Welcome to a new and improved blog with a new working title and hopefully a lot more posts to come. I will ask for all of you to bare with me and keep reading. I'm going to start as I mean to go on by reviewing the latest release from Marvel Studios, "Doctor Strange"
As with a lot of people I'm not really clued up on "Doctor Strange" and his background, but have learned a basic understanding of that part of the Marvel universe since the announcement was made that Scott Derrickson was going to bring Benedict Cumberbatch to the Marvel Universe.
"Doctor Strange" was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appeared in Marvel Comics in 1963. Since then Stephen Strange has become a mainstay within the Marvel universe. "Doctor Strange" acts as an origin story for Stephen Strange, an arrogant surgeon who has his hands severely damaged in a car accident. Being unable to ever perform surgery again Strange hears of a way in which he may be able to gain the precision in his hands again and travels to Nepal where he encounters The Ancient One; an all knowing being that has existed for centuries that teaches Strange the ways of the Mystic Arts. Whilst studying Strange learns of a former pupil of the Ancient One, Kaellicius, is leading a group of rebels Hell bent on bringing the dark force of Dormammu to this world. Strange along with fellow pupil Karl Mordo must prevent this from happening by jumping between dimensions.
Scott Derrickson was in a lot of opinions a, pardon the pun, strange choice to head up a big budget superhero movie. Derrickson was writer and director on the first "Sinister" film and has had much big budget or big studio picture experience. With that being said I feel Derrickson has done incredibley well with "Doctor Strange" finding a great balance of humour, action and drama without becoming too bogged down with details and what could have been a complicated back story. I'm excited to see what happens next with regards to Derrickson and the Marvel Universe.
There were numerous rumours as to whom would play the title character, from Johnny Depp to Joaquin Phoenix. I feel Benedict Cumberbatch was a fantastic choice, playing arrogant and cocky to a tee. He also has a brilliant dramatic turn when Strange faces the prospect of not being able to be a surgeon anymore. There was a lot of criticism of the casting of Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One with people saying that Marvel Studios were white washing an ancient character, however I feel those criticisms were completely pointless as Swinton was fantastic. Rachel McAdams was simply OK as Christine Palmer. I was expecting more from her character, but she was simply nothing more than a former flame that helped Strange out when he needed it. I was really dissapointed with Mads Mikkelsen as Kaellcius. Thats not a criticism on Mikklesens acting but on the lack of depth of the character as a whole, being a one dimensional villain. Chiwetel Ejiofor is great as Karl Mordo, being the level head to Stranges' head strong cockiness, expect to see more from him in the Marvel universe
Visually "Doctor Strange" was fantastic. I saw the film in 2D, but it was so clearly made to be seen in 3D and IMAX. The dimension bending jumps on screen moved around like a beautiful Kaleidoscope with sometimes a little too much happening on screen that I feared I might miss something. The effects for magic conjuring were brilliant too looking like they jumped straight off the comic book page. The previous few Marvel Studios have all been relatively gritty and based on earth, with "Doctor Strange" the audience are treated to a multicoloured, mind bending treat for the eyes.
The story for "Doctor Strange" was pretty strong, whilst a pretty hefty part of the film was spent telling the origin for "Doctor Strange" the continuing story was still pretty strong, albeit a bit rushed and as I mentioned before lacking in depth for Mads Mikkelsens Kaelicius character. Thankfully "Doctor Strange" was more than just a set up for future Marvel Studios films. Despite being more than a dozen films in Marvel Studios were able to introduce a completely new character to the universe without having to use any farmiliar faces to bring in an audience. With that being said I would advise to stay right to the end of the credits as not only does the mid credit scene set up for future Marvel Studios films but the final scene points towards a "Doctor Strange" sequel too.
Overall "Doctor Strange" shows the future for Marvel Studios is more than promising. Strong story and visuals prove that you can have both and still bring in an audience. Cumberbatch was fantastic as "Stephen Strange" and I look forward to seeing a lot more from both him and Ejiofor in future Marvel Studios films. Well worth the wait and a brilliant comic book film that could bring in the science fiction fans as well as the die hard comic book fans.
