The Doctor is In

Grabs your seats, class is in session.

Evening boss family. Yes, it’s been a while. You should all know by know the Professor is fairly lazy and only reviews movies he wants to see, because those are the only movies he goes to see. That’s just how it is. And since there was finally a new movie out that I was dying to see, it’s that time again for me to lay out what I thought. Yeah, I’m a few days behind, I know. It’s been a week. Better late than never, right? So with that, let’s peer through the Eye of Agamotto and talk about

So as per usual, let’s get this right out front: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Did I love it? Not exactly, but pretty close to it. I can’t say it was my favorite movie from the MCU, that still stands tall with Captain America: Civil War, but this is way up there. For me, this goes somewhere just behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and ahead of Ant-Man. Yes, it is an origin story, but for a character like this, it absolutely has to be. Unless you are a comics die-hard, you aren’t going to be overly familiar with Dr. Stephen Strange. As such, you have to learn who he is and how he becomes who he becomes. That being said, this may be the best origin story they have created yet and that with movies like Iron Man and Captain America, that says a lot. For a two-hour movie, it moves so smoothly from the origin story to the modern-day that you don’t feel it and don’t miss a beat. The flow is near perfect from beat to beat and keeps your attention the whole time.

Let’s take a look at what I liked: pretty much everything. First and foremost, you have to begin with Benedict Cumberbatch, but really, what needs to be said? The man is an amazing actor and has been incredible in everything I have seen him in. There was no better option for this character and I’m so glad Marvel opened the checkbook for him. Would I have preferred to hear him use his own British accent? Kind of, I do believe it would have added more weight to the character, but honestly, it didn’t matter. His American accent is great and never took me out of the movie. His depiction of the arrogant surgeon turned master of the mystic arts is fantastic. It’s hard to say much more without giving away pieces of the movie, but suffice it to say the journey he takes you on with the transformation of his character is a thing to behold. For all the complaints of “whitewashing”, Tilda Swinton should shut a lot of people up with her portrayal of the Ancient One. She’s already a fantastic actress, and this is no different. She brings such a quiet power to this character that I found myself waiting to see that switch turned, to see her go from almost passive, gentile teach to absolute badass every time she was on-screen. Much like Cumberbatch and Swinton, there isn’t much that needs to be said with regards to Chiwetel Ejiofor. Again, another actor who is pretty much brilliant in everything he does and this is no different. He is, if you’ll forgive the pun, magical as Karl Mordo. He manages to take you on his own journey through the film, albeit a very different path than Strange takes. It’s done so smoothly that it keeps you fixed on his character, yet does not take you out of the main story. While it’s true a lot of that is the writing, it takes a strong actor to be able to pull that off properly. While they are more bit type characters, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer and Benedict Wong as Wong are also excellent in the movie, but could probably have used a little more time. I would expect to see more from them in the sequel. The true star of this movie though are the visuals. The landscapes and the effects, the colors and the imagery used in the “alternate dimensions” were beyond amazing. I know a lot of people will relate it to Inception, and I can see that, but I think this even goes beyond what Inception offered. You can very easily get lost in the visuals for this movie as they are beyond gorgeous, which is why it’s good that they didn’t overuse them. They gave us just enough to blow us away, but not take away from the story.

Now, what did I not like? That’s a little tougher as there wasn’t much, and what there was, didn’t really bother me THAT much. I enjoyed Mads Mikkelsen as the villain Kaecillus, but he didn’t fill me with that “villain” feeling as much as I had hoped. While he is intimidating and clearly “evil”, for me he wasn’t as imposing as I would have liked. I also would have preferred to see more of the Wong and Palmer characters, but I know there really wasn’t much room for them to expand properly. Hopefully in a future movie. Also, oddly enough, I thought there was a little TOO much humor in this movie. I have zero issue with levity in the Marvel movies, I actually enjoy it, I just think maybe there was a bit too much in this one. I can’t give examples so as to not spoil things, but I would be curious to know what you all think.

One last thing I would say about this one? See it in the theaters. No question. The epic scale of some of the scenes and visuals will not translate the same to home setups or regular televisions. You really need that big theater screen to feel the scope of things. I also very much recommend 3D. I know, I know, most people don’t like it. It may give you headaches or disorient you, but with this movie, it creates a much more engrossing experience. Even if you don’t do 3D though, go see it in the theater. I can’t express that enough.

Until next time…

Class dismissed.