As an ethnically Chinese woman (am Canadian) - I am VERY happy Tilda Swinton was cast as the Ancient One. Stereotypes such as Asians being awesome at math, the mystic one, the martial artist, etc do cause harm.
One of the nice things about living overseas is getting to watch movies before they are released in the U.S. I saw Dr. Strange in 3-D IMAX here in Thailand for half the price of an average American cineplex ticket. I've always been a huge Dr. Strange fan. Back during the "Silver Age" of comic books I always made sure to spend part of my $1.00 weekly allowance on every marvel and DC comic I could get mt hands on. Even as a child, I was blown away by traveling through different dimensions and astral planes. I can honestly say that this movie delivered the goods! I can't wait for the next installment.
Um... What?? Christopher Nolan, who is the sole creator of Inception, never ever heard of characters like Doctor Strange. And he probably still doesn't know who that is. Inception was inspired by M. C. Escher's art. Nolan credited M. C. Escher as one his major influences.
I kinda feel movie-going audiences can fill in blanks and origin can be accelerated in super hero movies going forward. Unless said origin is ASTOUNDING. Which... I guess Strange's is???
I thought that this was great for the first act, but it becomes kind of repetitive towards the end and the villain played by Mads Mikkelsen is so weak. He's completely wasted here. The movie is decent overall. 6.8/10.
The problem isn't the casting of Tilda Swinton, but Strange's. It was good not to have the Asian character be Mr. Miyagi, as Alonzo said, but not compensating by casting an Asian-American as Strange was a missed opportunity. Wong was fine, but it would have been better to have something more than a side role for the Asian. They could have applied the Marvel marketing that made Hemsworth and Chris Evans into stars to create a new Asian movie star instead of using it on the ubiquitous Cumberbatch who, even if he nailed this role perfectly, already has all the interesting projects he wants. Also, an Asian master of Western medicine who looks down on mysticism travelling to Tibet to learn wisdom from a white woman would have been a nice subversion of stereotypes (even if admittedly Strange would become yet another cliche - the Asian star student.) And for once, it would be a way to appeal to Chinese fans without needing to add PRC-approved extra scenes of insulting pandering.
they could have cast Lucy Liu and people would have bitched that the mystic was asian, because that's a horrible stereotype and stuff. I couldn't imagine better casting for a timeless mystic than Tilda Swinton. she looks and acts the part perfectly. who cares how the character was in the comics. they changed a ton of stuff for the MCU.
kay jay Be honest with yourself. you would have bitched and moaned. Because "depicting blacks, hispanics or asians as mystical is a harmfull stereotype". No amount of ad hominem attacks will change that. I'm probably more left than you will ever be. I'm soon going to be a social worker in a european country that actually takes in a ton of refugees, so I'll work with a lot of them and actually did already work with a lot of imigrants during the internships that are required for my university degree, while all you do is bitch and moan about "racism in media" on the internet.
You need to be honest with yourself more than anything.. lol no one would have complained if they got an actual asian for the ancient one, quit fooling yourself. Funniest part is how the concern over stereotypes only seem to pop up when a character gets turned white and it needs to be defended, but when no race change is present, it's okay to straight up cast race correctly even with blatant stereotypes in play...example being stereotypical ass Luis from Ant-Man who played a stereotype to a T without you defenders popping up to grace us with your heroics... it's okay tho, maybe if Luis was an existing character and got changed white for the movie, we would get to hear the same BS about how this would be such a huuuuuuuuge shame to the hispanic community if he was allowed to be played by a hispanic =,(
Ice Cube Director of Shield What? Your analogy doesn't make a lick of sense. What would make sense is if you'd take a similar case where a traditionally white male character was changed into an asien female and see what the reaction was there. But where to find such an example?... Oh yeah, how about Lucy Lui as Watson on elementary? I don't think anybody gave a shit about that change and I for one love her in that role. And you really think people wouldn't have bitched about the mystic asian stereotype? Have you joined the internet yesterday? I see bitching about mystic blacks, native americans and hispanics all the time. It woulddn't have been any different here. The creators of this movie were fucked from the very beginning.
I imagine you at least want him to keep things a little trimmed, otherwise by the time we get to Infinity War he will fit in with the characters for the inevitable Dreamwork's Trolls 2.
