Doctor Strange Spoiler Review!

Hey everyone. If you want to read my non-spoiler thoughts on the movie, the review for that is HERE. This post is to talk about the specifics and particular things that happen in the movie, including the mid- and post-credits scene. You have been warned. 

                Well after that ominousness, let’s get started. This review isn’t going to be structured like the non-spoiler one or the way a regular review is. Because I already have one for that, I’m just going to talk about particularly spoilery things that happens that I wanted to talk about because they were awesome or, at the very least, worth noting. 

Characters:

                As I said in the other review, Benedict Cumberbatch is nigh perfect in this role. This is Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark levels of casting here. And indeed there’s a lot of similarities between the characters, as anyone who sees the film will no doubt pick up on. The thing is, while Stark is an arrogant ass, he’s at least the charming, even fun kind. I didn’t think Strange had that nearly so much. He was a straight-up dick quite often in the movie. He was compelling, but not necessarily because you loved him. It made his transformation through the film more profound, as by the end as he continually sacrifices himself to try and save the world, you see that a real change has come over the guy. And I like that he did not immediately become Sorcerer Supreme at the end of the movie, because I wondered if they were going to. I think it was better that way, that the character remain as he is and then earn the title further down the line. 

                Christine Palmer, as portrayed by Rachel McAdams, also was a character that I really liked the way she was realized. They didn’t force a romance between the two. In fact, it seemed more like a former romance than anything else. And she remained a strong and autonomous character and took no shit from Strange in the film and I liked that. One thing I don’t like about the Thor movies (and I like the Thor movies) is how Jane kinda forgot she was a scientist when Thor showed up (unless the plot dictated that we needed to be reminded she actually did do something). And they didn’t get together in the end. Whether they do later on down the line, who knows, but it was better that way, rather than go right away into the whole ‘angst at having a double life and someone to be worried about the safety of’ thing, which in and of itself is pretty overwrought and overdone at this point. 

                I loved Wong, played by Benedict Wong. Especially his interactions with Strange. The scene where he calls Wong Beyonce, and then the next frame is Wong listening to Single Ladies was hilarious, with an almost Scooby-Doo-esque wackiness at all these mini portals opening as Strange nicks books from the library. And Wong was still a badass, he walks out to confront Kaecilius by himself, not about to back down even though outnumbered.  

                Unfortunately, the Stan Lee cameo was on the meh side. It was very brief and he didn’t really do anything. I guess it’s hard to top ‘Tony Stank’. 

                I guess I can call this a character, but I really like the Cloak of Levitation and how they made that work as being a (semi?) sentient object. If anything, it reminded me of Magic Carpet, from Aladdin. Given how much I love Aladdin, I wasn’t going to complain. It was a really neat way of doing it and both showed off more of the mystical aspects of the film and provided quite a bit of humor.

Plot:

                As I said in the spoiler-free review, the pace for this movie is pretty hectic. I hope the next time we see him we get to spend a bit more time, go a little slower and really sink our teeth into the whole magic aspect now that it’s arrived in the MCU. You don’t even spend much time with Doctor Strange prior to his accident, which comes very early in the film. Even I was surprised as how early on it happened. Also more time at Kamar-Taj while he’s learning magic, it seemed so quick. His interactions with Wong, Mordo, and The Ancient One were so good that it would have been nice to see more. There was actually a lot more humor in The Ancient One than I was expecting, and the two actors played so well off each other. I’m also hoping to see more between Strange and Wong in later movies because I can’t wait to see how their relationship evolves. 

                I didn’t mind how Dormammu looked. I figure if he comes out of his dimension or takes on a form to interact with ‘lesser beings’ more directly, it wouldn’t surprise me if his look somehow changes or alters in some way. As it was, it was a bit meh, but it was trippy enough to work with the rest of the visuals.  

                As far as visuals go, one of the coolest fights is at the end where they fight Kaecilius as time moves backwards around them and the destruction Kaecilius has caused reverses itself. It was a really unique fight and the way the environment came into play as both as hazard and an asset was intriguing. When everyone was comparing this movie to Inception, we had no idea how much it would take that idea, drop a bunch of acid, and crank it up to eleven. Even the parts where the city is pulling apart and spinning and flipping and restructuring itself around them is more M.C Escher than Christopher Nolan. 

in the words of Neo, "Whoa."

                Back to plot specifically, there one thing I really, really liked about how the film resolved. The big meme now is of course:

                Because that resolution was an awesome surprise. I did not expect them to go all Groundhog’s Day and basically annoy Dormammu to defeat. But the best part was that it was so in-character for Strange. This is a guy who relies on his brains, who freaked out when he killed one of Kaecilius’ men in self-defense. I admire that they went there, and let him resolve it with strategy and brains rather than punching Dormammu with his new magic-powers. It’s nice to see a superhero use his intellect for the boss fight, with his powers complimenting that instead of overriding it. I also didn’t really consider what was going one of those whole hole-in-the-sky-with-a-beam-coming-out-of-it things either. First off, no beam, and second the dark dimension was just encroaching on our world like a black fog, or a like a bag torn open and its contents spilling out. It didn’t strike me the same way. 

                Lastly, I just want to touch on the mid- and post-credits scenes. The mid-credit conversation with Thor appears to be directly tied to the events of Thor: Ragnarok, and given Strange’s offer to help, makes me think that he will show up for at least a cameo in the movie, which would be cool to see how they play the Asgardian 'science-magic' against this 'mystical-magic'. The post-credit scene between Mordo and Pangborn is obviously a direct allusion to Mordo’s evolution into Baron Mordo, and setting him up to appear again in that capacity. Which will be very interesting to see how his feelings of betrayal propel him into these actions and how Strange will handle that information.

                So those are the spoiler-bits I wanted to touch on for Doctor Strange. As I said, I really enjoyed this movie and if I get a chance, I want to see it again in 3-D. Hopefully though, I will get to see Arrival soon and have a review up for that as well. Until then, don’t forget to take a moment tomorrow for Remembrance Day to honor those who have and do serve. And we’ll see you next time!