Tilda Swinton is just so weird, and knowing that just added so much to the character. Perfect casting, I think.

Isn't it supposed to be the standard old Asian dude in the comic? Guessing they poked fun at that when introducing her.

 

Saw it, enjoyed it. Loved the invention and the spectacle of the different dimensions, I thought Cumberbatch was good, as were Swinton and Ejifor. Mikkelson was fine, but his character was pretty dull. Same for MacAdams, although she was at least consistently funny in her second set of scenes. The best performance was undoubtedly by the Cloak though.

 

Liked this a lot more than I expected to, not nearly as bland as the standard Marvel film, and I loved the climax. It did make me wonder how Infinity War is going to go though - the Avengers (I guess with the exception of Thor and Vision) and all the other previous characters seem kind of irrelavant compared to Strange.

 

Hah. My sister and I instantly related the Cloak to Carpet (Aladdin, you heathens).

Is the cloak like that in the comics? Or is it a bit of licence taken by the director?

 

Saw it a and loved it. It has it flaws but, as someone that's been expecting this movie for so long, I can't help but rank it high on my list. The psychedelic parts were the most fun to watch on the theater. Loved the costuming and the design for a certain character.

Also, yes. The cloak does have a mind of its own and helps protect Strange. I don't recall it being quite as lively but it IS something right out of the comics.

 

The thing with American accents is that they can turn out neutrally, without consistent regional character (unless you're going for a clear stereotype --- Southern, Cali surfer). It's like meeting someone who's a completely "average person" --- useful statistical measure but no such individual. Done well, it enacts something of an uncanny valley effect.

I've noticed this with Christian Bale and now with Cumberbatch. The neutral tones draw all the more attention to vocal constraints on their facial expressions, which are, also not typically American. There's a distinct downturn of the lips, for one, that signifies a leveling suppression (neutralization?) of sound, as it passes from throat to mouth.

 

Watched it two days ago, in German, and while I liked it more than I thought I would, - I honestly expected to hate it - it's still a "watch once and then never again" movie to me. The special effects were by far the best thing and this seamlessly switching the gravity thing makes me have high hopes for the Stormlight Archieve and Mistborn movies.

That said, it is another marvel origin story movie and I honestly didn't think it needed to be told. The side characters were forgettable, especially the girlfriend who was there to get two chuckles out of you and give us the obligatory love component, the librarian was at least slightly memorable and entertaining and easily the second best thing in the movie which is a bit sad tbh, the villain was an absolute bore and might as well have been a faceless stooge and the guy who saw everything in black and white was annoying, especially at the end where he bitched on how bad the final plan was but at no point offered an alternative. Strange himself was...meh at best. He was boring in the first arc and slightly less boring in the following arcs.

Kinda seems like the type of character where you don't really need an origin story, just say he is a sorcerer in modern times who watches out for evil stuff and I think audiences would have been on board with that, without needing the cookie cutter "he was an arrogant man of science who needed to open his mind to the wonders and spiritual aspects of the world" story.

Oh okay, I was mistaken, the coat was the second best thing. Just as Hugplx I instantly thought of the carpet from Aladdin, it was basically the same thing, maybe slightly more bloodthirsty.

So yeah, it wasn't horrible or anything, definitely watcheable once, but not convinced it was worth paying for a movie ticket.

 

I just got back from Doctor Strange. Pretty good entry in the MCU, I love all things magic.

If you do see it, make sure to stick around for the post-credit scenes, cause there are two.

 

I disagree with people saying the visuals are the stand-out thing about this movie. Yes, the visuals were amazing (especially as I saw it in IMAX 3D) but I felt like what truly makes Doctor Strange stand out as head and shoulders above its Marvel peers is its depth. This manifests in all sorts of ways: the depth of Strange's character primarily, as he feels extremely human, the serious and profound nature of some of the issues and themes (in particular existential themes), and also the complexity of many of the character interactions and relationships (Strange does not get the girl, for example). All that depth is worth ten times the visuals.

 

Reminded me a lot of Stark's origin in the very beginning tbh. Strange was a selfish genius who ends up injured and has to rediscover himself and becomes a flying superhero.

I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I'd say it's now my second favorite origin story. Nothing beats the original Iron Man for me, Thor was number 2, but this took that spot.

7/10 movie for me.

