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Doctor Strange
Oct. 29th, 2016 04:24 pmWarning: This film contains distressing scenes of violence against books from the very beginning.
Fortunately, it's a moral tale, and the villain in question has cause to regret said bibliophobic behaviour by the end.
That aside, this is bonkers. No, I mean really, REALLY bonkers. Dr Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, in a role almost made for him) is a brilliant but arrogant surgeon. After suffering an accident, he travels to Kathmandu (as you do) in search of healing, becomes a sorcerer (Er, what?), and ends up getting conned into joining an ancient order, who are trying to save the Earth from inter-dimensional invasion (Okaaay...). It's confusing and quite hard to follow exactly what's going on for the first half, but just go with it and it works.
The first thing you notice is that the CGI wizards are obviously having fun showing off. The world-bending tricks are visually quite different from normal action fare, which makes for a very interesting-looking film. At times, it feels slightly reminiscent of The Matrix.
More importantly though, this is a Marvel Studios film that's back on form after a few slightly disappointing instalments of late. All the ingredients are here - Origin story: check. Tongue-in-cheek humour: check. Complex, flawed, engaging characters: check. Stan Lee cameo: check. Credit cookies: check, and check again (Make sure you stay to the very end!). References to other films in the franchise: check, but they're cleverly and sparingly done, and work very effectively.
There's also a bald Tilda Swinton, who is as brilliant as ever. IMHO, she ought to be in every film.
Yeah, this is a good one. Recommended.
P.S. - It was preceded by the latest Rogue One trailer. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. They seem to have made not-a-Star-Wars-film set in the Star Wars universe. This will either turn out to be a stroke of genius or an unmitigated disaster. I'm all for broadening out with new characters and stories, but they seem to be going for a totally different feel. I tried asking myself, "Would I be interested in seeing this if it wasn't Star Wars?" I'm still not sure.
P.P.S. - I am going to see it, of course.
Fortunately, it's a moral tale, and the villain in question has cause to regret said bibliophobic behaviour by the end.
That aside, this is bonkers. No, I mean really, REALLY bonkers. Dr Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, in a role almost made for him) is a brilliant but arrogant surgeon. After suffering an accident, he travels to Kathmandu (as you do) in search of healing, becomes a sorcerer (Er, what?), and ends up getting conned into joining an ancient order, who are trying to save the Earth from inter-dimensional invasion (Okaaay...). It's confusing and quite hard to follow exactly what's going on for the first half, but just go with it and it works.
The first thing you notice is that the CGI wizards are obviously having fun showing off. The world-bending tricks are visually quite different from normal action fare, which makes for a very interesting-looking film. At times, it feels slightly reminiscent of The Matrix.
More importantly though, this is a Marvel Studios film that's back on form after a few slightly disappointing instalments of late. All the ingredients are here - Origin story: check. Tongue-in-cheek humour: check. Complex, flawed, engaging characters: check. Stan Lee cameo: check. Credit cookies: check, and check again (Make sure you stay to the very end!). References to other films in the franchise: check, but they're cleverly and sparingly done, and work very effectively.
There's also a bald Tilda Swinton, who is as brilliant as ever. IMHO, she ought to be in every film.
Yeah, this is a good one. Recommended.
P.S. - It was preceded by the latest Rogue One trailer. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. They seem to have made not-a-Star-Wars-film set in the Star Wars universe. This will either turn out to be a stroke of genius or an unmitigated disaster. I'm all for broadening out with new characters and stories, but they seem to be going for a totally different feel. I tried asking myself, "Would I be interested in seeing this if it wasn't Star Wars?" I'm still not sure.
P.P.S. - I am going to see it, of course.
