MCU Sunday #14: Doctor Strange

 Preface: As promised last year, I plan to review every single currently available movie in what is known as the  Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) over the year 2024. These will appear in order of their release over that time period. This is the fourteenth installment. (Oh, and by the way, after I've exhausted all of the currently available MCU movies I will be rounding out the year with some of the other available movies made from the Marvel comics pantheon.)

Notes: In each of the MCU installments you will be seeing references to two recurring events that occur in nearly every MCU movie.

Where is Stan Lee?: Stan Lee was the driving genius behind Marvel Comics.  He usually shows up in a cameo.  Sometimes these are so quick you gotta be sure you don't blink. Occasionally he gets a line  of dialogue.

And the Credits Roll: You should always stay in the theater for the credits when watching a MCU movie, because during the credits and at the end there is a teaser (or two) that is worth the wait.  Often they were a teaser for the next installment of the films.

 

 

 

The star of Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch, was not entirely unfamiliar to me going in.  I had first seen him in Sherlock Holmes, the BBC series in which he stars with Martin Freeman in a modernized version of the title character.  And sometime afterwards I saw him in the reboot of the Star Trek universe,  Star Trek: Into Darkness, in which played the character previously made famous by Ricardo Montalban, Khan.

But also in the film, as the star villain, is Mads Mikkelsen.  Don't know much about him.  The only things I remember him from was as the villain in Casino Royale, the first James Bond movie to feature Daniel Craig, and later as the villain in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. (Obviously I haven't seen him as a sympathetic character, but he must have played at least one or two.  A fellow blogger of my acquaintance thinks he's hot stuff, and I doubt she is enamored with him because he's such a cute bad boy.. or maybe not...)

Doctor (or "Dr." as his name appears on the front of the comic book series) Strange appeared first on the scene in 1963. I honestly don't remember seeing this title during my days in my father's store.  Remember back in my Marvel post I mentioned that I got into the Marvel comics through the magazine rack my father stocked at his gas station/convenience store/garage when I was a kid.  Of course he occasionally appeared in some of the comics I read, but I don't recall reading specifically a "Dr. Strange" issue.

As with about 95% of all comics I read back in those days, the character of Dr. Strange had already been established before I ever came across him. (Being born only in 1961, Marvel had several years jump on me in characters by the time I was old enough to read...)  I have to say that I was fairly unfamiliar with the Doctor before the movie came out.  

BTW, it turns out this is not the first film introduction o Strange.  Although I missed it, a TV pilot movie was made in 1978, starring Peter Hooten (a name probably no one here has ever heard of, myself included). I probably would have watched it if I had the opportunity, but a check of the TV schedule reveals that it was my sister's turn to pick the TV shows, because there were shows on that night I remember she always watched.

 

 

 

Doctor Strange (2016):

The film opens with a raid on a library in a  monastery library in Nepal.  The sorcerer Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) and his cohorts kill the librarian an steal some pages from an ancient text.  Even though .another sorcerer, known as the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), attempts to stop him, he escapes.

 

In New York City we meet Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). Strange is a brilliant big time neurosurgeon, with a brilliant  big time ego to match.  (Something like Tony Stark, maybe?)  Of course, without his ability to prove his own ability is not just overinflated self-importance, he wouldn't be worth it.  But he really is as good as he thinks he is.  He saves a man whom a fellow doctor has already pronounced dead.  A skilled man whose hands are his life.

 

Oh, did I mention he is rich, also? (Ego and rich? This Tony Stark comparison is getting more gelled...) So, Doc has a speaking engagement which he tries to get a fellow female colleague, Dr. Palmer (Rachel McAdams) to attend with him, but she declines.  So off he races to the show by himself in his fancy car.  While driving he has a subordinate find him a new challenge for his surgical wizardry. And has him text him the pictures...  Which he looks at...  While driving... Seems to me that even as egocentric as he is, a "brilliant" guy would know that you need to keep your eyes on the road while driving...  ("Stay Alive. Don't Text and Drive", people.) Oh, well, maybe next time.

Because, of course, he gets in an accident. He is lucky to survive.  But the accident ends up costing him anyway.  He no longer has the steady skilled hands he had.  Nerve damage during the accident caused almost irreparable  damage to them. But is he thankful?  Hell, no.  He tells the doctor who saved his life: "You've ruined me."  And all the money he has can't help him, because the nerve damage is too severe.

So the doctor is forced to find other avenues.  He seeks out a man whom he had previously refused to treat because, in his opinion, the situation was hopeless.  But the man found a solution and, instead of being paralyzed from the waist down, he is not only mobile, but physically active.  The guy turns him on to gurus and a secret place that he went to called Kamar-Taj. In Nepal, of course.

