Doctor Strange

So much information, so much magic – and so little time. It is clear from every scene how much Scott Derrickson (and ultimately, all of Marvel Studios) love the new addition to their universe and happily immerse themselves in all the magical gadgets, spaces, and twists. However, they could have given us more time in this gold mine because two hours can be desperately little at times. I had a great time, and Benedict Cumberbatch was born for the role of Strange, but in order to reach the highest rating (which is not far away), I will have to devour the entire adventure several more times and finally become acquainted with the source material, which I have been putting off for some time. (11/06/2016)

I’ve switched several times between three and four stars, and maybe not for the last time. Doctor Strange is a nice and fun comic-book ride that stands out mostly with its visuals; the way they bend reality is beautiful to watch. It’s very playful and clever, and those scenes have so many moving parts that if I tried to visualise something like that in my head, my brain would jump out of it. But other than that, it’s your classic Marvel flick with a lacklustre villain. Don’t they have anyone interesting in their whole universe, other than Loki? It’s pathetic already. And Ejiofor won’t pull it out in the potential sequel, either; the origin of the new villain has a pretty hollow motivation. A very important argument for the lower rating is also the total lack of explanation about the rules and limits of the world in the film. I fear that when Strange joins the rest of the Avengers, it will be such a mess that will bury everything. (10/27/2016)

It cannot be denied that, in contrast to the other interchangeable marvel movies, this is distinctive in its own way (however borrowed from Batman Begins/Inception). The problem is that in the second half, all cast that is precisely chosen to match the characters on which the movie is based on until this moment, is simply thrown away. Strange from being no one becomes a super master overnight, Christine disappears as if she was from catering crew and not the main female character (and the motivation of the hero), Mordo disappears in the middle of the sentence, it's event pointless to mention the villain. Well, just for the sake of the compositionally excessive effects for the sake of effect it is losing direction in those mirror worlds in the same way a fly would get lost in a mirror maze. In other words, as much effective as it is (and it's quite effective), as little it’s effective at the same time. And in this case, it's actually quite a pity for the Marvel movie. (10/26/2016)

The unfortunate thing is that Doctor Strange is essentially innocent in all of this. Derrickson tries his best what he has, and the actors - and there are quite a few stars among them - want to earn their salaries. However, Marvel's is at the very bottom of my film preferences because the films are simply too stupid and childish, bombastic and artificial. In essence, there is no title from this studio to which I would give more than one star, and Doctor Strange suffers from the fact that it accumulates an unhealthy amount of other elements I dislike, such as Eastern mysticism and magic in general. The only title that somewhat enjoyed due to its civilian style and pleasant humor was the Spider-Man series, but it is telling that it was created under the Columbia Pictures label, with Marvel Movies only participating. I came across this particular film on TV by chance and I just wanted to get an idea of what the Marvel phenomenon entails and it only confirmed all my old prejudices. Overall impression: 10% for the cast. (11/14/2017)

I'll admit I didn't have much faith in this movie. Mysticism and stuff like that passes me by, Benedict Cumberbatch is starting to bore me, and I wasn't that interested in another origin stry, but Doctor Strange surprised me. Very pleasantly. Cumberbatch fits the role perfectly, and even though he practically never leaves the screen, he's great as the arrogant doctor, the broken man, and ultimately the superhero. And thanks to him, you don’t even mind the classically understated villain so much, and this time the other characters played by Mads Mikkelsen and Chiwetel Ejiofor deserve more space. But the main star this time is without a doubt Scott Derrickson, who managed to turn the film into an audiovisual orgy (OK, Michael Giacchino's music helps him a lot) and make each action scene different from the previous one. Only towards the end it was maybe a bit too much. Doctor Strange is again a step in a slightly different direction and into places the other Marvel movies didn't even venture. And it works, again, and if Stephen Strange is going to replace Tony Stark as the leader of the entire MCU, I'm not worried about the future of the brand. The character and his representative are up to it without a shadow of a doubt. (05/15/2017)