Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mads Mikkelsen
(12 votes)
Doctor Strange is one of those Marvel movies that never really worked for me.
The biggest reason I watch the Marvel movies are for their characters and stories, and this movie falls completely short on that aspect. The story line felt very basic and uninspired. The writing for the most part has no charm or wit. It is practically a Marvel tradition to have comedy, but that falls flat on virtually every occasion.
As for the characters, they are pretty weak. Benedict Cumberbatch is fine as Doctor Strange, but his character never felt strong enough to support an entire movie. He worked better in Infinity War because he was part of a team and had others he could work off. Rachel McAdams’ character is... a nurse, that’s honestly just her character. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen and Benedict Wong are fine in their roles, but I never truly felt a connection with their characters.
The biggest problem I have with the characters is that they have no chemistry with one another, so it becomes really difficult to care about any of them. The fight sequences and visual effects are undoubtedly amazing, but they are ultimately weighed down by a story that feels painstakingly basic.
Visible crew/equipment: After Doctor Strange experiments with the magical doorway in the Sanctum Sanctorum, he leaves it on a desert view and we cut to a shot panning across all the artifacts. At the very start of the shot on the right hand side of the screen is a crewmember standing in the shadows looking bored. Really blatant if you turn up the brightness, but easy enough to spot if you know what you're looking at. (00:56:00)
The Ancient One: We never lose our demons, we only learn to live above them.
Trivia: The sorcerors' WiFi password, Shamballa, is a reference to the 1986 Doctor Strange graphic novel "Into Shamballa."
Question: When Dr. Strange gets into the accident near the beginning of the film, why didn't his car's airbag deploy? Wouldn't such an expensive car have all kinds of standard safety features?
Chosen answer: The airbag did deploy. However, the deployment occurred when the car first crashed and we see the accident from the outside, so we can't see it. Once we get a shot of the interior, you can see the airbag is sticking out from the steering wheel, but (unlike what some movies would show you) airbags deflate very rapidly after a crash, so you may have missed it.
But if the airbags did deploy, then why did he have such major injuries? Wouldn't the airbags have made what happened to his hands less severe?
I don't think so. I watched it again recently and I think I saw the car's speedometer crush his hands while they were still on the steering wheel, while the airbag deploys from the centre of the steering wheel, nowhere near his hands.
Often in real life, when air bags deploy from the steering wheel, they force the hands off the steering wheel resulting in the hands hitting the windshield. Damage to hands, wrists, and lower arms are common.