Young Writers Society

(Holy cow, we have tags!?)

Dr. Strange recently came out on DVD. For those of you not in-the-know, Dr. Strange is based on a Marvel comic series about a doctor turned warlock, and is the newest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which includes the Avengers, Ant Man, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, along with a multitude of TV shows).

So what are y'alls thoughts on the movie? Does it stack up compared to the other Marvel flicks? How about to other super-hero movies in general? What are your hopes for how Marvel will use the character in the future? For those of you familiar with the source material; how faithful is it? Does the movie do a good job of capturing the tone of the comics?

~~~~

The movie lives and dies on its visual effects, in my opinion. It falls very much in line with the other Marvel movies, so you pretty much know what to expect out of it (epic-scale super hero action movie with a snarky sense of humor). What sets it apart from the usual Marvel fare was less in the writing, and more in the trippy set-pieces. From the psychedelic visions in the temple to the fight in the mirror dimension to the climactic final battle in the reverse-destruction of the city, the movie's strengths lies in these scenes.

All in all, the best way to describe it is "Marvel with a mildly psychedelic set of paint". If you like Marvel movies, you've seen it anyways. And if you don't, then this is not gonna change your opinion

~~~~

So what did you think about Dr. Strange?

I've done watching the flashy scenes with my brother (yeah, those were the things we came for when the surrounding was too loud to hear the voices), and am going to really watch it this weekend.

... I think I'm giving up on the movie. I don't know, this is rare for me, I never gave up for a Marvel movie (okay, except Ironman series, because robots are a bore) and I think the reason why I couldn't engage in the story is because it's slow. Like, too slow. I love magic, and I'm expecting Dr. Strange to be one of my favourite Marvel movies, but it's not.

For one thing, the steps leading to Strange being able to wield magic are just too much. It's like hundreds of stairs. I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of Strange who I think is a protagonist I've seen in other movies before. I'm a huge fan of the Ancient One because her character is a level of its own, and she has like this magnetic charm to her.

At the end, I only watch the flashy scenes of Dr. Strange. Even the part where he meets the baddest guy is underwhelming to me. I even think the fighting scene at the beginning is the best fighting scene. The first one involving Strange is just messy.

That is understandable, Light. People have complained that Strange is basically the generic "snarky protagonist" that we see in the likes of Tony Stark or Dr. House. Him following a very predictable character arc didn't help either.