Editor’s Notes: Doctor Strange opens in wide theatrical release this Friday, November 4th.
Eight years and fourteen films since its inception, the erstwhile Marvel Cinematic Universe shows little sign of losing steam. As of next year, the superhero enterprise will increase its output to three separate outings a year for the foreseeable future and beyond. The paradigm-detonating events of Captain America: Civil War seem to have given the franchise a whole new lease of life; and if Soctt Derrickson’s mind-bending acid trip of a blockbuster is any indication, it’s opened a new era of legitimate auterism to the studio’s previously uniform style (or lack thereof). Here we have a film built upon delirious visual invention, fascinating spiritual implications and Marvel’s most compelling new hero since Captain America’s endearingly earnest debut way back in 2011. If this is the opening of a new chapter for the comic book heavyweight, it promises even greater (and, indeed, stranger) things to come.
. . . Swinton’s performance itself; easily the most embarrassingly stilted moment of her otherwise spectacular career thus far.
Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, broad American accent and ridiculous goatee in tow) is an oppressively arrogant, mysteriously well-to-do neurosurgeon who’s spent his life feeding on the suffering of others for the sole purpose of preserving his monumental, galaxy-spanning ego. A first act car accident leaves him irrecoverably crippled, destroying his luxurious livelihood in the process. Strange’s quest for a cure leads him to the spiritual heartland of Kathmandu, Nepal and the nonchalantly transcendent teachings of The Ancient One (an androgynous, paradoxically blunt Tilda Swinton). Swinton’s casting has remained a major talking point since its announcement, not least for the woefully ill-judged whitewashing of a traditionally East Asian role, whilst retaining many of the requisite Oriental stereotypes. Simplifying matters considerably is Swinton’s performance itself; easily the most embarrassingly stilted moment of her otherwise spectacular career thus far.
Fans of the titular hero will no doubt have anticipated the gloriously offbeat action sequences: a flurry of hallucinatory, beautifully realised voyages through the multiverse, alongside the standard city-levelling destruction fast becoming a staple of the modern blockbuster landscape.
Matters are in no way helped by Jon Spaiht’s dramatically weightless script, overflowing with all the thunderously obvious exposition and logical inconsistencies of erotic fanfiction. The massively talented Mads Mikkelsen (best known for cannibalistic histrionic on NBC’s masterful Hannibal) is unforgivably wasted on a paper-thin antagonist so under-written he’s barely afforded a motivation until over an hour into proceedings. Cumberbatch survives unscathed through charisma alone; his Strange gifted the one truly compelling character arc of the entire film. Stephen is a deeply selfish man who gradually learns the value of aiding his fellow man before he can don the infamous cape and finally make a real difference to the lives he previously dealt with so carelessly.
Fans of the titular hero will no doubt have anticipated the gloriously offbeat action sequences: a flurry of hallucinatory, beautifully realised voyages through the multiverse, alongside the standard city-levelling destruction fast becoming a staple of the modern blockbuster landscape. Derrickson’s previous experience among the horror genre lends a distinct aesthetic to his first major picture, though his only legitimate innovation on a story level results in a third-act confrontation that presumably sounded far better in a boardroom than in actuality. One can appreciate Derrickson and Spaihts’ ambition in deviating from a traditional action climax, but their supposed solution proves a far weaker alternative.
Strangely enough, the movie’s unambiguous title belies its strict adherence to the established Marvel formula, a property which grounds its more outlandish conceptual flourishes whilst simultaneously stifling its considerable thematic potential. Though not dramatically satisfying enough to stand out amongst its increasingly crowded competition, the film’s eye-scorching setpieces and Cumberbatch’s magnetic performance culminate in a perfectly serviceable, if undeniably frustrating, entry to the ever-expanding Marvel universe. Ultimately, Doctor Strange is dazzling in concept; uneven in execution.
Though not dramatically satisfying enough to stand out amongst its increasingly crowded competition, the film’s eye-scorching setpieces and Cumberbatch’s magnetic performance culminate in a perfectly serviceable, if undeniably frustrating, entry to the ever-expanding Marvel universe. Ultimately, Doctor Strange is dazzling in concept; uneven in execution.