 

The Guardians origin still #1

 

In general I enjoyed the movie a lot and was never bored but I still consider the plotline a bit thin which a lot Origin movies unfortunately suffer from. It needed more flesh in the middle part with a real history about the "antagonist". It's too short than it deserved.

IMHO Batman Begins is still the best Origin movie by far.

 

Watched it last week. The 3D of all the trippy effects was amazing as expected, and the performances were strong across the board.

It was a good movie, but the ending left me feeling a bit dissatisfied. Like it ended too abruptly, or didn't show us everything it was supposed to.

I liked everything about the Ancient One.

 

I was really keen for Doctor Strange. I genuinely wanted to like it, a lot. But I felt oddly hollow leaving the theatre. Giving myself a few days to sit with it, the whole experience felt empty. We were given this huge character development for Strange, which I really enjoyed, but I felt that the real magic and meat of the story was glossed over.

The world felt unpopulated, that may be because it actually is, but it shouldn't feel that way. Those three sanctums(...?) which were apparently pivotal to the protection of the earth were guarded by a single person at each? C'mon, at least leave a few people there...

The magic displayed was very limited as if they felt that too much would overwhelm the audience, which is bizarre considering that a lot of the movie is exposition. Not to mention that magic is fairly pedestrian to audiences these days. Even the ending felt rather anticlimactic, sure it was sort of clever, but it was too much like a deus ex machina.

I feel like Doctor Strange still has a lot of potential, especially moving forward, but was a missed opportunity. That being said most of my complaints wouldn't be an issue if Strange weren't in his own solo film. Very interested in him being in the upcoming Thor and Avengers movie.

 

I actually liked it. IT felt like its story was more complex tham majority of Marvel movies and actors did really good job. Visual effect tough was amazing in 3d.

9/10.

I would have liked it a bit more if they had explored magic society more.

 

Was the ending climactic? Or just another buildup to the power of Dr. Strange with the Time Infinity Stone.

I more believe that the end was anticlimactic because, truly, it was an ant versus a world pulverising giant. The giant being, rather, Strange.

 

Wait, hold on. Which part of the story was particularly complex?

 

I'm sitting down to see this in 40 minutes. Plain old 2D because I can't stand the glasses darkening my vision on top of my already crap eyesight. Pretty excited, it's my first theatre movie since Cap 3 and BvS. Also a good warm up for Fantastic Beasts because wizards.

---------- Post automerged 7th Nov 2016 at 00:18 ---------- Previous post was 6th Nov 2016 at 19:45 ----------

Two quick things, I'll write a proper review tomorrow.

Spoiler

I feel like the middle of the film -Strange's training - was sacrificed to give us solid first and third acts.

Loved how when Strange shows up, all "I've come to bargain", Dormammu is like "Fuck off" and just obliterates him.

 

Wooh, been a while since I posted on here.

As some of you might know, I work in a Cinema and so actually managed to catch the movie the day before release.

If anyone can, I would recommend seeing the movie in 4DX. It's easily one of the best 4DX movies I've seen and it has the added benefit of also being 3D. Unfortunately, there's less than ten 4DX screens in the UK and I'm not sure about how many arein the US.

In terms of plot, the movie was quite similar to Iron Man which could be one of the reasons it did so well. Unfortunately, this can also be an argument for why the movie may not be original. Personally I have no issue with the similarit, enough new stuff has been aded to make that seem like a minor complaint.

One of the gripes that I do have with the movie is one of the main gripes that I also had with Deadpool: The Passage of Time. In Deadpool, I couldn't honestly tell you how long Wade was hunting for Francis for as that small montage seemed like it just happened in the span of a couple months.

Likewise, in Doctor Strange, I have no idea how long Strange was training for. Was it months? Years? A simple throwaway line like "You have been training here for nearly half a decade and still you do not understand" or something similar could have been used.

As for Rachel McAdams: Her character is easily one of, if not the best of the love interests in the MCU. She's not given too much importance so she doesn't take up valuable screen time, her character can function without Strange and, technically speaking, she wasn't actually a love interest in the movie.

Now for the villain: LIke all MCU villains bar Loki he needed to be fleshed out a lot more. I'm not quite sure what they could have done though. Maybe have her be related to The Ancient One somehow?

Now, I'm gonna have to disagree with those that sya this movie shouldn't have been an origin story. Origin stories tend to do better than getting straight into the plot. Not to mention that Strange isn't a well known comic book character and so we needed to see him from the very beginning to understand his motivations and his character.

Easy 8/10. Maybe even 9/10.