The big difference between this movie and other movies in the MCU is the tone. Straight from the ominous opening showing Strange's overturned car to the new black Marvel logo to the music of the trailer. Something else that's complete absent from the trailer although I'm sure there'll be some: jokes. Light-hearted banter has become a staple of the Marvel franchise, so it was odd for me to see none of that in the teaser. Among the darkness, though, Marvel still manage to achieve a sense of wonder and mysticism, something quite essential in a movie about magic.
The teaser does not show every character in the movie (thankfully, I'm enjoying the guessing game going on on the Internet right now about the identity of Mads Mikkelsen's villain. I'm thinking Nightmare). However, it does show a fair bit of 3 main characters. Let's start with a fairly obvious one: Stephen Strange. Benedict Cumberbatch already seems like the perfect fit for this role, and he seems to be doing a great job of showing his arrogant nature before the accident (at least from the few scenes we saw), his determination to find a solution to his problem afterwards, and his shock at what he finds in doing so. Another smaller detail: his American accent is on point. The next character is the Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton. This was a role originally filled by an old, Asian man in the comics, but has been switched to a woman for the movie. Nobody is complaining about this, and for good reason, as Swinton has got the mystical and mysterious nature of the character down to a tee. At least from this trailer, she comes across as one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel universe and the kind of person even the arrogant Strange might beg for tutelage. The third character we see considerably less of is Chiwetel Ejiofir's Baron Mordo. One of Strange's most famous villains, it doesn't look like Mordo will be starting off as a villain here, but will be one of Strange's allies. If this is done right, Mordo could eventually become one of the best developed villains in the MCU.
In addition to the tone I mentioned before, one of the most crucial things a movie about magic needs to get right is the visual effects. There aren't a lot of magic acts on display here since it is the set up trailer but we do see some, such as the kaleidoscope visuals of the scene featuring Mads Mikkelsen's villain. The scene with the Ancient One pushing Strange into seemingly another dimension (known as the Astral Plane in the comics) is also very impressive. However, they both have nothing on the money shot of the trailer featuring the 4 versions of New York (probably) and seeing a tiny Strange fall through the middle and back into the Ancient One's chamber. Director Scott Derrickson and his team seem to have achieved something special technically here, with not just the visuals, but also the cinematography looking amazing (especially those shots of Tibet from above).
I cannot emphasise enough how much I enjoyed this trailer. Director Scott Derrickson looks to have used his background in horror to his advantage to create an ominous atmosphere for this trailer and, from the concept art seen, to build a terrifying world for these characters to inhabit. From the trailer itself though, the acting and technical work of the movie seems on point with every other movie in the Marvel saga and can hopefully become one of their best since Guardians of the Galaxy. In short, bring on November! I'm ready to open my mind.
Doctor Strange is releasing on November 4th, 2016.
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton, Benedict Wong, Scott Adkins, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amy Landecker and Mads Mikkelsen.
No comments:
Post a Comment