As with a lot of people I'm not really clued up on "Doctor Strange" and his background, but have learned a basic understanding of that part of the Marvel universe since the announcement was made that Scott Derrickson was going to bring Benedict Cumberbatch to the Marvel Universe.
"Doctor Strange" was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appeared in Marvel Comics in 1963. Since then Stephen Strange has become a mainstay within the Marvel universe. "Doctor Strange" acts as an origin story for Stephen Strange, an arrogant surgeon who has his hands severely damaged in a car accident. Being unable to ever perform surgery again Strange hears of a way in which he may be able to gain the precision in his hands again and travels to Nepal where he encounters The Ancient One; an all knowing being that has existed for centuries that teaches Strange the ways of the Mystic Arts. Whilst studying Strange learns of a former pupil of the Ancient One, Kaellicius, is leading a group of rebels Hell bent on bringing the dark force of Dormammu to this world. Strange along with fellow pupil Karl Mordo must prevent this from happening by jumping between dimensions.
Scott Derrickson was in a lot of opinions a, pardon the pun, strange choice to head up a big budget superhero movie. Derrickson was writer and director on the first "Sinister" film and has had much big budget or big studio picture experience. With that being said I feel Derrickson has done incredibley well with "Doctor Strange" finding a great balance of humour, action and drama without becoming too bogged down with details and what could have been a complicated back story. I'm excited to see what happens next with regards to Derrickson and the Marvel Universe.
There were numerous rumours as to whom would play the title character, from Johnny Depp to Joaquin Phoenix. I feel Benedict Cumberbatch was a fantastic choice, playing arrogant and cocky to a tee. He also has a brilliant dramatic turn when Strange faces the prospect of not being able to be a surgeon anymore. There was a lot of criticism of the casting of Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One with people saying that Marvel Studios were white washing an ancient character, however I feel those criticisms were completely pointless as Swinton was fantastic. Rachel McAdams was simply OK as Christine Palmer. I was expecting more from her character, but she was simply nothing more than a former flame that helped Strange out when he needed it. I was really dissapointed with Mads Mikkelsen as Kaellcius. Thats not a criticism on Mikklesens acting but on the lack of depth of the character as a whole, being a one dimensional villain. Chiwetel Ejiofor is great as Karl Mordo, being the level head to Stranges' head strong cockiness, expect to see more from him in the Marvel universe
Visually "Doctor Strange" was fantastic. I saw the film in 2D, but it was so clearly made to be seen in 3D and IMAX. The dimension bending jumps on screen moved around like a beautiful Kaleidoscope with sometimes a little too much happening on screen that I feared I might miss something. The effects for magic conjuring were brilliant too looking like they jumped straight off the comic book page. The previous few Marvel Studios have all been relatively gritty and based on earth, with "Doctor Strange" the audience are treated to a multicoloured, mind bending treat for the eyes.
The story for "Doctor Strange" was pretty strong, whilst a pretty hefty part of the film was spent telling the origin for "Doctor Strange" the continuing story was still pretty strong, albeit a bit rushed and as I mentioned before lacking in depth for Mads Mikkelsens Kaelicius character. Thankfully "Doctor Strange" was more than just a set up for future Marvel Studios films. Despite being more than a dozen films in Marvel Studios were able to introduce a completely new character to the universe without having to use any farmiliar faces to bring in an audience. With that being said I would advise to stay right to the end of the credits as not only does the mid credit scene set up for future Marvel Studios films but the final scene points towards a "Doctor Strange" sequel too.
Overall "Doctor Strange" shows the future for Marvel Studios is more than promising. Strong story and visuals prove that you can have both and still bring in an audience. Cumberbatch was fantastic as "Stephen Strange" and I look forward to seeing a lot more from both him and Ejiofor in future Marvel Studios films. Well worth the wait and a brilliant comic book film that could bring in the science fiction fans as well as the die hard comic book fans.
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