Doctor Strange: Awesome Movie I Don't Recall Asking For

We've all heard my argument before: it's beginning to look a little redundant that Marvel has yet to make a movie that not only doesn't qualify as “good” but hasn't even managed to make one in the definitive “bad” category. With the closest thing to an actual “bad” movie being the likes of Iron Man 2 or Thor 2 (which are still incidentally better than anything currently in the DC catalog), it just feels like Marvel should be cockier and willing to take more deliberate chances just to see what characters audiences might not be willing to tolerate (Howard the Duck? Gwenpool? Ms. Marvel?). Finally, after seemingly running through what feels like their entire roster, Marvel seems to at long last have landed on the unfilmable superhero with Doctor Strange (he's a wizard who sometimes freelances as a Necromancer and a therapist to the superheros). The result? A predictably great movie with fun humor, interesting main characters and enough charm and wit to be memorable. This is getting kind of old, Marvel.

If you haven't guessed it, yes, Doctor Strange is awesome (sigh). Benedict Cumberbatch is fun and interesting and fits the character well enough that I'd like to see him more often in the universe, the cast chemistry is endearing and, even when the movie goes off on the whole gonzo metaphysical stuff characteristic of the Doctor Strange comics, it still remains simple enough to follow. Throw in Mads Mikkelsen as arguably the best and most relateable villain since Loki and you have something that not only appeals to the masses but somehow will likely appease all but the most psychotically devout fanboys. Its like a universally appealing art house movie; it just doesn't happen like that!

As for bad, try as she may, Rachel McAdams is criminally underused and completely underwhelming as human love interest Christine Palmer. This could mostly be chalked up to the script writers wishing to blow off Strange's human life quickly to get to the good stuff (and by “good stuff” I mean weird metaphysical nonsense with hints of Inception), but it is kind of sad to see how thoroughly pointless the actual human side of Strange becomes in this movie. Newsflash, screenwriters: the less human a character seems, the less we relate to them.

The argument for watching this comes down to how you feel about Marvel movies. If you like the path this is going and are not at all concerned that they may have added a kind of Deus Ex to the next Avengers movie (the guy is basically a mortal with the power to stop time and destroy whole universes), knock yourself out because this is just more of the same good writing mixed with great casting that you've come to expect from this franchise. If you're seeking something with a little more depth or character development, you probably own four or five other Marvel movies that do it better. Your choice.

Scott Derrickson (Sinister) proves that you can escape the bottomless pit of a horror genre director to make movies that Disney will throw money at you to make with Doctor Strange, a fun, mostly enjoyable trip through alternate dimensions that you might want to be sober to partake in. Having lost the use of his hands in a car wreck, neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) begins looking for ways to regain not only the proper use of his body again but for a deeper purpose to his life. Along the way, Mads Mikkelson's Kaecilius will be a totally awesome bad guy who the powers that be should have taken more advantage of, Strange's human friend (McAdams) will drop in and out occasionally to ask the questions we're already asking, Strange will prove that you can beat an enemy to death with boredom (literally) and, all in all, it will probably be the second most magical thing you've seen in November (Because The Cubs Won The World Series!). Go have predictable fun with this one.

My score: 8/10. Is it me or is Marvel beginning to seem a little bit arrogant about their seeming inability to make a bad comic book movie? I would suggest they make another Howard the Duck as a humbling exercise, but I have an odd feeling they'd just make that awesome too. Maybe they should steal some Deadpool characters (Dazzler anyone?) for the challenge...

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2: Still Messing With Expectations

James Gunn's 2014 masterpiece Guardians of the Galaxy has me conflicted for numerous reasons. On one hand, its arguably the best Marvel movie made during the current cinematic cycle, has a perfect cast with spot-on humor and chemistry and action sequences that remain some of the best you will see on the market today. On the other, Gunn is something of the directorial equivalent of an internet troll and I could never quite shake the thought that the man might just be arrogantly teasing us with his talent by making the most un-Marvel movie ever (a nothing post-credit scene, an air of self-loathing on top of all the humor). If I were to go by Volume 2, I might as well just remain conflicted.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 is awesome. The characters are still perfect, the humor is still spot-on, there's actually some depth to the side characters for a change and Drax (Dave Bautista) is still the weird, out-of-touch psychopath that we all know and love from the first movie. Throw in a surprising narrative turn that gives both Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Yondu (Michael Rooker) much needed back stories with out-of-left-field depth they were sorely lacking in the original and you have a movie that fixes the only niggling things I could manage to find from its original. They took a practically perfect movie and made a sequel seemingly to remove the hard-to-find blemishes. That's insane in a good way.

As for bad, as with most Marvel sequels, there's just not a lot of wonder to go around this time and there's really nothing even the likes of Gunn can actually do to fix such a problem. While it's easy to love these characters, we already know them and their motivations, making them familiar and, to a lesser extent, kind of boring. Throwing in a misplaced alien psychic with Mantis (Pom Klementieff) as the new character doesn't help when you realize she only seems to be there for strict plot progression purposes. This was a movie that somehow made Sylvester Stallone into a deep and relatable character yet somehow couldn't make the newest member of the Guardians anything but a plot point? Come on, man!

As for watching it, yeah, go do that. It's still a fun time with all the humor you could either want or stand and, while the whole main plot does tend to get a little out of hand near the end, you'd still be hard-pressed to find anything to truly dislike out of the whole experience. If anything, this is a nice farewell for James Gunn from the franchise and his last, big obscene gesture to us all for expecting him to play by the book. Plus, they made freaking Yondu (the guy who openly talks about eating Peter) a sympathetic character! Talent!

James Gunn (Slither) continues to make movies seemingly as practical jokes on audiences with Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, a fun, mostly entertaining, sci-fi epic-like movie that spends very little time trying to acquaint you with its lore and more time making fun of your expectations. While fleeing from another botched heist, the Guardians encounter weird, hippy alien Ego (Kurt Russell) who promptly drops a bomb on Peter (Chris Pratt): he's his father and he's also a freaking planet (it makes more sense when you watch it)! While everything seems good and he's finally at peace, Peter and his friends can't shake the feeling that something is seriously wrong with Ego. Along the way, Yondu will finally show just how honorable he can be and why he's so cynical in the first place, Nebula will form some kind of sisterly bond with Gamora (Zoe Saldana) while describing the unpleasant things she wants to do to Thanos (Josh Brolin) in later movies and 5 (FIVE) post-credit scenes will tease us with nothing except how stupid we are to be sitting in a movie theater waiting for the credits to end just for a few milliseconds of some future, unfinished movie (it openly mocks you for expecting anything more). Go watch it and feel kind of dumb for not realizing these things earlier.

My score: 8/10. I often say that April is the month Hollywood dumps their worst tripe as some kind of extended April Fools' joke. After seeing the line up of last month, I stand by that accusation.