Matt Reviews: Doctor Strange

WARNING: SPOILERS for DOCTOR STRANGE follow. Enter at your own risk.

If you take anything away from watching Doctor Strange, it’s that texting while driving can turn you into a superhero.

Stephen Strange (played by Sherlock actor Beetlejuice Crumblecake) is a vain neurosurgeon who can no longer perform in his job when his hands are damaged in the mother of all car crashes. (Seriously, the thing FLIPS OVER THE SIDE OF A CLIFF and he walks away with just shaky hands. By all accounts, he should be dead.) Looking for a way to cure himself, he ventures to the hidden city of Kamar-Taj, where he becomes a pupil of the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) in the arts of mysticism. While he trains, he is sucked into a magic war involving Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), a former pupil of the Ancient One who wants to use magic to stop all death by summoning the demon Dormammu and his timeless Dark Dimension to Earth. Nothing can go wrong with that plan, except making Kaecilius and his followers look like bad Jem and the Holograms cosplayers.

Alright, let’s talk about what everyone praises in this movie: the visuals. Yes, they are beautiful, probably some of the best effects I’ve seen in a superhero movie. Yes, they are trippy. Anytime someone uses magic to bend the world around them, they’re also bending my mind. The little mind-trip that the Ancient One sends Strange through is one of the acid-est things I’ve seen on film.

I’m not a big fan of 3D in film – because a lot of the time I think it’s largely unnecessary and only costs more and adds more headaches – but I made it my mission to specifically see this movie in 3D just for the effects. And in my opinion, it was worth the extra bucks. Now I have no idea if the DVD is going to have any 3D features (or if DVDs even do that), but if you have any conceivable way to see this in three dimensions, do it. Or four dimensions, even. Now THAT’S a trip.

*Inception BWONG*

 As for the story itself, it’s pretty much your basic superhero origin plot. It has shades of Iron Man in there and a little bit of Ant-Man, but it’s not a complete paint-by-numbers job. They have fun with the premise of a superhero origin, like Marvel always does.

They change a few characters from the comics, but I think it’s mostly for the better. Wong, Doctor Strange’s manservant from the comics, has been changed to the drill sergeant of the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, thus making him a much more active role and taking away any unfortunate implications of him being an Asian manservant to a white man. Baron Mordo – here just called Mordo – has gone from the cackling, world-conquering supervillain to a more believable, sympathetic future antagonist. The film does a good job showing his fall from grace and how hypocritical he views the teaching and limitations set by the Ancient One.

 Kaecilius probably got the biggest overhaul, going from a minor minion of Baron Mordo in the comics to the main antagonist, with a surprisingly sympathetic backstory. One can easily see where his evil actions are coming from – wanting to prevent any more death after losing his own family – and his anger towards the Ancient One’s hypocritical use of the Dark Dimension’s powers (forshadowing Mordo’s own turn). However, while Kaecilius shows promise of fixing Marvel’s problems with underdeveloped villains, they don’t go as far as they should have with him. His backstory is only briefly glossed over, and while interesting, it doesn’t make up for the fact that he spends much of the rest of the movie as your typical, bland, “take over the world” Marvel bad guy. Honestly, I thought Mordo was the better-developed antagonist here, and that’s not even the role he plays.

"Guys, I thought we all agreed to ominously look in the same direction."

The film certainly follows in Marvel’s light-hearted, jokey superhero film formula, which admittedly, was a breather after some of the superhero films I saw in 2016. However, sometimes I feel like it was a bit too jokey and quippy. It’s not that I wanted Doctor Strange to be super grim and serious, mind you, but it was a similar problem I had with Age of Ultron. Sometimes the quips were a bit much and distracted from the more serious moments.

