Visual Treats Ahead

Rating: 7/10 (27 May 2018)

This film hates itself, and loves itself, much too much.
Why hate? Stephen Strange of comics fame was arrogant but firm, not the childish whelp which is written for Benedict Cumberbatch, who amplifies the wiseass teen persona quite naturally, which is irritating, and I think the writers and director wanted that. There is an alienation in this version of DOCTOR STRANGE which says "Love it or be cast out!" I feel as if Iam being coerced into a cult of Cumberbatch, but Doctor Strange should need no such coercion. There is so much here to attract and potentially inspire, and yet we are subjected to acerbic banter rather than philosophy, and emotional band-aids rather than life lessons. I've said elsewhere the animated 2007 offering did it better. Sorcerer Supreme here is arbitrarily female, bald, with English accent, and a cheater in ways of magic; the animated version respected not only the original Sorcerer Supreme but also every ethos of Shamballa, Shangri-La, and other Tibetan adventure stories. Stephen Strange here is quite sarcastic for a man on a mission, unlike Tyrone Power in the wonderful LOST HORIZON, and more so for being out of his scientific element and such a klutz as a sorcerer until his miraculous transformation, which, honestly, must all be credited to the Cloak of Levitation. I don't buy this Mordo either, but happily I liked this Wong. As for villains, only Dormammu was worthy, the dark-side "Nazi-ish" Kaecilius really very feeble for all his expertise and stolen knowledge, as well as power from Dormammu. One more thing, did not like the generally-terrific Rachel McAdams in a wasted role full of snark and disbelief, an exaggerated version of Dana Scully. So in these fashions, I feel the film has a self-loathing, and perhaps a razor blade for the audience, giving us dregs of characters.
Why love? The film dotes on its effects, from the casual walking through a magic doorway or membrane to the ultra-spectacular meeting with Dormammu. There is of course a necessity to overwhelm with these visual delights since the characters are basically paper-thin and the story so disjointed. There are inclinations of INCEPTION here on the FX, but I can honestly say DOCTOR STRANGE does it better in any case. The film is overlong at 1hr55 (counting credits and teasers) but there are enough different cinema tricks to keep you entertained. That's why I say the film loves itself too much - it could easily have done everything without losing any eye candy in about 1hr40.
The Dormammu confrontation was pretty clever, with the time loop, although more exposition of how that is accomplished should've been forthcoming. Honestly, the comic books are MUCH better at information than are most Marvel movies, and I don't particularly enjoy having to suspend my disbelief when I know the answers are on page 14 of issue 37 or whatever.
I was also happy that Mordo turns out to be evil, which is correct for the character, but the explanation here, that the Ancient One had broken a rule to save the universe, and Strange to save Earth, is just a bite too much for me to swallow. I really liked the animated version reasoning better - Mordo is just not a guy who accepts second fiddle.