Magical Mystery Tour: A Look Back at Doctor Strange

There was a time, not so long ago, that a group of people came together to do something truly miraculous; miraculous because what was accomplished had never been done before and has yet to be replicated. This group of people, this committee, was instrumental in creating the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Perhaps more impressively, this committee was responsible for monitoring the narrative through-line and continuity that the MCU is known for, recasting notwithstanding. And for a time, there was peace.

Or so it seemed.

Marvel released its slate of Phase One movies culminating in The Avengers to mostly critical and commercial success. But even as early as Iron Man 2, one could see The Creative Committee’s stranglehold beginning to tighten. The Committee, comprised of Brian Michael Bendis, Alan Fine, Dan Buckley, Joe Quesada, and casual racist Ike Perlmutter, was responsible for offering notes, cutting costs and otherwise acting as a thorn in the sides of various directors in the MCU. As was bound to happen, this power became unwieldy and those that sat at the head did not have the storytellers’ best interests at heart. It’s how we ended up with Don Cheadle replacing Terrance Howard, how star directors like Ava DuVernay, Patty Jenkins, and Edgar Wright walked away from career-defining blockbusters, why Black Widow toys did not exist, and the overall ‘sameness’ of the films in the MCU, especially the origin stories.

At the height of their power, The Committee was almost directly responsible for entirely different take on Captain America: Civil War. It’s been well documented that there was a contingency script in place if Marvel was unable to acquire Spider-Man, but what’s often lost in the media scuffle is that there was also a contingency script if Robert Downey Jr. did not return to the MCU. Downey’s contract was fulfilled after Iron Man 3, making his continuing run in the MCU hazy. The Committee dug in their heels and for what seemed like an eternity, refused to offer Downey more money to return and were content with Civil War ending in a fight with an army of rage zombies. Whether or not he deserved the raise is open to interpretation, but the fact remained that the MCU owes its existence to that charismatic sonuva-bitch.

"You're Welcome." - Downey, probably.

The story goes that while Downey did eventually agree to come back, super-producer Kevin Feige was so frustrated by the micromanaging on the budget of Civil War that he threatened to walk if not granted autonomy. Thus, The Committee was stripped of its power over the film side of Marvel, and Feige, producer Luis D’Esposito, and producer Victoria Alonso were placed in charge. While a new day was dawning at Marvel, there was no escaping the collateral damage. Civil War managed to make it to theaters relatively unscathed, but Marvel’s next film, Doctor Strange, did not fair nearly as well as its predecessor. Although Doctor Strange makes some interesting choices narratively and visually, one can’t shake the feeling that we have already seen this movie a dozen times over.

Oh, and if you’re upset that I spent a good portion of this post explaining the motivations of a sinister committee instead of focusing on the actual topic at hand, congratulations! You are no longer allowed to be mad at Star Wars: The Last Jedi for doing that exact thing with Snoke.

Seriously, nobody cares.

What Works

Visual Language

Right from the very beginning, director Scott Derrickson set out to “change the visual language of magic.” Derrickson has pointed out on numerous occasions that ever since The Emperor shot lightning out of his fingertips, all of cinema decided: “Well, we can’t do any better than that! That’s it for magic! Cut and print!” Nearly every film featuring magic has the good guy and the bad guy throwing different colored lightning at each other until one of them is dead. Even the Harry Potter series, which I adore (Hufflepuff for life!) amounted to Harry and Voldemort blasting each other with colorful strobe lights. 

"I'm pointing my wand as hard as I can!" - Voldemort

While still employing the luminescence associated with magic, what Derrickson was able to do is make the magical world a bit more tactile and a bit more spiritual. Take a look at something as simple as portals. A spell that any seventh-year can accomplish in the Potterverse requires intense concentration and calming of the soul in Kamar-Taj. 

Throw in a little threat of bodily harm for good measure.

The whole point is that you can’t simply swish and flick your way into becoming a great sorcerer, ‘Arry. Instead, your body, mind, and spirit all have to be in unison in order to cast even the simplest of spells.

And speaking of visual language, I cannot express how much I loved the magical mystery tour that the Ancient One sends Strange on. It’s like the filmmakers were able to tap directly into Steve Ditko’s LSD-riddled mind in order to show us something that we haven’t gotten in a Marvel movie before: imagery that will haunt nightmares for years to come.

Like asking Harvey Weinstein for a part in his movie.

And I can’t talk about Doctor Strange without mentioning those Inception-style environmental manipulations. 

You know the ones.