One of these comedic elements that I am still torn about is the choice to make Strange’s Cloak of Levitation living. Basically, it’s the MCU’s equivalent of the Carpet from Aladdin. On one hand, it is kind of cute, and it ties into the whimsical, mystical side of the movie. On the other hand, it kind of undermines the gravitas of Doctor Strange when a sentient sheet of fabric is fighting his battles part of the time. It’s one of those things Marvel did to appeal to younger audiences, so I really can’t get too mad about this, but I definitely have a love-hate relationship with Doctor Strange’s cape. (Now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d type…)

Speaking of Strange’s magical arsenal, I think the name “Sling Ring” is really stupid. There, I’ve said it. All of the other magical weapons have these ancient, grandiose names. The Cloak of Levitation. The Eye of Agamotto. The Staff of the Living Tribunal. And…Sling Rings. These are a respected, ancient order of magic-users, and they transport around the globe using something that sounds like it was made up by a Hasbro executive in the 1990’s. They were specifically created for the film by the director, and trust me, they stick out like a sore thumb if only in their name.

There’s some romance in this movie and it’s…okay. Rachel McAdams plays Strange’s fellow surgeon and former lover Christine Palmer, and let me tell you, I could watch Rachel McAdams all day in any role. She is adorable and charming and has such good chemistry with other actors, including Bubbagump Christmastime in this movie. However, the romance doesn’t really go anywhere. Honestly, I wasn’t super invested in the romance from the get-go because I was always thinking that it didn’t matter who Strange was attracted to in this movie if he’s eventually going to marry Clea down the line like in the comics (hopefully). It’s not the worst superhero movie romance I’ve seen, but superhero movie romances have gotten so stale to me that you need to bring something really new to the table to keep me invested. Then again, maybe Deadpool just set a really high standard.

Ruffles have ridges.

 Oh, and Dormammu’s in this movie. As the movie was progressing, I thought he was just going to be in the background; the great, unseen master of Kaecilius who is often mentioned but is such a big threat that they’re saving him for the sequel. Nope. Strange confronts him at the end. And defeats him. See, it’s like the Cloak dilemma again. On the one hand, the scene where Strange outsmarts Dormammu is funny and clever, using an infinite time loop to annoy a demon into submission. A breath of fresh air after other Marvel movies end with a physical fight. On the other hand, a huge threat like the Dread Dormammu really shouldn’t be delegated to the last ten minutes of a movie. Kaecilius should have been the final foe fought (where, in the actual movie, he’s pretty much forgotten so Strange can Groundhog Day Dormammu), and the Dread One should have been saved for the sequel, where more time could have been explored with him. I’m sure they’re still going to have him in the next Doctor Strange movie, but after that finale, it may feel like a letdown or a retread now that Strange has already defeated him once using a magic rewind button.

Also, they changed his design pretty significantly, going from a flame-headed demon to…purple. And apparently he is the Dark Dimension and has no real physical form? Or something? I guess this makes him look less like Ghost Rider – who is now an official part of the MCU – but Marvel already has an über-important purple big bad that doesn’t really do a whole lot.

"These cheekbones aren't gonna sharpen themselves, Scott."

 But for all my gripes, I really did enjoy Doctor Strange. The visuals are probably it’s biggest drawing point, but it is a fun, enjoyable super hero movie despite it’s numerous plot holes. The cast really makes these characters come alive too, with special mention going to the performances of Tilda Swinton and Bounsweet Charjabug. And it’s cool to see magic finally introduced into the MCU. And I mean magic-magic, not Thor’s “alien technology so advanced that our feeble human minds perceive it as magic”-magic. Let’s see the Asgardians do this stuff with their elvish TIE Fighters or whatever.

Final verdict: 8/10

Now how long will it be until Marvel makes a movie where Doctor Strange and Everett Ross from Civil War meet up to solve mysteries together in London?

Matt Reviews: The Lego Batman Movie

The fact that the central theme of this movie can be summed up with lyrics from a Michael Jackson song means we’re in for a wild ride.

