Doctor Strange is where I draw the line. Not only does his backstory have a lot in common with Tony Stark's, but the universe they are building is one that just doesn't grab my attention as well as the others do. The acting is pretty good and the set up for the rest of the movies is solid as usual, but the film is sort of just punting the rest of it for the next film to pick up. It's a passable film, but I expect more from the MCU at this point, considering some of the films coming along the lines after this.
Plot: Acclaimed and arrogant surgeon Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is driving recklessly to a conference when he is involved in a cataclysmic accident that robs him of the ability to completely control his hands, thus ending his career and forcing Strange to take on several experimental procedures to heal his hands. His studies take him to the secret compound known as Kamar-Taj, which is under the watchful eye of the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). The Ancient One is reluctant to teach the ways of magic and sorcery to him, fearing that he would end up like a previous apprentice of hers who went rogue named Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), but does allow Strange to study the ways of the Sorcerer Supreme.
Eventually, Strange begins to master magic and even delves into the texts and knowledge of the world he wasn't supposed to know. Kaecilius resurfaces and reveals his intent to use stolen pages from The Ancient One's sacred texts to attempt to contact Dormammu, a being of limitless dark power. While fighting to prevent the treacherous former student from acquiring more and more power for himself and potentially wiping out life on earth, Strange ultimately learns that The Ancient One has been sustained in life by power from Dormammu's dimension and has a temporary falling out with her. But when Kaecilius eliminates her, she informs Strange that sometimes, bending the rules and finding their own path instead of the steadfast one will find you the answers he seeks. Strange assumes the role as the most powerful sorcerer Earth has and devises a clever and unique way to not only bring an end to Dormammu's destructive designs, but also manages to sideline The Ancient One's failed apprentice once and for all.
What's Bad?: I'm certain this trait of arrogance for Dr. Strange stems from the comics and I won't accuse either Stan Lee or Jack Kirby of being completely without flaw as character creators, but I find the origin stories for Stephen Strange way too similar with those of Tony Stark. The idea that they both have strong senses of arrogance and moral ambiguity about them, only to be humbled by a horrific accident is something that doesn't exactly make me feel anything I didn't already feel for Stark. And yes, I do love what they've done with Tony Stark in the MCU, but to introduce Strange into this story so late into the conception of the MCU is not going to endear me much to his story, especially considering how much of a 180 he does by the time you get to Infinity War.
The MCU also has a villain problem. They cannot get villains right on a consistent basis. For every Loki, Ultron, Thanos and Hela they give us, we get a Yellow Jacket, Whiplash or fake out Mandarin. And yes, Kaecilius unfortunately falls into the latter category. It's not that he's a bad villain, it's just that he's uninteresting. They could have had fun with this role and gave us an over the top recreation of someone like Jafar that not only wanted power, but was willing to do everything and anything to attain it. It's not purely the fault of the acting, as these movies often spend more time developing the heroes and their chemistry over the villains (which is fair as chemistry is needed), but the need for a villain seems to be lacking in some of these films. And it's unfortunate, because this one could have definitely used it.
Another thing I really couldn't get into was the other characters in the universe. Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Wong (Benedict Wong) and Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), all actors and actresses I know are talented, just don't have the fire power to add to this universe. The only truly engaging characters I found in this one were Strange himself and the Ancient One. I wouldn't mind as much if these characters didn't appear in as much of the film as they do. But since they occupy almost as much of the movie as the leads do, it becomes something of a chore to sit through.
What's Good?: As I said above, the strength in this movie comes from how well both Benedict Cumberbatch and Tilda Swinton play their roles. It's not a truly and wholly original master and apprentice relationship, but the two actors have such chemistry between each other that it works very well for what the movie is trying to do. Cumberbatch plays the role of the snarky and successful Strange very well and Swinton (whom I personally haven't seen since The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) plays the mentor role superbly.
The movie also isn't a laugh a minute movie like some of the other MCU movies are. And I appreciate that. I like how Marvel is the more lighthearted superhero movies in comparison to DC, but sometimes a bit toned down humor can do wonders for a film (ironic considering one of the greatest films in this universe is a screwball comedy, but we'll get to that one later). I'm just tired of all the cliched slapstick and one liners that make these movies and this film fortunately tones it down considerably. In fact, from this film on, it's mostly more relaxed with a few exceptions. Marvel and Disney were really trying to get out of the tropes of their storytelling in these films, only truly succeeding when they made Infinity War.
Overall: The best word I can use to describe this movie is messy. It has it's strengths, but is bogged down by weaknesses. I appreciate them for showing me a part of the Marvel Comics world I never knew about, but a snippet was all I really needed. I think if they had done something similar to what they did for Spider-Man and Black Panther in Civil War, I would have taken to Strange a bit more, because he is awesome to watch in Infinity War and his fun little cameo in Thor: Ragnarok. I don't think he needed his own movie, as the lack of a compelling villain and weak side characters clearly show. This movie is about as middle of the road as you can get. Not bad enough to be awful, but not good enough to be good. Oh man, Chris is gonna kill me...
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