Wonderful film.
I want to start by saying I'm a trip-freak, i love anything and everything trippy, and boy 'o boy did this movie deliver in that regard.
Now that we've gotten my potential bias out of the way, let's next get into the pros and cons of the latest addition to Marvel's movie catalog.
Pros:
- Visuals pretty much beat every movie ever made.
- Benedict gives an outstanding performance.
- If you've done the good stuff before, it recreates the experience of hallucinating in the best way a movie possibly could. If you've ever wondered what the most insane drugs are like, the movie gives you the tiniest little taste. The warping that just seems off... the feelings of being on a ride through the cosmos... they nailed it. The movie could've used a little more thought-trip, but still, damn fine job.
- The way he beat the final boss was with wits, not with power. SO [frick]ING REFRESHING.
- They introduced quantum mechanics into the mcu, most big studios don't have the balls for that, thanks marvel. it's been hinted at before, but they went balls out here. wish there was a little more science-talk, but that might've brought the movie down.
- The build-up to the climax was handled very well pacing-wise. The final battle seemed to last forever, but it was never a drag and kept me constantly engaged.
Cons
- I didn't feel much for the characters apart from strange and the ancient one honestly. mordo, wong, and kaecilus were all caricatures without much depth.
- The joke complaint is REAL with this one. The humor ruins SO many moments it's absurd.
- Also, the humor just wasn't funny. The only time i laughed was at the end when wong fell in reverse, that looked hysterical. But that's not a joke, the jokes were bland and uninspired. it was dry, but when you're dry it's important to be clever. I did not find much of strange's quips to be clever, just awkward. Awkward banter isn't always funny, yet these superhero movies are addicted to it, especially marvel. I find it works really well in most marvel movies, yet it didn't work once for me in this movie, except in the mid-credits scene.
-Kaecilus really is nothing more than "dude that turned to the darkside"
- The dialogue sometimes felt like ad libs. like they took lines from other movies and just replaced it with their character's and place's names.
- Why did the goon at the sanctum let the cape choke him for 10 minutes before finally going astral? did he forget he could do that? wtf?
While it may seem like i found more negative than positive, overall that is not the case. I could write pages on most movies about their flaws, but this is about all i noticed in strange, and besides the humor, the flaws didn't ruin my experience one bit. Cliche stories are ok, everything is a cliche to an extent, there will never be another story that hasn't been done before, regardless of whether or not it is intentional.
This was a rehash of the hero's journy, which is a staple of storytelling. You've seen it many times in your favorite movies. Was this movie a little more cliche than most? Yes. but it did so many great things with the visuals and pacing that it doesn't matter. the only time cliches really become a problem is when you can guess what happens next, and that isn't the case with this movie at least for me.
In conclusion, i found it to be a great film. Best of the year, just barely beating out deadpool. However, too many flaws keep the film from reaching perfection.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Will i do a video review that showcases my absurd sense of humor and faux-intellect? All while my best friend does his best to embarrass me like a total jerk?
Probably not, but I'll let you know if I do!