To write these visuals off as an Inception rip-off is a disservice to both films. When Nolan made Inception, I’m sure he thought “No one will be able to top that!” just as I’m sure Derrickson did a bump of coke, watched the movie through a kaleidoscope and replied “Oh yeah?!?!” and proceeded with an attempt to BLOW THE AUDIENCE’S FUCKING MINDS. It’s hard to keep track of everything happening during this sequence, but that didn’t stop the filmmakers from doubling down on the chaotic impacts of fucking around with Natural Law.

Just every drug.

GHOOOOOOST FIIIIIIIGHT

Doctor Strange absolutely delivers on the weird and twisted action that I was expecting from this film and offers something different from what we’ve seen before. The aforementioned ghoooost fiiiiiight is evidence enough that they’re at least attempting something new, as the Sorcerer and the Zealot slam into each other in the astral plain and have some fairly amusing effects on our physical world. Take a look!

I am rather fond of that ghooooost fiiiiiight, but I would be remiss if I did not discuss the Rewind Fight in the third act. While our characters move forward in time, all of the destruction is being reversed, giving an added layer of depth to the action and acts as a twist on the “DESTROY EVERYTHING!” mentality that most action movies go for. Also, pay close attention to Michael Giacchino’s score, which is made to sound as if it is moving backwards as well:

Then, in a move never before seen in the MCU, our hero elects to OUT SMART Dormammu in what may have turned into the most meme-able scene in the film. The MCU is a universe full of geniuses from Stark to Banner to Shuri, and yet Strange has been the only hero clever enough thus far to claim victory without punching his way to freedom. The notion that Strange can irritate Dormammu into submission is one of the more interesting moves that the film makes:

Doctor Strange continues to raise the bar for action in terms of creativity for the MCU. However, the big question now is how much the MCU will continue to rely on the Time Stone. If the Doc can simply reset the clock, is there any actual weight to the arrival of Thanos? I suppose time will tell (GET IT?!?!).

A Strange Journey

I gotta give Bicklebrack Cuddlegrahm his due; he really does a great job as Strange. The frustration and pitifulness that he brings to the role… you can just feel it, you know? Every time they shoot a close-up of his trembling hands, you can tell that he is in both physical and emotional pain from losing his identity as a surgeon. Which is great as an audience member, because Stephen Strange is an irredeemable asshole. He’s cold, he’s arrogant, and he’s just so fucking mean to Regina George.

"You can't sit with us!"

And I eat that shit up. We haven’t had a character who spends most of his origin film just being an unlikable prick to everyone around him. Some people compared him to Tony Stark, but I feel like I would be hard pressed to find a person who wouldn’t grab a drink with Stark. A drink with Strange would most likely end in a trip to the hospital.

"I don't know, officer, he just tried to tackle my car."

What’s more is that he doesn’t really redeem himself by the end. He apologizes to Regina, but it doesn’t make them magically happy again. He surrenders himself to dying over and over again, but since he’s in a time-loop he can’t actually die, and he’s still an arrogant bastard by the end of the movie. It’s the best; I like that the character doesn’t do a complete 180 degree turn over the course of a single movie. Yet, he has his one moment of humanity in which you completely understand what his character is about. Right after the ghooooost fiiiiight, Strange checks the pulse of the man that he just killed. The scene immediately following this is him facing the fact that he, a doctor sworn to do no harm, took the life of another. This is bolstered by the earlier mention that Strange has a perfect record as a surgeon; the man that has never lost a patient now has to cope with the fact that he straight up ghooooost muuuuurderrrrred another human being. While I think this could have been handled a bit more gracefully in the movie, the idea that Strange is so unwilling to take a life is an interesting dynamic which I hope plays significantly into Infinity War.

What Doesn’t

Show Me, Damn It!

If I’m remembering my filmography correctly, this should be the last time that I have to include this fucking section in one of these things. There’s nothing inherently bad about exposition; I understand why exposition exists. The filmmakers need a way to bring the audience up-to-speed, explain how the world works, and cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. But if you’re going to include pages and pages regarding the explanations of relics, dark dimensions, and the motives of the villain, you gotta take the time to make this shit interesting. Otherwise, it feels like you’re reading from an instruction manual for a toaster.

"And then after you put the bread inside the toaster,
you set the dial to 3; medium brown." - Mordo, probably.

 For a film where we can watch a magical cape beat somebody into submission, it’s disappointing that I was so bored for a good chunk of it. Nothing takes me out of a movie quicker than a character explaining why they are the way they are. There is a scene in the movie where Strange literally says: “I have a photographic memory. That’s how I got my M.D. and Ph.D at the same time.” Cool, glad we got that completely unnecessary line shoehorned into a scene instead of ACTUALLY SHOWING THE AUDIENCE HOW HIS BRAIN PROCESSES INFORMATION. I feel like the filmmakers left that in as a placeholder and thought “oh, we’ll come back to that later,” and then just never came back to it later. This narrative device in the MCU has been a major gripe of mine since at least Guardians of the Galaxy, and I am unspeakably grateful that Marvel has seemingly been able to course-correct after the expulsion of The Committee.

