Episode 1630 Talkback - Doctor Strange Movie Review
Adam_Murdough
Posts: 506
The moons of Munnopor have come into alignment, and it's time for the CGS review of the phantasmagorical feature film Doctor Strange! The Geeks enter into astral communion (also called 'Skype') to share their thoughts on plot, character, and above all, visual effects in Marvel's latest blockbuster. Fire up your All-Seeing iPod of Agamotto and feel the magic! (1:10:17)
Listen here.
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Comments
The changes made to the origin and basic Dr. Strange mythos made complete sense to me, and in many cases were actually improvements. An example of which was the organization Strange was recruited into. Considering the scale of the threat facing Earth, it makes a bit more sense that the Ancient One would have a larger group of magical "warriors" at the ready to battle Dormammu's influence. As for Dormammu himself, I was completely fine with the more abstract vision of the character...at least at this point in the cinematic Doctor Strange story. As Shane said, maybe a more humanoid version of Dormammu will emerge later on...but keeping him a more disembodied mystical force this time around seemed to ring true.
I also appreciated how there seemed to be forces at work that went beyond even the perceptions of the Ancient One, perfectly communicated in the scene where she seemed genuinely surprised that the Eye of Agamotto responded to Stephen Strange. The mystic artifacts seem to know something the Earthly adepts are blind to.
As for everything else, they perfectly captured and translated so much of the classic Strange comics to the screen, from small touches (Stephen's Ditko-like finger-splaying during his first tentative attempt at spell-casting) to large set pieces (like the astral form battle in the operating room, brilliantly channeling those same eerie confrontations Ditko depicted half a century gone). AND THE DARK DIMENSION! Right outta the comics!!!!!
Regarding the "thinness" of the plot, I believe that was absolutely necessary for an otherwise conceptually intense film. In other words, the general public was being asked to digest a gigantic amount of esoterica...overlaying a dense, complex plot over that would have simply been too much. We tend to forget just how versed in this stuff we are, and that film makers need to make this stuff reasonably accessible to "civilians". No problems with the simple plot.
I thought it was brilliant that THOR was the first Marvel hero Doctor Strange interacted with, considering his "playground" was the closest thing to the supernatural in the Marvel cinematic universe. It makes sense that the super-science, borderline "mystic" (or mythic) sensibilities of Thor's world would interact so seamlessly with Strange's. Brilliant.
Glad to hear the gang (mostly) agreed with my own take on the movie. Dani obviously wasn't as enthusiastic...but I can't think of many things discussed on the show that she IS enthusiastic about, frankly.
We live in amazing times, folks! We've just witnessed DOCTOR STRANGE on the big screen! I can still hardly believe it!
If anyone has seen these two things happening earlier than The Oath please share.
Chris ... why oh why would you "lean over and tell" anyone that didn't know the movie or characters that Baron Mordo was going to be one of Dr Strange's biggest enemies?
What a thing to do. Spoil a movie DURING the actual movie?
Dude!!! Not cool. Let them experience it on their own, man.
:neutral:
Anyway, nice thoughts on the movie, guys (and gal)
I'm curious if the mid-credits scene is just a portion of a longer scene in Thor 3. I think the post-credit scene was rushed a little bit. Kinda like the Sinestro turn in Green Lantern movie.
I liked Dormammu's look; especially since Cumberbatch provided the basis for the look & provided the voice. I think sometimes we get hung up on how things look in the source material. They shouldn't go completely rogue with the look, but I can give them a little leeway.
So, we're 14 movies into the MCU story. Amazing they've still maintained a draw to the box office. Anyone read/hear the quasi-criticism about the crossovers? I've read a couple articles commending this movie for lacking interference by other MCU characters (excluding the mid-credit scene). One article felt Strange (Thor & Hulk) should be separate from the rest of the MCU & have their own shared universe. I wonder if these critics read comic books.
I've also read how the shared universe idea has essentially run its course in movies & MCU (and DCEU) should just move on from it. Since other studios are trying the same, I would say it's a growing trend.
I'd give this a 4.5 out of 5. Not in the ranks of the Cap trilogy or Avengers: AoU, but definitely in the mix.
M
Glad I did. It was well done and worth the extra shekels.
It was about letting other people discover the fun of things you also found fun. Remember reading comics and learning about all of the characters? Why spoil that awesome discovery for others? What is wrong with answering questions they may have AFTER they experience the movie instead of spoiling the answers before they can ask or decide if they need to?
But this is becoming way larger than what it should have been. This was about a movie. It was a bad attempt my me at "messing with you" more than anything and I did a bad job of it. It got out of hand, I will take the blame.
Sorry you felt I crossed a line, truly. And I'm going to stop here. I didn't know it was your son and I am not (wasn't) trying to start anything so serious and I am certainly not trying to troll you or anyone else so I will just apologize and leave it that. Best wishes. I'm sorry, Again
Peace.
And Mr. Cosmic, I didn't feel it was "my place" to tell him anything. Again, it was meant to be more of a "wink, wink" poke than some vocal outcry. I only tried to explain myself to him as he seemed to have taken it way more to heart than I expected.
Chris said (not verbatim of course) that when Mordo first appeared he leaned over and told [his son] that that guy was going to end up being one of Dr. Strange's biggest enemies. I said that wasn't cool. That is it. How is that interfering or stepping beyond some parenting boundary? Heck, I didn't even know it was his son. But regardless, Chris felt I overstepped and so I apologized. And I meant it.
My kids aren't old enough to be interested in stuff not on Disney Junior. I do spoil character storylines for my wife though. She's really into the MCU, but not enough to care. When I told her Bucky goes on to become the Winter Soldier when we saw First Avenger, it didn't matter to her when we watched the sequel.
She gets more upset with me when we watch a movie neither saw & I predict twists or endings. When we watched Gone Girl, she was upset I guessed all the twists & concerned when I told her "it's what I would've done".
M
It's just fun. It's a family thing.
On the other hand, if I actually know the ending or a secret about someone the movie or show hasn't revealed yet, I endeavor not to mention anything until it happened. Then I explain what I know so they better understand what just happened or what was just revealed.
M
You can strip me of my Hipster Badge now.