Well, the Marvel flicks just keep coming, don't they? I suppose it was only fitting that Benedict Cumbercatch find his way into the MCU proper one of these days. And although his american accent could use some work, he's pretty good at being the Sorcerer Supreme. From what I can tell he did a bit better than a certain "Fantastic Beasts picture." But yeah, if you're at all familiar with the good Doctor's MCU origins, then you won't be too surprised by what you see here. For those of you who have lives, however, allow me to tell you the tale of a certain doctor. Meet Dr. Stephen Strange. He's one of the best surgeons in his field this side of Bonesaw (cookies if you got that reference) and is kind of a stuck up prick about it. He only works on people who will pay well and who will get him decent publicity. One night, while driving recklessly, he finds himself in a car accident that leaves his hands looking like they were under a hydraulic press. In his desperation to find a way to fix his hands proper, he wastes away his fortune on half a dozen experimental surgeries. On his last legs, he hunts down a mysterious individual who supposedly cured a man's paraplegia. When he finds the Ancient One, it turns out that he's a mystic and Strange has no interest in hermetic cures, so to speak. But when he witnesses some magic proper, he becomes intrigued and joins the ancient one in studying the Mystic ways. For those nerds like myself, let me assure you that the most significant change, aside from the ancient one's ethnicity, is the location of the place. While it was originally found in the mountains of Tibet, in this version it's found in Nepal. Anyone who's followed the flick proper knows to blame China's BS censorship and their strained relationship with Tibet proper. As I mentioned previously, the Ancient One's identity has changed from the stereotypical asian mystic to a white, bald woman. While the change in ethnicity doesn't leave too bad a taste in the mouth--the place where Strange is located houses many, many individuals from all over the world--it would've been nice if they'd gotten someone middle-eastern or black. I mean, there are plenty of white people in the MCU proper, we don't really need another one. Strange's character has also been tweaked a bit. While I'm not sure whether he was quite as out there as Dr. Orpheus, Cumberbatch plays him as a sort of smooth talking dick, almost like Tony Stark, but with magic. Aside from the awesome ass visuals of the film--if you were a fan of inception, you'll be glad to know that they took heavy inspiration from that flick here--one of the more interesting aspects of it is how they tweaked how magic works. Here, it's a sort of mix of martial arts and kung fu, because, let's face it, those two go together like peanut butter and jelly. Madds Mikkelson also shows up, also somewhat playing against type here. Whereas he was more of a scheming creeper, the kind of guy who sets up elaborate death traps and has plans to eat you, here he's a genuinely intimidating presence. He's also not Mordo, believe it or not, but some schlub named Caecelius, whose presence in the comics I can neither confirm nor deny. It is odd seeing him a genuinely intimidating threat, here playing the leader of a rogue group of magicians who worship Dormammu, who comic fans my recognize as one of Strange's main baddies. Speaking of Dormammu, another of the things I like about this movie is that it shows that in spite of how powerful Strange may be, he's still gotta use his wits every now and then, which, yes, is how he wins the day. In the end, though, if you're not a fan of most of the Marvel Movies, this movie won't convert you. It's a fun, wild ride, and carves it's own niche out of the Marvel Movies, something that can't really be said of all of the Marvel Movies. When I think about, Captain America 3 was pretty much Winter Solider combined with the Avengers movie, which I suppose was kinda inevitable. What I'm saying is that I think that most of the Marvel sequels are sort of, kind of becoming the same, whether we like it or not. But whatever, I suppose we'll always have the original Avengers flick. Categories
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AuthorHello all and Welcome to Jacob's Latter. Here I will be giving my opinions on everything from movies, video games and books to my general outlook on the world. Archives
January 2018
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