Film Review: Doctor Strange

Sexuality/Nudity Acceptable 
Violence Acceptable
Vulgarity Acceptable
Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable

I am convinced that a significant portion the success of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe came down to the casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark.  It was absolutely perfect casting.  And Marvel has put a great deal of effort into casting quality actors to lead their franchises.

But none have been as perfect as Robert Downey Jr.

Until Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange.

Doctro Strange takes on another by-the-numbers super hero origin story.  Stephen Strange is brilliant (like Tony Stark), arrogant (like Tony Stark), sarcastic and quipy (like Tony Stark), rich (like Tony Stark), and has an ambigous relationship with a smart and beatiful woman (like Tony Stark).  And he undergoes a physical trauma that puts him on a path to heroism and self-discovery (like Tony Stark).

The only major difference here is that Doctor Strange deals with magic while Iron Man deals with science.

But this is not necessarily a criticism.  What the movie lacks in plot originality, it makes up for in charm, action, and visual spectacle.

Stephen Strange is a world-renowned surgeon whose hands are horribly damaged in a car accident.  After exhausting all treatments of Western medicine, he travels to the far East to seek healing from the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton).  At her enclave, she opens up his mind to the ways of sorcery.  He is also under the guidance of Master Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and the keeper of the library Wong (Benedict Wong).  But looming over all of this is the Ancient One's fallen star pupil Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), who wants to destroy the world by opening it to the entity Dormamu.

As mentioned before, the plot is not too terribly original.  But its execution is quite good.  Many people have pointed to the stunning visuals, and this does deserve note.  It isn't that the effects are groundbreaking.  The difference is that the use of the effects are weird and unique.  It feels at times like we are falling through a dream or a nightmare, but not in a way where logic has no meaning.  The Ancient One tells Strange that not everything has to make sense.  But things have to still hang by an internal logic or else the journey would be too difficult to follow.  Thankfully, Doctor Strange never goes that far off the deep end.  Even when the special effects take a turn to the bizarre, Doctor Strange still has a very clear through-line to follow.

Director Scott Derrickson also knows how to use the effects to their greatest advantage.  Most people will mention the reality-bending cityscapes.  But I think some of the best work is done with the cloak of levitation.  Rather than simply creating another piece of CGI costuming, the cloak has an almost sentient personality not unlike the magic carpet from Aladdin.  This ends up giving the movie some of its best comedy moments.

The thing that hold it together is Cumberbatch's performance as Strange.  He is arrogant and self-centered, which makes it difficult to like the character.  But Cumberbatch infuses him with enough charm and pathos that we come to overlook those qualities and root for him as he grows as a person.  There has been some controversy in the casting of Swinton, whose character in the comics is an Asian man.  But this does not feel like stunt casting.  Swinton feels quite other-worldly and alien in a way that the Ancient One should.  Ejiofor is not given much to work with, but he also brings in a good performance.  Mikkelsen is also sufficiently menacing as the one-note bad guy.  Wong as Wong does a pretty decent deadpan that provides a good portion of the movie's humor.

Rachel McAdams is totally wasted in her part as Dr. Christine Palmer.  She is shoe-horned into the narrative as the love interest and she does have an important part to play right before the third act, but then she completely disappears from the movie in any significant way.  She is never quite the damsel in distress, but I think what they do with her is worse.  Her character's only function is to advance Strange's story.  This would be less of an issue if they had not cast someone with real star power in the role.

The movie does raise some interesting questions about the nature of the relationship between science and mysticism.  I enjoy the fact that it points to the limited scope of science.  This isn't to say science is in any way bad, but that it only focuses on a small swatch of reality.  And it is actually Kaecilius who brings up some of the most intriguing ideas of the struggle all human beings have with time and death.  The movie's solution to this problem in the third act is creative and actually quite Christological.  That is one thing I have always appreciated about most super-hero films: the ideal of heroism they present tends to mirror in some way the sacrificial heroism of Christ.

This film does suffer from being a bit too forward-looking.  Kaecilius feels like less of an existential threat to our hero, because this movie sets up the one who will later be the arch-nemesis.  Too often these first films feel like prequels rather than standalones.  Doctor Strange does not fall that far, but it stands less on its own feet than it should.

Doctor Strange is a wild, fun ride with an engaging performance by Cumberbatch.  I would catch when you can.

4 out of 5 stars.

Film Flash: Moana

15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)

Little Mermaid, Lion King, Pocahontas, Brave, and Frozen mixed together and set in the Pacific.

