Doctor Strange

Let me start off by saying that yes, of course I know R. Kelly is a despicable human being; peeing on underage girls and recording it is something that’s almost unforgivable. Yet, we as a society have somehow chosen to turn a blind eye to it, simply for the fact that Ignition (Remix) is such an awesome booty shaking song! Now I include myself in this nonsense as I was one of the many that was in a converted strip club to hear Robert (that’s his actual first name) swoon us with suchsweet lullabies as Pregnant, My Body’s Calling, and of course Trapped in the Closet. And had the midget from those incredible videos actually popped in for a guest appearance, that may have gone on record as being one of the greatest shows of all time.

But for some reason, people don’t like to see their guilty pleasures brought to light. For the past two years, I have chosen to dress up as R. Kelly for Halloween; complete with Zoro mask and camcorder that has the words "I want to pee on you" taped to it. And I am not exaggerating when I say that 80% of the people I ran into were genuinely offended by it. I had people lecture me, hiss at me, and some even outright yell at me. Now keep in mind that this is a ‘holiday’ where people dressed up as the actual devil himself and yet they still got more love than I did. I mean, am I asking for too much to get a little tinkle and some lovin at the same time? (Disclaimer: for those who don’t know me, I’m clearly joking about that last part)

Well it should come as no surprise that our society has a hard time when it comes to picking out the true villains in life. When I saw the trailer for Doctor Strange and I noticed that it had the evil twin of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke (Tilda Swinton) in it, I just knew that she had to be the bad guy. She has all of the characteristics: she’s pale, she looks like Dr. Evil’s skinned cat, and when she smiles, it looks as though she just ate the heart of the young. But no, as it turns out, she actually wound up being Dr. Strange’s spirit guide.

Now for those who are truly being honest and aren’t claiming to have read more than a Superman, Batman, or a Spiderman comic book growing up, let me give you a quick synopsis of our latest hero’s background. Dr. Strange is the story of a brilliant but unbelievably conceited neurosurgeon whose life is turned upside down after getting into a nearly fatal car accident. The doctors are able to save his life but his hands are completely disfigured in the accident and he no longer has the ability to perform surgery. So he goes to considerable lengths to reverse the damage done with the hopes of returning to the life he once knew, and as a result, he nearly goes broke in the process. But as last ditch effort, he finally finds himself on the doorstep of The Ancient One (Swinton).

After some initial resistance to her ways and her philosophies, his world is once again turned upside down as he is exposed to a universe that’s full of alternate dimensions and magical powers that can be tapped into by simply expanding your mind’s reach. Well once he does, he finds that his brilliant mind can allow him to do far greater things than he ever imagined; things like teleporting to another country or world, changing physical dimensions, or even stealing books from librarians. But with powers like these, it can naturally lead to someone turning to the dark side. This is where Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) and his search for immortality comes into play.

The makers of Inception helped bring the action of this comic book to life with their unbelievably creative and revolutionary set design. They were of course aided by the latest advancements in CGI but even with this technology, the film never quite drifted off into weird video game territory. And it’s because of this, Dr. Strange was able to provide us with some breathtakingly awesome scenes. Now having said all of that, this film never quite surpassed what you experienced in Inception. The story fell into the normal Marvel formula; a tale that’s not really all that challenging and spends way too much time trying to tell a clever joke rather than finding a clever twist.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Mads Mikkelsen are both solid in Strange but the director (Scott Derrickson, Sinister) never quite pushed them to be brilliant. The entire time I kept thinking that no superhero movie has come close to providing us what we experienced in The Dark Knight, and sadly, until we get a director with some balls, we won’t ever get one. I liked this film, I just didn’t love. Go ahead and check it out in 3D as that alone is worth the price of admission but do yourself a favor and lower your expectations. I give Strange a rating of kind of FRESH.