Doctor Strange is perhaps the least "Marvel" of any Marvel film; one part low-rent sci-fi film, two parts Harry Potter, with a dash of Star Wars. Only it cost more to see, is less whimsical, and is less entertaining.
Doctor Strange himself is not so much a marvelous man but a man made of the parts of other more marvelous people. His attitude more smug than Roger Moore's James Bond or Tony Stark, only with less glib quips to reply with. But his intelligence, apparently he is a world acclaimed neurosurgeon, is matched by no other, except when he drives his expensive looking car, and passes cars at high speeds on a twisty road like a high school flunky trying to impress his date. Hopefully in the inevitable sequel he will take bus.
And in one particularly egregious scene, bad guy Kaecilius stomps on by and defeats a long-trained "sorcerer" of good almost as soon as he is introduced. Yet when our hero is attacked, one with significantly less training, he is able to dodge attacks and trap, or well, seemingly at least, the attacker. Doctor Strange should be named "Doctor Lucky."
But his powers, the powers of waving his arms and summoning fighting utensils, are completely his own; I have never seen another movie where the hero fights with glowing yellow lines of CGI.
The visuals, the film's primary selling point, are grand and spectacular, but they are undermined by the excessive exposition, which provides constant yet cloudy reasons behind every crazy sight flying from the screens and towards my 3-D glasses. You know the best scenes in Ridley Scott's 1979 flick Alien? They are the ones where your eyes are in awe at the wondrous visuals, and leave your mind to fill in the blanks. Here, everything is explained, but it is filler explication of metaphors and pompous statements under the guise of answers.
The action is surprisingly brief here, but with all the talk of other dimensions it is a shame everything dilutes to generic kung-fu fight scenes over green screen set pieces. And with so much happening on buildings that are being twisted and turned, punches or throws lack any weight. My ears tell me there is a body being tossed around, but that contradicts what my eyes tell me.
Look, I am not adverse to silly, excessive visuals; remember, I gave Independence Day: Resurgence three stars. But here, there is no fun in all the visuals. Everyone speaks in somber tones and of this looming threat of the evil villain and his evil intentions, that there is not any room for energy or the impression that doing good can be, even once, enjoyable.
The plot is loquacious and confusing, and is only aided by the visuals, so I scoured the film in tedium looking for oddities to keep me from falling asleep in the leather reclining chairs. One thing to note is how the good guys keep their books, thick with the many secrets to the over-explained yet somehow opaque powers. Yes, they are kept in a library, but the most important ones are suspended with front facing with chains. First thought was these chains prevent those unworthy from opening them, but these chains broke free by any character who touches them- so why have them chained? There is a throwaway gag not far in the movie about the wifi password, but why these uber-important books are not digital only seems like an oversight; this Kaecilius guy does not look the type to be very good with computers. Plus, it would have saved the poor librarian, in the film's cold opening, a decapitation.
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