3 and 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Sunday Best: Top 25 Superhero Movies of All Time #18 - Batman Begins

Many years ago I purchased a trade paperback titled "Secret Origins."  Most of the stories in there were reprints of comics of the same title, showing the origin of characters like Superman, Martian Manhunter, the Flash, and Green Lantern.  But there was an original story about the origin of Batman.  Unlike other origin comics of the Dark Knight, this one focused not on that fateful night in Crime Alley.  Instead it examined Bruce Wayne's life between the murder of his parents and the steps he needed to take in order to become Batman.

And that is what sets Batman Begins apart.

The iconic origin is known by most people.  But director Christopher Nolan decided to explore the means to that end.

And enough cannot be said about Nolan as a director.  He brought a very clear mood and style to his work, grounding it more in the real world than any previous Batman film.  And while it does not achieve the concrete realism that the sequel has, it is a welcome step in the right direction.  The science-fiction elements are the ones that hold up the least, but they are not nearly as distracting as they could be.

And Nolan also uses his traditional non-linear model of storytelling that keeps us jumping around the chronology.  This makes what a very familiar story seem mysterious and fresh.

This Batman gives such a fresh perspective on the character that in many ways it is like seeing him for the first time.  I will never forget hearing Carmine Falcone tear into Bruce in that condescending tone saying, "Now you think that because your mommy and daddy got shot that you know the dark side of life."  It was such a shocking, yet obvious statement to make.  Many people experience tragedy like Bruce, but no one ever became what he did.  The journey to become that is full of fascination.

Christian Bale brings a brooding charisma to the character that had been lacking since Michael Keaton had the role.  But he also brought an intense physicality that made his superhero antics believable.  Bale is often mocked for his use of "Batman voice," but it is actually incredibly effective in establishing Batman's intensity.  But he is not the only star in this picture.

Nolan said he was influenced by the original Superman film in the way that it populated its characters with actors of the highest caliber.  And so we have an all-star cast that includes Morgan Freeman, Michael, Caine, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Katie Holmes, Rutger Hauer, Tom Wilkenson, and the great Gary Oldman.

The action set pieces are also top notch.  The filmmakers famously commisioned an entirely new martial arts style (Key-See) to be invented for Batman to use.  And fight scenes down to the final train battle are wonderfully exciting.

And yet even more than that, Nolan and writer David S. Goyer wanted to make a thematically rich film.  There are many elements at play including justice, vengeance, loyalty, and love.  But above all, the main theme is fear.

Bats frighten Bruce.  Bruce has been living in fear since the death of his parents.  He blames his fear for his parents death.  His father's last words are "Don't be afraid."  It is fitting that one of the main villains is Scarecrow and that the main villain's scheme involves fear tearing the city apart.

But the whole point of the movie is that we can do extraordinary things if we overcome fear.  All it takes is one person, a symbol, to be brave.  That courage inspires others like Gordon and Rachel Dawes to do more.  The most important thing that is required is that they do not give in to the fear around them.

And I especially love the line, "It's not who I am inside, but what I do that defines me."  This is a very Catholic ethic.  Our character is shaped not by our feelings but by our choices.  Feeling brave does not make me brave.  An act of courage is what makes me brave.  Batman is a hero not because he feels righteous anger but because he bravely stands up to evil.

And this movie begins one of the greatest super hero movie trilogies of all time.

Legend: A Game of Maps

Here's a holiday gift idea:

A good friend of mine has designed his own game series: Legend - A Game of Maps.

If you love puzzle games that require logical thinking and code-breaking, this is the game for you!

He has just released the second expansion in this game series.  You can play either separately without having to play the other.  But the game series and story becomes deeper with each layer you add.

You can purchase the game on his etsy page:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LegendAGameofMaps

Or visit his web page at:

http://www.legendagameofmaps.com/

Trailer Time: Spider-Man - Homecoming

I am cautiously optimistic about this.  Like the other Spider-Man movies this begins in high school.  But I like the feeling that this is going to stay in high school.  The last two film series kind of glossed over that whole part of the experience.

My two favorite Spider-Man comic series were Ultimate Spider-Man and Mary Jane Loves Spider-Man.  Both of those really got into the weird social labyrinth of high school in a way that was nostalgic and universal.  I'm hoping this one does too.

Click this link to see the video on YouTube.com

Thoughts?

New Evangelizers Post: The 10 Commandments in the Modern World Part 3 – Keep Holy the Sabbath

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

We Christians do not celebrate the Sabbath per se.  The original Sabbath, still observed by our Jewish brothers and sisters, is Saturday, the day God rested from creation.  For Christians, the Sabbath has been replaced by “The Lord’s Day,” which is the day we remember Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead: Sunday.  In fact, every Sunday is holy because it is a “mini-Easter.”  So the 3rd Commandment applies to us in terms of keeping holy the Lord’s Day.

