Dr. Strange Review - I am over the MCU
Well, it is official I am over this marvel cinematic universe. I was over it after Endgame, but I tried to give a few more movies a go. There was Spiderman... OK, there was only Spiderman, but after Dr. Strange: Multiverse Madness, I am checking out of this area. Not to say that the movie was terrible. As far as Dr. Strange movies go, it passed with pretty colors and explosions. However, it is a mess of other things. I figure those will keep happening in these movies, so it is best to pretend like the marvel cinematic universe ended after Endgame.
The biggest problem with this movie is the title says Dr. Strange, but it is not a Dr. Strange movie. The movie centers around two other characters, generic hero A and the villain. I mean, Dr. Strange is in the movie, but it is not his movie. You spend most of your time on the development of hero A. Then another good chunk of your time with the villain, and then from time to time, you get to see Dr. Strange do Dr. Strange things. Marvel is no stranger to having multiple big-name heroes in a movie, but Marvel did a much better job in past movies. To be honest, this movie feels like a bet and switch. Not to mention the required reading.
I guess there is a series called Wanda Vision or Wandavision or something? There are several references to that series that seemed to be necessary to this movie. This is really annoying. It is OK to tie in a series to a movie, like what was done with Agents of Shield. However, that was not the case with this movie. It felt like there was a lot that I needed to know to get many of the references before seeing this movie. I personally have no desire to get Disney Plus, so I doubt I will ever see the show anyway. Then there is the fact that Dr. Strange, arguably one of the strongest Marvel characters out there, is actually quite weak in this movie.
I have seen a couple of Dr. Strange origins, and most of them take into account Dr. Strange's intelligence. He manages to learn the mystic arts and figure things out fast. This means he goes from level zero to level 100 overnight. However, watching him get tossed around like a rag doll and having the crap kicked out of him with little to no effort for the entire movie makes me think this movie was to make him look pathetic so they could write him off. Not to mention he is made into a new villain for everyone to hate.
Since this movie dabbles in the idea of the multiverse, that means that there are multiple Dr. Stranges. He is built up and shown to be an arrogant jerk, which is not the problem. The problem is he is an arrogant failure of a sorcerer supreme. This movie never misses a chance to call him evil, stupid, arrogant, or a loser. Basically, the whole movie is spent blaming him for the actions of other versions of him, which gets annoying because there is no real redemption in the movie. Such plot devices are acceptable when there is redemption at the end of everything, but in this movie, Dr. Strange is the perpetual child who learns nothing and is hated by everyone. I guess hero A has some admiration for him, but I doubt it will last long in the direction of this universe.
As such, I have wasted the last of my money on the marvel cinematic universe. I guess I am blessed not to be a comic super fan, so I can be slightly less disappointed and compelled to see other movies. Then again, I guess three or four have come and gone since this one. Either way, I cannot even recommend this watch for someone who is a fan of the first movie. If you are expecting the same thing as the first movie or at least the same general shape, you will be disappointed. So stay home and do something productive with your life. Go outside, maybe take that movie ticket money and watch it depreciate in value over time. You could also sleep or watch a good old movie; this movie kills everything for me. Not to mention all the stupid propaganda in it.