The Lego Batman Movie is a spin-off of the critically successful comedy-action-nostalgiafest The Lego Movie (is it too early to be calling this the Lego Cinematic Universe?). Will Arnett returns as Batman, portraying the character as an egotistical loner who won’t let anyone get close to him. But his life starts to see some changes: new police commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) proposes an idea for the police to team up with Batman to solve Gotham’s rampant crime problem, and Bruce has to deal with raising a new son in the form of Dick Grayson (Michael Cera), who soon becomes Batman’s sidekick Robin. But it’s not just his friends and family Batman’s driving away. Spurned by the Dark Knight not taking their rivalry seriously, the Joker (Zack Galifianakis) hatches a plan to make Batman see him as his greatest nemesis. This involves getting sent to the Phantom Zone to team up with the greatest villains in the universe, which includes the likes of Voldemort, Sauron, and the Daleks. How they wound up in the Phantom Zone is beyond me. But considering this entire universe is set in a child’s imagination, I’ll let it pass.

Batman parodies are a dime a dozen, but what really makes this one stick out is the heart. While this movie does include elements of other Batman parodies – overly dark and brooding, a bit of a sociopath who wantonly puts his son/ward in mortal danger – it also portrays the Caped Crusader as a sympathetic figure, probably more sympathetic than I’ve seen in a while. Behind the bombastic Bat-music and guns that literally shoot merchandise, he’s a fragile little boy who’s so afraid of losing another family that he winds up becoming incredibly toxic to everyone around him. As the movie puts it, Batman’s greatest enemy is himself.

Also, it’s a Batman parody officially created, licensed, and distributed by Warner Bros. and DC. Meaning that these companies are poking fun at their most marketable character. It’s like if Marvel made a Spider-Man movie with a joke that every five years, Uncle Ben gets shot again.

But it’s not just a parody that takes the characters from the comics as they are and puts them in new and funny situations (like the Lego Batman games); it’s created its own version of the Batman universe with their own little changes. Catwoman and Two-Face are black, the Gordons are Hispanic (probably), Barbara Gordon is already an adult and is police commissioner before she becomes Batgirl, Batman has been fighting a full rogues gallery for years and has only just now taken up a sidekick, Robin looks more like Carrey Kelly than Dick Grayson, etc. That’s what sets it apart from other Batman parodies: it’s making fun of pre-existing concepts while also giving us an intriguing interpretation of the Batman mythos.

The Bat-Lens Flares (not pictured: J.J. Abrams)

Like The Lego Movie before it, it’s got jokes galore, ranging from the aforementioned franchise-specific gags (Batman and Robin punching bad guys so hard that words describing their impact spontaneously appear) to more general comedy (a minute-long scene of Batman trying heating up Lobster Thermidor in the microwave for two minutes, only to accidentally type in twenty minutes and having to backtrack and retype the right time). Plenty for the young target audience to laugh at, but also enough gags that only the older crowds would get.

Like I said before, the film has a ton of heart that often goes hand-in-hand with the laughs. The term “Batman Family” has often been used to describe Batman and his allies in crime fighting, like Alfred, Robin, Batgirl, and Bat-Cow (who is totally real and you should look him up). But this movie really captures the essence of the “family” part of the name. Batman treats Robin more like a son, and Alfred is Bruce’s exasperated single parent trying desperately to find answers in parenting books.

And for those of you worried about the Batman-Batgirl romance, fear not: it goes absolutely nowhere and has zero effect on the plot. Bruce is infatuated with Barbara when he first sees her, but it’s completely one-sided. Barbara’s much more mature than him in this version and would rather focus her efforts on fighting crime than dating a man-child who wears a bat mask while laughing at romantic scenes from Jerry Maguire. By the end of the movie, Batman sees Barbara as a “platonic friend who is a girl.” So don’t worry, Bat-fans, it’s not The Killing Joke again. (Seriously, what did a Batman-Batgirl sex scene have ANYTHING to do with The Killing Joke?)

At least this one had more screen time than Jared Leto, am I right?

