Doctor Strange

Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange is an above average popcorn picture. The role of the doctor is Sherlock redux for Benedict Cumberbatch: a brilliant and arrogant rationalist (in this case a brain surgeon) who lacks any form of empathy. A car accident robs the Doc of his surgical skills, but a mysterious sage, a perfectly cast Tilda Swinton, gets him in touch with his hidden superpowers. Swinton and Cumberbatch have a good rapport and it is a credit to the film that their relationship and not the CGI is the most exciting thing in it.

Swinton's sage bring the Doc's ego down a notch or twelve, whilst freeing him from the tyranny of Western mind/body dualism. Mads Mikkelsen and Rachel McAdams, superb performers both, are largely wasted as "the villain" and "the girl". Ben Bratt and Chiwetel Ejiofor fare better. Director Derrickson's background is in horror and he keeps the pace brisk. (6/17/17)
at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
  • La Collectionneuse
    Haydée Politoff and Patrick Bauchau Éric Rohmer's La Collectionneuse , his first color film, is his first feature to truly bear his stam...
  • Frankenstein
    Oscar Isaac I was largely knocked out by Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein even though another go at this old chestnut was the last thin...
  • Blast of Silence
    Allen Baron Allen Baron's Blast of Silence , released in  1961,  is an existential crime thriller made on a shoestring budget. Baron him...
  • The Beast
    Léa Seydoux Bertrand Bonello's La Bête is made up of three variations of Henry James' novella "The Beast in the Jungle", a...
  • State Funeral
    Red Square, March 9th, 1953 Sergei Loznitsa's State Funeral  is an assemblage of footage documenting the prolonged funeral ceremonies he...