the entire enterprise to a parallel dimension, with storytelling that matches the $170 million visuals.

In theaters Friday, November 4th

 
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Alex Saveliev

Alex graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a BA in Film & Media Arts and studied journalism at the Northwestern University in Chicago. While there, he got acquainted with the late Roger Ebert, who supported and inspired Alex in his career as a screenwriter and film critic. Alex has produced, written and directed a short zombie film, “Parched,” which is being distributed internationally and he is developing a series for a TV network, and is in pre-production on a major motion picture.