Well, it looks like Marvel Animated Features has done it again, with their recent foray into the Sanctum Santorum of the Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Strange. (no I did not make all that babbling stuff up, that's what this thing is full of ... and I love it.) So where to begin? How about the beginning?
Well this movie (unlike other previous sock-worthy submissions from the same company) starts you out in the middle of a high powered mage-shadow beast fight that has the fierceness of a Tijuanan cock-fighting ring and the ingenuity of an electrical engineering college kid on crank.
You know what I loved about this movie that I thought was a huge step in the right direction? The exciting battle that appears on the back cover of the box actually occurs during some point of the movie ( You could learn from that Mr. Stark [by the way Mr. Stark is a reference to Tony Stark { Note to the uninitiated: Tony Stark is Iron Man}]).
I do have to admit that I was more interested than I thought I would be in this Dr. Strange flick and was not disappointed. In fact, I dare say this is the best movie about the Sorcerer Supreme ever made, yes I do believe it beat out the 1978 TV movie starring Peter Hooten as Doctor Strange.
So without further ado here's the review....
Plot: 2/2 A solid and interesting story (it even had a couple of twists in it). Good groundwork in the beginning paid dividends towards the end. This is how a comic book movie should be. It doesn't rush the origin story but still delivers and engaging and entertaining storyline
Originality: 2/2 Ok so this wasn't the first (or last) Dr. Strange movie, but the storyline and the interpretation of the Sorcerer Supreme was refreshing and interesting. I especially enjoyed the way how they dealt with how magic worked in the movie (not the accept the unacceptable stuff) but instead I was enjoyed how they gave each character a sphere of influence. A common mistake in this kind of movie is to not put restrictions on the abilities of the characters which leads to an inability to create an interesting and exciting fight scene. One must be able to see that a character is not omnipotent to care about him.
Acting: 2/2 Well everyone was solid and there were no outlandishly bad standouts that detracted. (this is in general the criteria for a 2/2 although superb acting can give bonus points in the lightning round)
Animation: 3/2 Well it was pretty amazing. From the initial fight scene throughout it was of top quality. There were also no severe jarring transitions from CG to drawn images. The character designs were all spectacular reimaginings of what one can only consider awful source material (case in point Dormammu aka ball face). I especially enjoyed the effects for all the crazy magic that was always going on. It was clean, cool, and not over the top. Excellent.Execution: 2/2 Pretty amazing considering this is a Doctor Strange movie. Excellent development of the characters as well as amazing animation. Overall very well done and completed well.
Bonus Points: 0 Being a movie about Dr. Strange unfortunately forbids me from granting any bonus points for awesomeness. That's unfortunate because it would have deserved them.
Total: 11/10 It was good, really good. Need I say more. It revived my faith in Marvel Animated Features. I haven't looked into it but this might be an entirely different team than the ones that worked on that Iron Man debacle, but if its the same people then kudos for the turn around. If they're new then kudos to Marvel for dropping those other losers.
If you like comics then this is probably a must see. It's better than any of the live-action stuff they've made. Bravo Marvel Animated Features, Bravo.
You'll want to get it for more than just the Video game cinematics it comes with...
