"It's not about you."
Hello everyone!
Finally, everything seems to be settled enough so that I can write up a blog post on the day it's supposed to be written. I feel so accomplished, haha!
Luckily, I seem to have found a knack for managing my time a little bit better. It's amazing how much the house of cards can come down all around you when you stop paying attention for even the slightest moment, and then once that happens EVERYTHING follows right along that track, no questions asked.
Lists are my new favourite thing and my best friends. I kid you not.
Which is truly sad, considering the fact that I used to make them but then fell out of the habit ... and now I'm back in the saddle, so to speak! But I'm rambling like a teenager out on her first date so I might as well get to the point.
This past weekend, I finally, FINALLY sat down to watch Doctor Strange, and I say 'finally' with a note of annoyance at myself. I don't usually dawdle so much with Cumberbatch's movies.
To tell you the absolute honest truth, I would have seen it much, much earlier, if not for a blasted headache that tucked me straight to bed and forced me to decline an invitation by a very good friend of mine to go see it in cinemas. My head just didn't want to cooperate that day, so I had to wait it out.
Finally, however, here I am, and with a review to boot.
Doctor Stephen Strange (and the man is about as narcissistic about his title as Captain Jack Sparrow, it's actually pretty hilarious) is a brilliant neurosurgeon with an arrogance that's about the size of Mount Everest if not, perhaps, even bigger. This has cost him pretty much any personal life (including the lovely ER doctor, Christine Palmer) and any chance to make friends, but hey, he's awesome, so who needs friends, right?
Right.
On his way to a benefit, our doctor forgets a cardinal driving rule: don't use the phone and drive (something the filmmakers remembered to put in the credits, thankfully) and gets himself into a nasty crash which results in severe nerve damage to his hands.
Basically, his hands are shaking like he's got the palsy, and he can't be a surgeon anymore because of it, no matter what process he undergoes or how many surgeries.
So, he spends his fortune and ends up in Nepal, where he finds himself in a secret compound named Kamar-Taj, where the Ancient One (at the slight proding from one of her underlings, Mordo, played brilliantly by Chiwetel Ejiofor) agrees to teach Strange about the OTHER parts of our universe.
Or, well, the multiverse as it so happens.
So Strange begins his studies and makes quick leaps once he figures out that he's the only obstacle that's keeping him back, namely his own arrogance and fear, but that same arrogance causes him to break rules and attempt a sorcery that is generally forbidden because it tampers with the natural laws, namely, time.
Strange does this with the help of a mystical object named the Eye of Agamotto (anyone else thinks Agamemnon here? No one?), but Mordo and the book-keeper/librarian Wong warn him about what he's doing, and that his arrogance will be his downfall.
They tell him of another sorcerer, Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), who stole pages from the very same book Strange had gotten his ritual from, to gain eternal life for himself and his followers, thus breaking from the main schism. Strange also learns that the Earth is protected, not just physically by the Avengers, but by a spell that is maintained through the power of three sanctums, located in London, New York and Hong Kong.
Unfortunately for them, however, Kaecilius is already well on the 'going to the Dark Side' train, as he summons the power of Dormammu, a dark entity from a space in the continuum where time doesn't exist.
This destroys the London sanctum and kicks Strange to New York, where he then proceeds to battle Kaecilius and his minions with the help of a levitating cloak (take THAT, Aladdin!).
Kaecilius shares a little nugget, however: the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) draws power from Dormammu to remain alive, something that confuses Strange but angers Mordo once he finds out. In a battle between dimensions, Kaecilius mortally wounds the Ancient One, and she dies despite frantic attempts by Strange and Christine Palmer to save her (in a previous scene in the movie, a wounded Strange got into the OR too, having an astral battle while his ex-girlfriend saved his physical body).
Before she dies, however, the Ancient One tells Strange that, sometimes, rules have to be broken, and that Mordo, with his unyielding, steadfast nature, doesn't understand this.
Strange and Mordo then head to Hong Kong, where Strange again wields the Eye of Agamotto to turn back time, thus bringing Wong back to life and giving them all the chance to save the sanctum and Earth.
But Kaecilius has already unleashed Dormammu on them, and the thing is sucking into Earth like it's a lovely smoothie.
Strange realises that he needs to break some more rules, and heads into the Dark Dimension to bargain with Dormammu. The dark entity just squishes him like a gnat ... only for Strange to pop back into existence with the same demand for a bargain.
Over.
And over.
And over again.
Dormammu demands to know what's going on, and Strange explains that he has created an infinite time loop that only he can break, and unless Dormammu gives in, they'll just be stuck on this wheel forever.
Pissed off at being beaten, Dormammu relents, and takes Kaecilius and his zealots right along into the dark dimension, a warning Kaecilius failed to read about the spell he'd cast.
Having saved the day, Strange then takes up residence in the New York sanctum, to both protect it and continue his studies, whereas Mordo, disgusted by how natural law is disregarded, heads off on his own. The guy would probably have liked being dead before breaking a rule.
He isn't done, however; we next see him as he goes to visit Pangborn, a paraplegic who has used the force of magic to help himself to walk, but Mordo takes it from him, saying there are too many sorcerers around and that's Earth's true problem.
Not so for Strange, however, whose current issue is with a certain blonde-haired deity complaining he doesn't drink tea; Thor has dropped by for a cuppa - or, pint, in this case, since Strange gives the complaining god some beer to shut him up - and to explain that, yes, Strange is right, Loki, who is on the list for 'dangerous things that should be kicked out of New York ASAP' is currently in town with Thor and they're looking for Odin, the Allfather (if you recall, Loki has been impersonating Odin for a bit here, and apparently, Thor is unhappy about it, as you do when you realise your dad isn't your dad).
What follows is one of the best exchanges ever.
Strange: So, I keep a watchlist of individuals and beings from other realms that may be a threat to this world. Your adopted brother, Loki, is one of those beings.
Thor: A worthy inclusion.
Strange: Yeah. So ... why bring him here to New York?
Thor: It's a bit of a long story. Family drama, that kind of thing. We're looking for my father.
Strange: Oh, okay. So, if you found Odin, you'd all return to Asgard ... promptly?
Thor: Oh, yes. Promptly.
Strange: Great! Allow me to help you.
Ta-da! The end.
I have to say, the first part of the movie, right until Strange gets stranded on Mount Everest (long story) and tampers with the Eye of Agamotto didn't exactly ring as many bells for me as one would think. In fact, I was a little bit bored ... and truth be told I was slightly off-put by the whole mystical thing of jumping around dimensions, not to mention I got motion sickness from all the folding buildings and the world going upside down.
Other than THAT, however, I liked it. I liked how cooky Strange was, and how the cloak had to drag him around to get the job done (or dry his tears for him; even longer story).
Benedict's American accent, however ...
It was good, don't misunderstand me! But it was SO weird listening to that coming out of his mouth. I wholeheartedly agree with a friend of mine: Britishguy Curiousname sounds much better British.
Also, Wong listening to Beyoncé is da bomb.
If you have yet to see this installment in the Marvel franchise, make sure you do! It's epic in the making.
xx
*images and video not mine
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