Fourteen films and some ten TV shows-strong after just eight years, the MCU franchise is without argument the most impressive in cinema history. And while there are some notable entries – Iron Man, Avengers Assemble, Guardians of the Galaxy and the Captain America sequels – there are also some downright forgettables. But with Thor 3: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 on the horizon, there’s no doubt that, with the law of averages on their side, Marvel will return to top-form in at least one of those flicks. For now though, it seems that the MCU proves once again, despite its unstoppable success, just how hit and miss it really is with its latest entry.
Benedict Cumberbatch plays Doctor Stephen Strange, a brilliant neurosurgeon who is so arrogant he seems less-penetrable than even an iron-clad Tony Stark. That is until he winds up in a car accident that renders him unable to use his hands, thereby swiftly ending his career and his relationship with Rachel McAdams’ Christine Palmer. But Strange searches for an answer that will see him cured of his physical impairment. Enter the Kamar-Taj,Nepal, a secret temple – or “sanctum” – where he learns to master the art of portal forgery and astral projection, which, in turn, he must use to battle Mads Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius, an evil sorcerer intent on wiping out of the universe.
As the film’s blatant trademark, there’s no denying the almost-awesomeness of the special effects, but they strangely inspire no awe. Perhaps I’m a spoilt cinema-goer or just hard to please, or perhaps the effects feel like nothing more than an extension of what we’ve already seen done so much better in Hollywood’s more dream-simulated worlds, with the only truly impressive aspect here being all the architectural minds that undoubtedly went into the strategic and complex folding of skyscrapers and so on. The real problem though is both the plot and those that populate it. With characters so vaguely constructed and with not just one but two inexcusably-generic villains (come on, MCU!), and a plot that revolves around interdimensional portals and relies on mind(and skyscraper)-bending special effects for its worth, Doctor Strange is strangely the most two-dimensional fourth dimensional-focused film with three-dimensional visual rendering.
Putting all that aside, the film’s worst aspect is the combination of a leviathan, space-dwelling villain, the magicalactical monk-like police force who forge weapons out of thin air and the strangely out-of-date tone, all of which fill the film with haunting echoes of 2011’s disturbingly-dreadful, cringe inducing Green Lantern. It’s not all doom and gloom though; the action is mildly-entertaining and there’s enough humour thrown in to release at least a couple of endorphins, and there’s even a semi-adorable sentient cloak that serves as Strange’s sort-of pet, but is sadly underused.
Narrowly missing a perfect opportunity to be truly creative and follow in the ground-breaking footsteps of The Matrix and Inception, consequently Doctor Strange is nothing more than visually and narratively-indecipherable, kaleidoscopic nonsense. In a film series of fourteen, underwhelmers might seem inevitable, especially given the studio’s increasing over-confidence – or cockiness – in adapting the more obscure comic books with the assumption that they’re as translatable to screen as Guardians. That said, I’ve never indulged in this film’s respective comics, so maybe I’m wrong in assuming that these particulars are aimed at the masses and not the minority. Somehow though, being the greed machine that is Marvel, I highly doubt it.
