It's Finally Here! The Dr. Strange Movie Review Dual Post

(This is what you get when you subcontract to shoddy workmen)

Moderator: We'll go back and forth , starting with Cable. Cable, your intro:

Cable: Well, it looks like Marvel Animated Features has done it again, with their recent foray into the Sanctum Santorum of the Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Strange. (no I did not make all that babbling stuff up, that's what this thing is full of ... and I love it.) So where to begin? How about the beginning?

Well this movie (unlike other previous sock-worthy submissions from the same company) starts you out in the middle of a high powered mage-shadow beast fight that has the fierceness of a Tijuanan cock-fighting ring and the ingenuity of an electrical engineering college kid on crank.

You know what I loved about this movie that I thought was a huge step in the right direction? The exciting battle that appears on the back cover of the box actually occurs during some point of the movie ( You could learn from that Mr. Stark [by the way Mr. Stark is a reference to Tony Stark { Note to the uninitiated: Tony Stark is Iron Man}]).

I do have to admit that I was more interested than I thought I would be in this Dr. Strange flick and was not disappointed. In fact, I dare say this is the best movie about the Sorcerer Supreme ever made, yes I do believe it beat out the 1978 TV movie starring Peter Hooten as Doctor Strange.

Moderator: Excellent. Machiavelli, do you have anything to say before we get started?

Machiavelli: Just an introductory caveat:

Since this movie is about Dr. Strange, it could not receive a score higher than 8 out of 10. For scoring purposes, this movie starts out with negative 2 “bonus points.”

Moderator: I think that goes without saying. Alright, let's start with the plot. Cable?

Cable: Plot: 2/2 A solid and interesting story (it even had a couple of twists in it). Good groundwork in the beginning paid dividends towards the end. This is how a comic book movie should be. It doesn't rush the origin story but still delivers and engaging and entertaining storyline

Moderator: Machiavelli?

Machiavelli: Plot: 1/2

The movie tried hard to make Dr. Strange’s story interesting, but mostly failed. It was generally predictable and the main mysteries to work with were 1) how did Dr. Strange get his powers and 2) who the hell is a magician supposed to fight? It answered both those questions reasonably well, but another still remains: if all it takes to do magic is to manipulate perception, why can’t I make a sword out of my arm by just ‘believing the unbelievable’ (or as the “Ancient One,” put it, “accept the unacceptable,” whatever that means). The movie strove hard to build anticipation by precluding their 30 minutes of boring detail into the life of a total asshole doctor named Dr. Strange with an exciting action intro scene, but it was still rather slow. There was a mildly interesting plot twist towards the end of the movie that helps the movie get a solid 1.

Moderator: Let's move on to Originality...

Cable: Originality: 2/2 Ok so this wasn't the first (or last) Dr. Strange movie, but the storyline and the interpretation of the Sorcerer Supreme was refreshing and interesting. I especially enjoyed the way how they dealt with how magic worked in the movie (not the accept the unacceptable stuff) but instead I was enjoyed how they gave each character a sphere of influence. A common mistake in this kind of movie is to not put restrictions on the abilities of the characters which leads to an inability to create an interesting and exciting fight scene. One must be able to see that a character is not omnipotent to care about him.

Machiavelli: Originality: 2/2

Dr. Strange is a weird character with all sorts of zany stuff going on and the movie portrayed that well. Additionally, this movie doesn’t “feel” like any other animated feature (Marvel or otherwise), which is a good thing. I liked what they did and tried to do with possibly the stupidest character in Marvel Comics.

Moderator: Acting?

Cable: Acting: 2/2 Well everyone was solid and there were no outlandishly bad standouts that detracted. (this is in general the criteria for a 2/2 although superb acting can give bonus points in the lightning round).

Moderator: and Machiavelli...

Machiavelli: Acting: 2/2

My rule is that if it’s not distracting it’s not a problem. Nothing great, but nothing bad either.

Moderator: Animation...

Cable: Animation: 3/2 Well it was pretty amazing. From the initial fight scene throughout it was of top quality. There were also no severe jarring transitions from CG to drawn images. The character designs were all spectacular reimaginings of what one can only consider awful source material (case in point Dormammu aka ball face). I especially enjoyed the effects for all the crazy magic that was always going on. It was clean, cool, and not over the top. Excellent.

Moderator: Umm...I don't think it's possible to give more than 2 points, but ok...Machiavelli?

Machiavelli: Animation: 2/2

I don’t really care about animation to a point, but the production value here was obviously very high. The fight scenes were particularly well done.

Moderator: And now execution...

Cable: Execution: 2/2 Pretty amazing considering this is a Doctor Strange movie. Excellent development of the characters as well as amazing animation. Overall very well done and completed well.

Machiavelli: Execution: 2/2

Considering how awful a movie about Dr. Strange could have been, the writers/director did a good job of not making a mockery of a movie and actually producing something relatively interesting. They took on a non-campy, smooth style and ran with it. They avoided most of the nonsensical philosophical babble that usually accompanies stories with pretentious visits to the Himalayas and tried to make “magic” into a believable superpower (with as much success as they probably hoped for). They didn’t press things too far and, try as I might, there’s little to easily jab away at as being ridiculous.

Moderator: Any bonus points?

Machiavelli: -2 for forementioned reasons

Cable: Bonus Points: 0 Being a movie about Dr. Strange unfortunately forbids me from granting any bonus points for awesomeness. That's unfortunate because it would have deserved them.

Moderator: And now the final score with some concluding remarks...why don't you start off, Cable....

Cable: Total: 11/10 It was good, really good. Need I say more. It revived my faith in Marvel Animated Features. I haven't looked into it but this might be an entirely different team than the ones that worked on that Iron Man debacle, but if its the same people then kudos for the turn around. If they're new then kudos to Marvel for dropping those other losers.

If you like comics then this is probably a must see. It's better than any of the live-action stuff they've made. Bravo Marvel Animated Features, Bravo.

You'll want to get it for more than just the Video game cinematics it comes with...



Moderator: And finally Machiavelli...

Machiavelli: Total: 7/10

If you are demented enough to like Dr. Strange don’t watch this movie because it might make you sane. If you have no idea who Dr. Strange is, but like comic book movies, this movie is perfect for you. If you’re looking for a movie to have a lot of fun with at its and Dr. Strange’s expense, as I was, you’ll have to look somewhere else…unfortunately.

Moderator: Alright! That's it...the first dual post in blogger history...Good Bye [Moderator disappears in cloud of smoke]

Cable: Wait a second...was our moderator the Sorcerer Supreme?

Machiavelli: Maybe...I did feel like kicking his ass the whole time.

Cable: Next time we should instantly kill the moderator to be safe...

Machiavelli: agreed


Moderator: Stay tuned for next week's dual post, moderated by the Pillsbury Doughboy!

P.S.

Cable: I'm a big idiot and Machiavelli is much more awesome than me.