No, the real romance in this movie is between Batman and the Joker. Yeah, you know how their relationship has always had that subtext where they care about each other as more than enemies (see The Killing Joke or the ending of Arkham City for examples). Well this movie pretty much takes a sledgehammer to that subtext and basically portrays the Dark Knight and Clown Prince as a couple who are having love issues. Only replace the word “love” with “hate”. One of them (Batman) has so many emotional walls that he’s driving the other one (the Joker) to try and prove that he really cares for him, only to get frustrated and deciding to move on. It’s kind of like the Perry-Doofenshmirtz relationship from Phineas & Ferb.

And like The Lego Movie, it looks GORGEOUS. The CGI looks so realistic that at times, it really looks like they filmed this with stop motion and real Legos. Everything is so shiny and bright, and all the sets are so gigantic that it looks like the entire Lego Batman world was built for kids, by kids.

It’s not as laugh-out-loud funny as The Lego Movie, but it’s nowhere less as creative. Batman Master Builds a giant cat/bat mech out of a crumbling building. The final battle pits Batman, his allies, and his rogues gallery against the Joker and an army of villains from other Lego properties. A torn-in-half Gotham City is put back together by stacking Lego minifigures together, flexing abs, and recreating a scene from Jerry Maguire. (Okay, if this movie is set in the same kid’s imagination from The Lego Movie, how many times has he seen Jerry Maguire? He’s like ten.)

The final act drags a bit in places, but that’s probably because there’s no big final twist like in The Lego Movie. Also, for it’s huge cast of characters, there are a lot that are not utilized to their full potential. Namely, the rest of Batman’s rogues gallery. It was so hyped up that the movie would feature a huge assortment of Batman’s enemies – from well-known ones like Scarecrow and Bane, to more obscure foes like Kite Man and Crazy Quilt – but most of them have barely any screen time, little to no individual personality, and spend most of the movie locked up in prison. I mean, come on, they brought back Billy Dee Williams from Batman 1989 to play Two-Face and he probably has – fittingly – two lines in the entire film! I think the freaking Condiment King had more of a presence in the movie!

Batman's greatest enemy: Stains.

(Also, the Bane in this movie is pretty much just the version of the character from The Dark Knight Rises, silly Sean Connery-esque voice and all. There’s nothing really much to say about it except that it’s there, it’s funny, and I’m glad this meme hasn’t completely died out.)

The Justice League are also there, barely. They’re there to show how lonely and distant Batman is from everyone, but then they disappear from the movie altogether. Wouldn’t it have been cooler if the entire Justice League helped out Batman and company in fighting the villain army at the end? That would have hammered home better the theme of “friends are family”, I think. Plus, we would have seen Superman fighting King Kong and the Wonder Twins fighting Agent Smith, thus making my drunken fanfictions canon.

But overall, for a kid-friendly Batman movie, this was pretty damn good. Funny, heartwarming, and with stuff for younger and older audiences. And every scene is filled with callbacks and references to previous iterations of the Dark Knight. You can really tell that the people behind this movie love Batman and care about the world and characters. It’s this kind of effort that I wish certain Warner Bros. execs would put into their DC movies, but I’m not going to name names *coughZACKSNYDERcough*.

Final verdict: 8/10.

Now I’m off to Wal-Mart because the subliminal messages implanted into my brain by this movie are compelling me to buy all of their play sets and toys. Hail Lego. May the brick overlords reign long.

Casting the Thirteenth Doctor: A Whovian's Wishlist

Recently, Peter Capaldi announced that he would be leaving Doctor Who after Series 10.

Which is sad, because he was becoming one of my favorite Doctors. I don’t know what it was, but there was something different about him that I really dug. Maybe it was the prickly exterior that gave way to a kind-hearted and vulnerable figure that treats his companions more like students. Maybe it was the fact that he once entered a medieval castle on a tank while playing an electric guitar. One of those two.

But since Steven Moffatt is stepping down as showrunner, I guess it makes sense for there to be a new Doctor for the new season as well. Regardless, I thought I’d throw my fez into the ring and discuss who I think would be a good Doctor for the show.