The Lame-Ass Villain

Can I just do Black Panther already? I would love to write about a villain with an actual arc and 

character development.

SOON...

*Sigh*. Alright. Kaecilius. Mads Mikkelsen famously passed on portraying Malekith in Thor: The Dark World due to ‘scheduling conflicts.’ After that movie was released, a great deal was made regarding how Mikkelsen dodged a bullet as The Dark World was widely panned and Malekith was added to the list of forgettable Marvel villains. But oh, Mads. You should have known that the bullet was coming for you. Kaecilius is little more than Ronan from Guardians BUT WITH MAGIC! As far as religious zealots go, Mikkelsen gives a serviceable performance with what he is given, but it still isn’t enough to elevate Kaecilius to anything remotely resembling memorable. Like Yellowjacket, I wish that there was more that I could say about him, but I feel like I’m grasping at straws. His eyes have that weird purple thing? That’s cool I guess?

I mean that ponytail is...... uggghhhh.

The White Washing of it All

I don’t know what it is to be discriminated against. While I’m Hispanic and consider myself as such, I understand that I am one trucker-hat away from looking like one o’ dem good ol’ boys down in Louisiana. I have never been passed up on a job because of my last name, I have never been unfairly pulled over at a traffic stop, and I have grown up seeing myself on the big screen time and time again.

How I see myself. I'm so goddamn pretty.

All of this to say that I don’t have the same experiences or understanding of discrimination that some of you reading this face on a daily basis. When Tilda Swinton was cast as The Ancient One, I was excited that an Academy Award winning actress was lending her clout to a mystical Marvel movie. It didn’t bother me; I’ve always argued that the role should go to the best person for the story (I know, my privilege is showing). And I think that Swinton gives a great performance in the role. She’s charming and funny when it’s called for, but measured and terrifying when she has to be. But the more I read and the more I heard, the more I started understanding and becoming aware of representation (or lack thereof) and why it was such a big deal to not have an Asian actor or actress cast in the role. To hear Derrickson describe it, he felt like he was given an impossible choice. He wanted to avoid the stereotype of the ‘wise Asian man on the hill,’ and also wanted to avoid the ‘Dragon Lady’ stereotype that he believed would come from casting an Asian woman.

I sat around with this information for a long time as I tried to figure out how I felt about it, and what I ultimately arrived at was this: If the script is not strong enough to avoid a stereotype, you need to take the time, money, and energy to write a better script. I understand Derrickson’s feelings on the matter, and I don’t think he was intending to be racially insensitive, but I do think that if Doctor Strange had a better script, it could have been a little bit easier to navigate these waters. Poor writing is not an excuse for casual racism.

Final Thoughts

Doctor Strange currently has an 86% ‘Fresh’ Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes, yet, I have only ever talked to one person who considers Doctor Strange their favorite MCU movie. By and large, when I ask people about Strange, it’s met with an indifferent shrug and a ‘Yeah, it was okay.’ Think about how sad that is for a minute. Strange introduced the audience to entirely new concepts, visuals, and realms within the MCU, and yet couldn’t differentiate itself enough from what came before to leave a lasting impact. I don’t know how much of that comes from Derrickson and how much came from The Committee, but it’s discouraging that a movie in which we are shown an entirely new form of magic comes off as embarrassingly bland. As for me personally, I think that Doctor Strange is a fine enough entry into the canon, but if Marvel decided to never make another movie starring the Sorcerer Supreme, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it. I like Strange’s turn in Thor: Ragnarok and I’m hoping his pair-ups in Infinity War make for some entertaining scenes, but I don’t need to see his continuing adventures. Like Hulk and Hawkeye, maybe this wizard is better off as a supporting character. Regardless, as far as good times go, you can do worse than a magical trip with the good doctor.

So where does Doctor Strange rank in my list of MCU Films?

  1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

  2. The Avengers

  3. Captain America: Civil War
  4. Iron Man 3

  5. Iron Man

  6. Guardians of the Galaxy

  7. Captain America: The First Avenger

  8. Avengers: Age of Ultron

  9. Thor

10. Thor: The Dark World
11. Doctor Strange
12. Ant-Man

13. Iron Man 2

14. The Incredible Hulk

End

Okay, back on track! Now I get to start working on Marvel's undeniable winning streak! Tune in next week for a look at Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2! In the meantime, if you like what I’m writing, please like, comment, and share these lil’ guys. They love to be read! I’m now on the tweeties @TheJamesBrock and on Instagram… also thejamesbrock. Still no idea of how these things work. Until next time...

Be kind to each other.

-James