LM23 Rating: Definitely to be seen in the theatres but it doesn’t seem to have a payoff
Going to the movies doesn’t seem exciting anymore unless there’s a Marvel movie to be had. Spider-Man: No Way Home seems like it was released in a whole other era and universe. Maybe it’s the whole copyright issue with DC characters, but I consider Doctor Strange to be a true Marvel character and movie over Spiderman, so I was more excited to see where this movie would go.
This weekend I made sure to watch Doctor Strange, so I would be familiar with the character’s origins. I have to say I was very surprised at how entertaining it was and it’s all due to Academy Award nominated actor, Benedict Cumberbatch. Despite his very posh and elite background, Cumberbatch seems like a guy who’s down for a cheap laugh and drink at the pub like Conan or Anderson Cooper who both also come from similar backgrounds. I was torn between finishing Doctor Strange and watching Cumberbatch host Saturday Night Live this weekend. You can’t help but to love him as he’s willing to poke fun at himself and stand up for women’s rights with the 1973 T-shirt.
So I was ready to watch Doctor Strange 2 this morning. I’m really glad I watched part 1 as I needed to understand the importance of the watch, who Rachel McAdams is in the movie, and what the sorcerer academy is as run by Wong (played by the other great Benedict in the film, Benedict Wong). Doctor Strange is all about Doctor Strange and so it was kind of disappointing that the movie focused more on the villain in the movie, Wanda/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and her obsession with taking the multiverse travelling skills of random Gen Z teen character, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez).
The movie starts off with Doctor Strange and America trying to fend off a huge monster. With no other choice, Doctor Strange is forced to take America’s powers in order to defeat the monster. But don’t worry, it appears to be just a dream as Doctor Strange wakes up in bed and then gets his dapper self ready for a wedding. But it’s not just any wedding, it’s the wedding of his love, Christine (McAdams).
But all seems like water under the bridge as they have a brief but light conversation at the bar before madness begins and the rollercoaster ride of Doctor Strange 2 begins. There’s not time to reminisce or talk about feelings as Doctor Strange has to transform his tuxedo for a superhero suit and go save the day.
A monster appears to be wreaking havoc in the Soho section of New York City, but it seems like he’s after a teenager wearing a jean jacket that has the stars and stripes emblazoned on it. I like how the MCU will have subtle hints of a superhero outfit but in regular off duty clothes. Wong suddenly appears to also help fight the monster. They all eventually defeat the monster and get away to a pizza place where they try to find out what the heck just happened.
So this is probably why Doctor Strange 2 as a whole feels a little off kilter. For anyone who’s study writing, you’re taught how you can’t just make up a convenient excuse as to why a plot is progressing and why characters are doing what they’re doing. It has to be more organic and believable. In this case, America Chavez is randomly there and she has superpowers which includes the ability to travel across the multiverse. And, Doctor Strange and Wong are determined to protect her at all costs.
We come to find out that the reason why monsters are after America is that Wanda wants her power. She wants to be happy and being happy means being able to live in the same universe as her two sons that she dreamed up and she will do whatever it takes to get to them. Even this seems a bit forced and quite frankly, a little stereotypical. It’s like the evil male villain is usually acting out because his love died or he wants to be with his love whereas the evil female villain is just dying to be a mom. Is that really the best motivating factor for Wanda to destroy everyone in her path? I think it would’ve have been a bit more believable if she wanted to go into the multiverse and to a time when her twin brother, Pietro/Quicksilver) was still alive. We saw how devastated and angry she was in the Avengers: Age of Ultron when her brother was killed. I think that would’ve been more emotionally grounding than this I want to be a single mom to two tweens who we don’t even get to see or understand their relationship all that much in the movie.
And so that’s what Doctor Strange 2 is all about. Scarlet Witch is out to get America and Doctor Strange and Wong need to protect America. The special effects and fight scenes have Sam Raimi’s fingerprints all over them. The universe twists and bends as if a body is contorting from one form to the other. We get to experience how it looks like when the characters are moving across the multiverse and that was done very well. In one extended scene, we follow America and Doctor Strange and they even at one point cross over into the animated universe which is probably a nod to how the MCU universe includes animated features.
The violence is also more along the lines of how DC characters are beat up and killed. When Scarlet Witch knocks off each of the Illuminati with no problem at all. I missed the reason why Doctor Strange is suddenly appearing before the Illuminati panel, but this is the cameo scene that everyone was probably looking forward to. We get Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell), Black Bolt (Anson Mount), Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch), Karl Mondo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Mr. Fantastic (John Krasinski) and the one and only Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart). Everyone but Karl goes to stop Scarlet Witch, but within seconds, each of these superstar cameos are over and done with as Scarlet Witch massacres them all. There wasn’t even a proper fight between any of these supposed elite heroes versus Scarlet Witch. They were all just cut up or squashed—literally.
Perhaps the best fight scene was when Doctor Strange of the current universe fights himself in the other universe. The other Doctor Strange has an odd third eye on his forehead and wants to be able to keep Christine, so he can be happy. But that isn’t happening. Doctor Strange of this universe fights him off with music notes that turn into lethal blade-like weapons. That was definitely a clever invention of a weapon that we haven’t seen in a movie before.
In addition to the borderline gory violence, there were creepy monster-like creatures and metamorphoses of characters. As Scarlet Witch stalks the good guys, she begins to look less like a human Wanda and more like a zombie from Evil Dead. The Doctor Strange that we saw in the first scene of the movie becomes resurrected from the dead and is actually a zombie in the climatic fight scene. Part of his jaw is missing, but Benedict Cumberbatch is such a great actor that you don’t find this cheesy or bizarre at all.
The ending had Doctor Strange exiting his New York City brownstone, but he suddenly falls to his knees and a third eye appears on his forehead. The first end credit has Charlize Theron appear from another universe wearing a blue outfit. They both ultimately jump into that universe. The second and final end credit scene is just the guy on the street at the beginning of the movie who accused America of not paying for her pizza balls. It turns out that this guy is Bruce Campbell from the Evil Dead series. This end credit is just the guy saying this is the end or something and that was it. I’m sure fans of Bruce Campbell would cheer this ending, but I had no idea that was Bruce Campbell and it was another one of those wink wink it’s got nothing to do with the movie end credits like the one in The Matrix: Resurrections.
So did I like Doctor Strange 2? Yes. It was fast paced and not boring. My primary issue is that I wished it was about Doctor Strange and less about Scarlet Witch. If the movie is called Doctor Strange, it better be about Doctor Strange. I do recommend seeing it in the theatre as the special effects are probably best seen on the big screen, but I hope that the next Doctor Strange will actually be about Doctor Strange.
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