And guess what?  When he gets there, his whole world is going to HAVE to change.  The completely logical and rational mind with which Strange approaches life will have to be expanded.  Such things that he does not want to accept as reality, such as chakras and spirits, will have to be accepted if he is to continue.  And the Ancient One is going to help him, if only he will put those narrow visions of the world on the back burner.

(The CGI used during this sequence, and the rest of the movie, for that matter, will blow your mind.  But I would like to add, if you have access to it, a stereo, or multi speaker, system, will enhance the mind-blowing somewhat.  I listened with my primitive headphones, but when the Ancient One talks to Strange during this sequence the vocal part is also a bit impressive.)

But the Ancient One initially rejects helping Strange because of his arrogance,  He reminds her of a former student, Kaecilius.  But a master, Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), convinces her that despite the failure to keep Kaecilius under reins, that Strange may be the one hope of defeating Kaecilius and preventing the end of life as we know it. See, those pages he stole at the beginning are a threat if he figures out their secret.

 

The training of Strange in the ancient arts means that he will have to learn to surrender to grow stronger.  While that may seem cryptic, it is actually quite useful. (Side note from the blogger:Trust me on that one.  I have 15 years of sobriety because I surrendered in order to have some control over my addiction...)

This film has what seems at the outside to be an interminably long training session before we get to the real action.  But, really, it doesn't seem all that long.  What happens during the training never grows dull, and this from someone who really craves action over exposition. 

The exposition turns out to be necessary however, as Strange is far more advanced a student.  He gets one of the sacred books that he has been told are farther beyond his comprehension and manages to use the Eye of Agamotto, a relic, to control time. And repairs the missing pages from the book.  But is stopped and warned of the potential dangers of tampering with time.  Such as creating alternate timelines. (Boy, gotta love those...)

So Mordo and the current librarian Wong inform him of the ancient past, which includes the creation of three shields (Sanctums) which were made to protect the Earth from dark demons, specifically Dormammu (which is something akin to the Devil, if you wish)  from beyond.  One in Hong Kong, one in New York and one in London.  And he is told that the masters of the ancient One's temple are the only thing helping keep the dark demons from taking over the earth.

Except Kaecilius stole the pages from the ancient text in order to facilitate just that.  And though Strange intimates that he is not there to become one of the ancient One's cadre of defenders, it becomes aparent that he will not have much choice, as Kaecilius has taken the first steps in his goal by destroying the London Sanctum.

A battle ensues, but Strange is wounded and has to use a portal to get himself to the hospital where Dr. Palmer helps keep his body alive while he defeats one of Kaecilius' minions on the astral plane.  Strange is devastated that he, as a doctor who is committed to SAVING lives has taken one.  But it's not going to be so easy to dismiss his (unwanted) mission to save the Earth from the Dark Dimension. 

 

 Where is Stan Lee?:

During a battle between Kaecilius and Strange and Mordo, a scene focuses on a bus going by where Stan is one of the riders.  He is engrossed in reading and doesn't even notice the action. 

 

Ultimately, the Ancient One is killed, but not before passing on one final truth to Strange; he needs to over come his ego. "It's not about you" she tells him, and in that truth, maybe he has more power than he ultimately thought he already had in his own life as a doctor.

And thus the final battle between Kaecilius and his people against Strange and Mordo. Sounds a little one-sided? Well, actually Strange can use the time amulet to repair the damage that Kaecilius caused, And, eventually, cause Dormammu to give up his quest to conquer the Earth (or there will be Hell to pay...)

Ultimately we find out that the Eye contains one of the Infinity Stones, which is taken back to nepal. (Where it won't stay for all that long, but that's for a future movie.) And Mordo decides he no longer wants to be a part of the "saving the world" society and departs.

And the Credits Roll: 

In mid-credits, Doc confers with Thor where Doc informs Thor that one of his missions is to keep an eye on inter dimensional beings who may be a threat, and that Thor's brother, Loki, is one of those perceived threats.  He tells Thor he will help him find Loki. And in  post credits we find Mordo may have his own agenda.

OK, I absolutely loved Doctor Strange.  I don't understand why it ranks so low on the lists I've seen of the MCU rankings.  Maybe some of that has to do with some of the spiritual enlightenment I got from it.  I make no apologies for that. (see the above references to my own path to redemption from addiction.) So as of this posting, Doctor Strange is now ranked very high on the list.

And despite that fairly long build up, it doesn't lose anything because of it.  Which is probably astounding to some readers considering how I've railed against long sequences in these films with no action .  I still crave action sequences, and will probably revert to my former impatient self by next movie, but it was worth the build up in this one.

Time to fire up those engines on the Plymouth now. Unfortunately I can't warp time and space, so I'm dependent on the 8 cylinder primitive engine in the car to get me home.  Drive safely, folks.

Quiggy