11/6/2016 - Doctor Strange (2016) – 5+/6-/10

Truly stunning and innovative visually, which proves to be the driving ideology & thrust of the film. Thoroughly over-simplistic and formulaic, lacking emotional depth and plot intricacies, but that said, it was still a great deal of fun to watch. This seemed like a difficult movie to pull off; trying to deliver on complex and nigh-unseen form & world building (which they did a tremendous job of). For me, I was wrapped up while watching, but it does not quite deliver past the visuals, during viewing and especially upon reflection.

The 4 wizarding actors did a helluva job. They are all strong acting talents, and breeze through their roles with sufficient effort but undeniable talent. I can only imagine how cringey this movie would have come across if those actors didn’t deliver.

While the visuals were Matrix-ey in their eye-popping-ness/paradigm shifiness, the story was weak. The plot was formulaic, the pseudo-romance unnecessary and inert, the villain somewhat dull, and the Doctor was tonally schizophrenic. They do a fun and smart job of discussing much of the magic, the characters tended to be wooden and mere plot contrivances. For the hero’s journey Strange is supposed to be on, the timing is confusing, his adaptability/proficiency under-explained, and his character (Is he an asshole? Is he learning to not be an asshole? Did he do that? Is he serious or smart allecky? His “come to Jesus” felt weak and put-upon.) an amorphous “whatever the plot needs him to be”.

Perhaps a more deft and tonally consistent script might have improved this movie. Maybe a firmer hand in dealing with characters, their motivations, and their relationships from the director might have added to the overall product positively. To me, it felt as though this was a standard w/upside superhero film, with its share of “punch ups” to “pop” the audience (not to say that all of them aren’t funny), but it didn’t feel true. Guardians felt like them, naturalistic and identifiable to the characters. Here, it felt a bit like “do what they did there and there… Audiences love that stuff”, not quite being its own.

As negative as this might sound, I did enjoy it a great deal. I appreciated it a lot conceptually and all of the mind bending visuals worked for me. It was a tremendous ride and fun theater going experience, even though the flaws of the film kept me from going gaga. It is a good film, its pluses and minuses balancing out, but it can’t get near great. A tasty, but ultimately unfulfilling cake, that everyone at the party likes, but it lacks that superb frosting that would have people talking about it later – “you remember that amazing cake?”. Enjoyable and good-ish.