A Geeky Dad's Movie Guide: Dr. Strange (Standard 2D)

On Saturday, I took my 11 year old son to see the standard 2d version of Dr. Strange. I did not bring my 9 year old daughter. I am writing this review from the same perspective as my preview two reviews: an adult watching a movie intended for kids. In full disclosure, I love all of the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I used to read the comic books, watch the cartoons and play superhero tabletop games... so I am definitely biased (hence the word "Geeky" in the title).

To help put this review in perspective, I have seen every one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies beginning with 2008's Iron Man. My favorite is Guardians of the Galaxy with the Avengers a close second. My least favorite is The Incredible Hulk. Aside from the Incredible Hulk, I would watch them all again.

So now to Dr. Strange. Although I enjoyed the experience, I would place this movie near the bottom of my list. It is definitely better than The Incredible Hulk. Perhaps it is on par with the Thor movies... which were entertaining but not great.

The use of the word "experience" was no accident. The special effects in this movie are simply the most amazing thing I have ever seen. If you have seen Inception, imagine the scenes where the city is folded... then imagine a bunch of magical ninjas fighting on those buildings as they change. It was breathtaking. There is constantly something visually amazing displayed before you. Unfortunately for my son and I, it was little too much.

My family does not enjoy 3d movies. They tend to fatigue our eyes and leave us with a little motion sickness. Therefore, we avoid them. I could not imagine seeing the movie in 3d. It would simply be too much for us (for those of you who like 3d... go see this movie immediately! I can't imagine how awesome it is if you can handle it!). Even in 2d, my son and I left the theater feeling a bit queasy. In fact, during the middle of the movie, my son reclined his seat and rolled onto his side to watch because he was not feeling well.

But that is our problem.

For people who like roller coasters and can handle 3d movies, I bet this would be the coolest thing they have ever seen on screen. Because the movie is based on magic, the backgrounds are constantly moving. Floors and walls transform. Characters do not have to obey the laws of physics and can transition from running on the floor to the ceiling in two steps. At one point, there is an unforgettable action sequence where the characters are in regular time while everything else is slowly moving back in time. I have seen battles where everyone is frozen in time except the combatants... but everyone moving in reverse? It was stunning.

So it sounds like we have two pluses for this movie. It has mind blowing special effects and great action sequences. But here's the problem... it's an origin story. Most origin stories are the least exciting of the series because they have to tell so much story.

Dr. Strange does a good job of explaining how and why Stephen Strange became the powerful sorcerer he eventually becomes... but from a kid's point of view (and the geeky dad next to him) it seems to take forever.

Marvel knows what its audience wants, so of course, the movie beings with a really cool ten minute action sequence. Then it gets into the story of an incredibly talented surgeon with the standard love interest. Next, the movie goes into character-build mode and shows Stephen Strange as an arrogant, yet funny, doctor who loves music.

Because I don't want to spoil anything, I have to "yada, yada, yada" over the next few minutes of the movie. Yada yada yada... Strange ends up in Nepal* where he begins the standard part of many origin stories... the training. Strange meets his teacher and participates in many, many minutes of training. Most of the spells look really cool and the explanation of the powers was essential, but it took very long time.

Once the action sequences finally began, they were incredible. They included great effects, perfect choreography, and enough witty banter to make them enjoyable. Like all of these movies, there are minor battles mixed with some more story telling leading up to the final battle. Even the final battle was more cerebral than exciting. But again, it looked amazing.

I left the theater thinking, "That was cool. Glad they got that story out of the way so the next ones can be more fun." When I asked my son what he thought, he said he loved it. I probed a little further and asked him where he would rank it compared to the other Marvel movies. In the past, whenever he had seen a new Marvel movie, he would always report that the most recent one had become his new favorite. This was not the case with Dr. Strange. He was able to list at least three movies he liked better. As I reminded him of others, Dr. Strange kept falling lower on the list. It seems my son had the same opinion as I did: he liked it but did not love it.

Geeky Dad's Movie Guide

Number of times I fell asleep: 0 Number of eye rolls: 0 Number of face palms: 0 Number of times my kids asked to go to the bathroom or get food out of sheer boredom: 0 Number of times I checked steemit:3 Number of times I said "That's ridiculous":0 Did my kid like it: Yes Would I see it without my kids: Yes... because I am a superhero geek Full price/Matinee/Rental/Free/Not worth the time: Matinee (If you see this, you must see it in a good theater on the big screen)

Special note: My 11 year old son liked it. My 9 year old daughter would have been bored.

As a reward for making it to the end of the post, I present to you...

*Thank you @sauravrungta for catching my geographical error. In the original post, I mistakenly wrote "India".

What is your favorite super hero movie? What movie do you think has the best visual effects?