Movie Review: Doctor Strange

First of all, I have to admit, the latest 14th entry to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, like its predecessors, feels overly familiar and formulaic at times. It's a typical basic comic book origin story with a three-act structure that we've seen plenty of times before in the superhero genre. Fortunately, it's also incredibly well made with great visuals and its inclusion of magic, the existence of the Marvel's expansive Multiverse, infinite dimensions and realities, made it quite different from what has come before.

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the titular arrogant, sarcastic yet brilliant neurosurgeon, Doctor Stephen Strange, who found that his hands had been damaged so severely that they could not be restored after a near death experience, effectively ending his career. With no medical procedure able to help him, the doctor travels to Nepal to learn the mystical art of magic, in hopes to find a cure. He encounters a powerful sorcerer, Mordo (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), which leads him to the Ancient One (played by Tilda Swinton), also known as the Sorcerer Supreme, who opens and widens his perspective of the world that we live in. Sooner, he finds himself caught in the middle of a war between The Ancient One and Kaecilius (Ancient One's former student, played by Mads Mikkelsen).

From a visual standpoint, the spectacular effects of Doctor Strange is unlike anything audiences have ever seen. Many have noted that the mirror dimension portrayed in the film bears striking similarities of the dreamscapes in Christopher Nolan's Inception, as buildings, roads, city structures were folding into themselves due to reality manipulation by the sorcerers. Although true to some extent, there are some notable differences in the shifting and bending of structures, scenes with things reversing backwards, forwards or freezes in time, magical seals used to conjure weapons or interdimensional travel by the sorcerers and the Cloak of Levitation (not Cloak of Invisibility in the Harry Potter films, mind you) were nothing short of amazing and sufficient enough to make it stand out among others to provide a refreshing take to the genre.

The film's focus on its titular character throughout the film managed to create a well-developed character arc, providing a satisfying viewing experience for the audience. Although the first arc of the film did felt a little rushed, the frequent humour and fast-paced fun managed to sustain the interest of its audience. However, this comes at an expense of the other interesting supporting characters such as Mordo, fellow doctor/love interest Christine Palmer (played by Rachel McAdams) and to a lesser extent, The Ancient One. The development of these characters' arcs are sidelined and not properly fleshed out like they should be. There should be more master-student interaction between Strange and the Ancient One. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Rachel McAdams did made use of the little screen time they had to perform what is required of them, but it's not enough. Aside from that, the romance between Strange and Palmer is not properly developed.

Moreover, Marvel has two persistent issues with their films: long list of underwhelming, underdeveloped and forgettable one-time villains with unconvincing motives and the creativity of the way the story is told. We've been given a backstory or expository explanations of the villains, Kaecilius and Dormammu, but nothing in-depth. They're just some villains pitted against our hero to fight with. Marvel has always been playing safe and never dares to take any risk to change their repetitive working formula...the story always unfolds in a simple, straightforward manner or linear timeline, the same can be said for Doctor Strange as well (despite the fact that time is a major thematic element in the film).

Although it's hard to shake off the feeling that we've seen all of this before, I do believe that this film can be rewatched many times with enjoyment. The greatest achievement that this film has made is that it successfully expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe, enhancing the world even further for many stories to come.


Note: It's very important not to miss the two mid and post credit scenes, a commonality with all Marvel cinematic movies.

Rating comparisons with other Marvel Cinematic Universe films:

Iron Man	2008	8/10
The Incredible Hulk	2008	7/10
Iron Man 2	2010	7/10
Thor	2011	7/10
Captain America: The First Avenger	2011	8/10
The Avengers	2012	9/10
Iron Man 3	2013	8.5/10
Thor: The Dark World	2013	8/10
Captain America: The Winter Soldier	2014	8.5/10
Guardians of the Galaxy	2014	7.5/10
Avengers: Age of Ultron	2015	8/10
Ant-Man	2015	7.5/10
Captain America: Civil War	2016	8.5/10
Doctor Strange	2016	8.5/10

Little Things you should know/remember before watching Marvel films:

http://yjcool.blogspot.com/2013/11/little-things-you-should-know-before.html

"You're a man looking at the world through a key hole and you've spent your whole life trying to widen that key hole to see more, to know more and now upon hearing that it can be widened in ways you can't imagine you reject the possibility." - The Ancient One

"Dr. Strange, you think you know how the world works. You think this material universe is all there is. What if I told you the reality you know is one of many?"
"This doesn't make any sense."

"Not everything does. Not everything has to."

"You want to know what I see in your future? Possibility."

Movie Review: The Accountant

Based on an original screenplay by Bill Dubuque, The Accountant is a refreshingly unique, weird but intriguing entry in the crime-drama action thriller genre. The film starts slow and takes its time to build its main character, and as the story progresses, things become more interesting with some unexpected twists along the way. It's an understatement to say that Ben Affleck (who starred the new Batman in Batman v Superman) anchors this film masterfully by delivering a subtle, but feels weirdly authentic performance as the autistic titular character who secretly handles the books for dangerous criminal organisations.

The film gives its main character a great backstory, giving the audience some glimpses of his troubled childhood, tough upbringing and experiences due to his autistic condition through a series of non-linear flashbacks, which resulted in him with a set of formidable hand-to-hand and armed combat skills. However, his intelligence comes with a price. He's unable to socialise with others well and his inability to emotionally connect with people prevents him from forging close relationships with others around him, much to the amusement of the audience.

Affleck also managed to bring a surprising amount of humour to the role. Wolff's (Affleck's character) character mannerisms and peculiarities - bluntness in conversation or action often lead to some funny moments. It's rather amusing to sit through and watch Affleck's character as he awkwardly interacts with Anna Kendrick or even when he unexpectedly taking out bad guys. The flashbacks allow the audience to be fully invested into the character as they need to slowly 'piece' together the identity of Christian Wolff by picking up the crumbs through flashbacks and present key scenes in the film. The film doesn't reveal everything about its protagonist to the audience immediately which keeps the film highly compelling and interesting along the way.

However, the film requires a lot of attention from the audience to keep up with the plot and character revelations. It's quite disappointing to see that Kendrick's role in the film is smaller than expected and the romance between them is paper-thin and not fully developed (the girl tried to approach him many times to initiate conversation for Pete's sake...but he takes it literally due to his autistic condition) J.K. Simmons and Cynthia Robinson did a decent job as a pair of Treasury agents who are working on to uncover the Accountant's identity.

This film is not your average action thriller with a simple plot and over-the-top action scenes. Despite the unappealing nature of its poster, it's highly recommended for those who prefer a less conventional type of thriller to watch. Don't judge a film by its poster.



Rating: 8.5/10