I remember back in college eavesdropping on a heated discussion in the computer lab about going to Mass on Sunday.  One student vigorously shouted, “The commandment says ‘Keep Holy Sabbath,’ not ‘Go to Mass on Sunday.’”  This person seemed particularly proud of themselves for making such an astute scholarly observation.  Of course the follow up question to that should be: “How did the early Christians understand what it meant to keep holy the Lord’s Day?”

The answer, of course, is go to mass.  In fact, to intentionally skip the Lord’s Day mass has always been understood to be a mortal sin.

Sometimes someone will say to me in class, “I don’t go to Church, but I love God.”  My response is always the same: “No you don’t.”

Judgmental of me?  Perhaps.  But let us look at the facts.

You can read the entire article here.

Sunday Best: Top 25 Superhero Movies of All Time #19 - Dredd

Do not confuse this with the terrible Sylvester Stallone film about the same character titled Judge Dredd.  That film was close to the Batman and Robin mindset: "It's a movie based on a comic book so let's make it without any depth, substance, or reason to care."

The 2012 film goes in the exact opposite direction.  Whereas the 1995 film was a silly near-comedy (the presence of Rob Schneider prevented any seriousness), the modern version is a serious thriller.

Set in the future, most of the world is unlivable.  Human civilization crowds together in mega-cities.  Because of the chaos that so easily erupts, justice must be swift.  So the cities have combined police with judges.  So when these new judges respond to calls, they not only arrest, but judge and pass sentence (even death) right there on the spot.

The movie centers around Dredd (Karl Urban), a stoic and mysterious figure who we never see behind the helmet.  Like Darth Vader, this creates an imposing aura of intimidation.  Dredd is partnered with the mildly psychic rookie Anderson (Olivia Thrilby).  She has severe moral reservations about acting as judge, jury, and executioner, but she is placed on duty with one of the most brutal of the law enforces in Judge Dredd.

One of the things that makes this movie work so well as opposed to the convoluted original is that it actually has a deceptively simple plot.

Dredd and Anderson enter a high rise building to do a routine arrest.  These buildings stretch high and hold populations the size whole neighborhood cities.  The interior is dark and bleak like an urban ghetto enclosed in run down apartment building.

The problem is that the person they are arresting has information on the crime boss of that building, Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), who specializes in selling a drug called Slo-Mo which makes everything you experience feel like it is in slow motion.  Before Dredd and Anders can leave, Ma-Ma locks down the building.  She then makes an announcement to everyone in the building that she will greatly reward them if they kill Dredd and Anders.  The rest of the movie is race to see which happens first: Dredd and Anders can make it to the top apartment and stop Ma-Ma or Ma-Ma and the rest of the building kill the judges.

There is no winking at the camera in this film.  Some might find it humorless, but instead I found it sobering.  The despair the people felt was palpable, but the forward momentum of the story kept it from weighing the narrative down.  The objective was so clear that I could easily assess their progress and their setbacks.  And with the darkness of the film, the outcome of the journey always felt in question.

The production design was fantastic.  You got the feeling that this movie had a very small comparative budget to the first one.  But they use the space effectively.  The claustrophobia of the building works for the tension but it never feels like you are limited in your scope of the story.  And the special effects, especially the ones involving Slo-Mo are so visually engaging.

The action is incredibly violent, but it does so with great effect.  Because of the violence, we fear much more for our heroes.  Even those who come after them are given some sympathetic treatment.  Most of the residents are pushed around like the peasentry under a feudal lord Ma-Ma.  They either obey or they die.

And while there is a message here about urban corruption and police indifference, it never feels preachy.

The performances should be noted here too.  Above all Urban knocks it out of the park.  Because his face is obscured the entire film, he has so much less to work with and yet he makes a much bigger impression with this character than Stallone ever did.  Dredd isn't just a character, he is a presence.  When characters speak about him in hushed tones, Urban's presence legitimizes that awe.  You feel his power, his control, and his rage.  Thrilby more than hold her own.  Rather than throw her in as some kind of weird eye-candy, her youth and beauty work to underscore the ugliness of Dredd's world and her own inexperience.  Her character takes the most significant journey and Thrilby gives it everything she has.  And you would need a very strong actor as a villain to match up the power of Urban's performance the titular hero.  And Headey also brings all of her charisma and menace to believably portray a person who could coldly order the deaths of entire families to increase her power.

Dredd is not a pleasant movie.  But it is an excellent one.  It is a reminder that when you take comic book movies seriously, you can do something pretty special.