A lot of people are speculating the Thirteenth Doctor to be played by this guy:

Ben Whishaw. You probably know him better as Q from the Daniel Craig James Bond movies. 

Funnily enough, after I saw Skyfall – a year before I started watching Doctor Who – I thought to myself “This guy should play the Doctor.” As Q, he had that right balance of intelligence and quirkiness, a bit of a hipster without being obnoxious about it. These qualities I think would make for a great Doctor. And if casted, Whishaw would be the first openly gay actor to play the Doctor, which would be pretty cool. Maybe that would inspire the writers to explore the Doctor’s sexuality a bit more. Maybe the Doctor could fall in love with a male companion for a change. The Doctor’s pretty much canonically bisexual anyway, so why not shake things up a bit?

If the BBC wants a younger actor after Capaldi steps down, Whishaw is their best bet for another “adorkable, pretty white-boy” Doctor. But what if they decided to do something really different for number thirteen?

Another name I’ve seen thrown around a lot for the Doctor is Richard Ayoade. I’ll admit, I haven’t seen a lot of The IT Crowd, from what I’ve seen, Ayoade seems like a pretty good choice. He’s got a sort of deadpan, snarky charm to him. I could see him as a Doctor who doesn’t appear rattled by much, responding to sassy companions and universe-shaking cataclysms with the same kind of sarcastic remarks. People have been clamoring for the Doctor to be played by a person of color, so why not give Ayoade a shot?

Also, look at that hair! That ‘do could be a new icon of the show, right along with bow ties and Capaldei’s eyebrows.

Alongside a black Doctor, fans have wanted the Doctor to be female for a while. And one name keeps popping up:

Tilda Swinton. And yeah, I agree. She would make a brilliant Doctor. The way I see it, she could easily be one of the weirdest Doctors to ever appear on screen: an androgynous, David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust-esque figure who is very out there and barely in touch with the real world (kind of like Swinton as the Ancient One from Doctor Strange, but with more LSD). She’d be the most alien the Doctor has ever been, barely remembering what it is like to act like a human. Her entire tenure could be one big psychedelic experience by introducing some truly trippy sci-fi concepts and creatures.

All of my other choices have been popular fan-picks for the Doctor that I strongly agree with. But my final pick – possibly my number one pick overall – is a name that I don’t think I’ve seen at all on Whovian fancasts.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster.

Hear me out on this one: What if the Doctor was a kid?

Granted, Sangster is not a kid –he’s five years older than me – but look at him! He looks sixteen at the oldest! I’ve often thought of the Doctor as a Peter Pan-like figure: a fun-loving immortal who takes ordinary people to extraordinary places and changes their lives forever. So why not take that concept to the logical extreme and make the Doctor regenerate into someone who looks younger than he’s ever been. We've seen him regenerate into older incarnations, so why not test the limits of his regeneration by visiting the other end of the spectrum? 

Sangster’s Doctor would have to rely on his intellect and planning more than ever to make up for his unassuming appearance, an appearance which I think he could use to his advantage to lure his enemies into a false sense of security. He’d be a schemer and a trickster, like the Seventh Doctor. And Sangster’s no stranger to playing characters who are wiser than their age suggests. Just look at him as Jojen in Game of Thrones. Or, in a way, Ferb.

And yes, Sangster’s already been on Doctor Who – in the “Human Nature”/”Family of Blood” two-parter – but Colin Baker and Peter Capaldi were both minor characters on the show before taking the TARDIS keys for themselves. Sangster would already be familiar with the weirdness of the show to know what he was getting into.

But regardless of who the BBC and Chris Chibnall cast as the next Doctor, I know they’ll be the right choice. The character will still be the same kind, adventurous figure he – or she – has always been. No matter the face, age, race, or gender, they will still be the Doctor, true and true.

Also, bring back K-9. He's a good boy.