When i started watching your videos i tought you guys were a bit cocky but I was wrong now I can´t stop watching your reviews, please don´t stop making them.
So tired of everything being checked off against someone's racial, sexual, gender, ethnic list. Good movie and the actors did a great job, sorry I did not do take notes of grievance groups.
Don't know where Matt's getting his information. Scott Derrickson STILL stands by casting Tilda Swinton. There would have been a shitstorm no matter what they did with the character. He's now more sympathetic towards those who were offended, although he still believes he made the best choice. Also, this is a Marvel movie. How the hell would they let a director go out and say "Yeah we fucked up this time" before the movie's even released?
I don't really see Marvel giving Scott Derrickson final casting decision on that character to begin with. Even if the ancient one dies I could very well see her showing up in films in flashback or visions for years to come.
film79 Well he obviously needed Feige's permission for every detail of the production, although going female and casting Tilda Swinton have been confirmed as Scott Derrickson's decisions.
I'm a huge Marvel and Sherlock fan but I found this one lackluster & boring. He can do anything but keep me awake. I mainly think the cgi was nothing special and just 4 hours after getting home I've pretty much forgotten most of it. Can't watch it again
"It might be whitewashing but it's not yellowface!" That should be the marketing department's choice for critic's endorsement on the Blu-Ray! Hahahahahahahahaha. Love you, Alonsa. I know where your mind is, it's just funny.
I'd like to see a mutil-dimensional concept explored where time and space are treated as static, all encompassing and ever present. Consciousness being the determinate factor as to how much access an individual other times and places. Everything being fully cognized and free will being imagined only.
I had heard someone (Alachia Queen, irrc) mention that they specifically changed the casting of the master character to make him less controversial for Chinese audiences, since the original one was a Tibetan monk. Had they gone with the original concept, it might have been censored in China.
Inception did the visual effects way better than Doctor Strange though. Mostly because the hall running scene from Inception was filmed on a set. Nolan always try to make as much as he can through practical effects and not CGI like Doctor Strange. However, Doctor Strange looked great, but compared to Inception it won't age as well and it definitely took inspiration from Inception.
Yeah, I'm not feeling excited over this, it basically looks like Neo is still in the Matrix and ... Dicaprio ahould have checked on his spinning top at the end of Inception. It may _be_ a good film, but I'm more than a bit superhero'd out and would really appreciate a blockbuster action/thriller film that wasn't culled from the comics.
only movie ever that I loved to watch in 3d. I know inception is being thrown around but the first fight especially is very similar to an old comic and we know nolan unlike other big time directors don't think they are a waste of time so would not be suprised if this is a indiana jones/tombraider/uncharted/tomb raider again. Meaning they influence each other
People keep compairing the city folding on itself to Inception but those scenes are in the comics that were written way before the Inception movie. Please stop.
Honestly I feel like if they had cast an Asian actor in the role of The Ancient One it would have been regarded as stereotyping by some people. Swinton was great. If people are offended, that's them, but it was kind of a no win situation.
Tilda Swinton was the perfect actress to play this role. I don't care what the supposed ethnicity or gender her character is in the comics. The Ancient One can change its appearance at will apparently, so who the fuck cares. She was brilliant.
HOLY CHRIST. it's been awhile since I seen a review with Matt as one of the reviewers n WOW. he lost Alot of weight . maybe a bit too much . but it's almost weird to see him as he is now . but . he's living his life. more power to him I guess. back to the review.
Just watched this movie and tbh its not that bad, its not great either though. Its basically Iron Man with magic, same plot points almost to the beat. Still find its rushed, most of the characterisation is shallow, I could care less about anyone tbh. The old one basically trains anyone that waits 5h at the door. No sense of time is made how strange learns the way, sure the good memory trick is used to cheat, but are you saying you can become a huge wizard by just reading books that are written in a language you dont even know the code to? Also some one explain to me how this very old (many centuries) mythological organizations has set up 2 out of 3 "strongholds" in cities that are just about 200ish years in existence? Also how does a time loop work in a dimension without time? Its a fun visualgasm with shallow story and characters, that will make shit tone of money.
Dr. Strange was good. It definitely took advantage of the multiverse concept. Cumberbatch casting was really good. Could have added more humor though. Pretty serious and dorky.
I had a crazy idea... this movie is very similar to Green Lantern... with many of the same flaws. I didn't really like it, the entire movie is too rushed.
Matt's assessment of Captain America's public perception is wrong. I always thought Captain was cool and interesting. The boomerang shield!? I mean come on. That kicks ass. He was never a B list hero in Marvel Universe.
I was super disappointed with this movie. The plot was all over the place. The forced humor was cringy alot of the time. It was like a copy of Deadpool. Special effects were cool at some points
I get what your saying. I remember not liking Deadpool as much as the others. I liked the leads but I didn't really care for the story. I liked the idea of Deadpool as a movie and franchise so I was willing to pay money to see it in theatres though. I might need to rewatch it to make sure I just wasn't too tired while watching it or something.
It's okay, I would have given it a 6.5, I expected more w/such a great cast, it's not the casting, nor the acting, I liked the comics as a kid and am not giving strikes for not adhering to the original story, it's just like all the Marvel movies... bland.
I love how they throw BvS and X-Men: Apocalypse under the bus for their CGI usage but say nothing about Civil War. Bias noted. I'm not seeing this movie
Classic Doc Strange was one of the most powerful beings in the universe. He's been a Defender, a member of the Illuminati... C-level hero? Strongly disagree sir. No he wasn't one of the MOST popular but he still had a substantial place in the comic canon. He defeated Galactus and escaped the Living Tribunal. He was no scrub, lol
Wth? I need more than a CGI Visual Effects light show. This is: Batman Begins meets Mortal Combat, adds a dash of Harry Potter, and steals the visuals of Inception. That's it. Nothing original. It is formulaic crap. Boring as hell. Cumberbatch mailed in his performance too. Nothing interesting or redeemable here.
David Chrysostom "steals", funny how inception was inspired by doctor strange's comics. the movie goes beyond inception's visuals, it didn't still shit. yea, this was your typical origin story but it did more than enough to work in more ways than one. benedict was perfect in this role, the small details he did when casting spells were perfect and his corky, arrogant styles fits the character perfectly. you must be fun at parties bruh
Batman begins (the entire bhutan/tibet monastery sequence) ripped from the origin story of Doctor Strange (1963) and also Inception (2010) ripped off of a small Japanese anime film released in 2006 called "PAPRIKA" (google it).
Just because everyone ripped off Edgar Rice Burroughs to make the great SciFi movies of the past, this does not make John Carter a great film. Same here. Doctor Strange suffers from its stolen and re-imagined elements in films it inspired such as Batman Begins and Inception. The Producers and Director should have gone another route with the standard origin story formula, and come up with original visual effects not reminiscent of Inception. A lot to ask, perhaps. But without it, what we have is standard formulaic schlock, like we have here. Yes, the same would go for any proposed film adaption of H.P Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness which inspired The Thing and Alien vs. Predator. Not fair in one way. But it's still true. Nothing new or interesting in Doctor Strange the film, just an Inception-styled light show.
David Chrysostom the hospital fight sequence had nothing to do with those movies, the multiverse scenes had nothing to do with those movies, the backwards fight and loop sequence at the end of the movie had nothing to do with those movies, the fight sequence in ny elevated what inception did to new heights. the movie has more than enough of its own to make it stand out on its own, and what it borrows from those movies, it actually makes noticeable improvements. the only real problem with this movie is the formulaic origin story and some of the comedy is clunky. other than that, good movie and the next ones will probably elevate this shit even more.
Yet no one was whining when a black guy was cast as Mordo, who was Asian in the comics. People need to stop getting so upset about such superficial, nonsense things.
I don’t know if I like or hated doctor strange. I’m leaning towards hate. Perhaps I watched at a bad time. (Right before finals.) Still, I’m really not religious and nothing made any sense. I felt tricked, lured in with magic, given a religious magic circle story. More religious than magic. Idk. 😐
they didn't do the asian tibet guy thing because 'tibet' is part of china and seeing how the chinese gov't loves pretending people's suffering don't exist, the movie didn't want to offend the chinese gov't.
