Dr. Strange!!!

I wanted to come to this page and write something at least once a week, but... Hi, I am Yuki and I failed again... lol

So, I went to see Dr. Strange (I mean, what kind of name is that? It's okay, it's okay, though!) on the 28th with my "bae." I usually don't use that word; I always prefer saying "boyfriend," but I was feeling like saying "bae" now. Wow, I know today's post will be full of unnecessary sentences and explanations... Oh well.

Alright, so let me start again. I went to see Dr. Strange. I don't know exactly when it came out in other countries, but in Japan, it came out only this Friday. Finally! Well, first of all, can anybody explain to me what took them so long to release the movie in Japan? People in other countries watched it like months ago, right? That's not fair!!!!!

Ok, so overall, I loved the movie! Obviously(?), this post contains a lot of spoilers, so if you haven't watched the movie (Huh? What's wrong with you?! lol), and would prefer not to know the plot or any information, maybe you should go. Alright, so, it's really weird to say this, but I actually really loved one of the 2 (!) mid-credits scenes! Declining a cup of tea was so Thor, and the auto-filling beer glass (magic!) which made him even happier was so funny. I am not sure which is true at this point, but I think the scene was either filmed only for this mid-credits or it's actually a scene from the next Thor movie. I'm already pumped for the movie!

Now I think I should probably talk about the actual story of the film. Well, first, I promised myself I will always address him as "Dr. Strange," rather than just "Strange" or "Mr. Strange" because that will make him happier, hahaha. He's so proud of himself, and has to correct people when call him "Mr. Strange." So, the basic storyline of this film is as follows: Dr. Strange, a very successful, but also very arrogant surgeon, was living his glorious life. But, one night while he was texting and driving (rather recklessly), he got into a bad accident, and got a major injuries to both of his hands, which made him unable to work as a surgeon anymore. Being so desperate, he ended up going to Kathmandu, Nepal, and becoming a pupil of the Ancient One. There, he literally had to learn everything; he was told to abandon everything he thinks he knows (mostly because he had such an attitude, and acted like he knew everything). But he learned quickly (I mean, he used to be a successful surgeon; he's bright!), and even though he came to the temple just to make his hands able to move freely, and it wasn't in his mind to take any responsibility to protect the world from any threat or whatsoever, he ended up changing his mind, and working to save the world from the Dark Dimension.

The "magic" that Dr. Strange practices is something like "the force" in Star Wars, although Jedis don't make changes in times or talk about different dimensions. It's more of a spiritual practice, rather than "Memorize this spell and a certain move of a wand, and you'll be able to make this object fly in the air," sort of magic, like Harry Potter. (I'm not dissing Harry Potter here! I actually love it, and read all the books and went to all the movies!) Dr. Strange could not save himself with the Western technology and science, so he turned to the Eastern treatment... He actually said it himself in the film.

The artwork they did was fantastic! They were some fighting scenes where the magicians fight with each other by moving and changing up the structure of the buildings on the streets, which requires a lot of techniques. I thought what they did was like kaleidoscopes. I don't really know how to describe it in words, though... You have to see it! And I heard it from a TV program that they actually build a set of a street in Hong Kong! It looked so real! I've never been there to be honest, though. But all those neon signs, casual restaurants, scaffolding that were set up, etc., looked so real, and the staff must have made so much effort.

I also want to mention the casting (only briefly). Dr. Strange was played by the famous Benedict Cumberbatch, and I thought he did an amazing job! I know this is totally out of the context, but let me just briefly say that his face really reminds me of a professor at my school. Ok, that was just nothing! lol So, the character of Dr. Stranger's (narcissistic and arrogant) suited him very well. Oh, and plus, I heard the Ancient One was written as a male in the original comics. But for this movie, they decided to cast a woman. For those who are familiar with the originals, this change may have been surprising. But so far, I've only heard positive comments about that. Well, I didn't think that was a bad move at all either. I thought that was a good way to break the stereotype thing (those kinds of "zen" masters/mentors should be men, or things like that), and it's fun to do something out of expectations. The role of the Ancient One was played by the one and only Tilda Swinton. She's fabulous. Nobody can copy what she does. She is very good at and also famous for playing mystic characters. I remember the White Witch, also played by her, in the film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Lastly, I just want to talk about the most memorable scene, where Dr. Strange trap himself and Dormammu (of the Dark Dimension) into an infinite time loop. Even though Dormammu destroys him again and again, it does not matter at all. No matter how cruelly Dormammu hurts Dr. Strange, because it is an infinite time loop, he comes back, (confidently) saying, "Dormammu, I've come to bargain." If Dormammu wants to be freed from the endless time loop, he has to keep his hands off the Earth, and that was what Dr. Strange offered. And by doing so, he tried to save the planet. The scene gives a strong impression to be audience because that was the first time he actually did something for people other than himself. Until then, everything he does (or doesn't) was for himself only. Everything he did was to raise his reputation. And if he didn't see the odds in his favor, he simply declined because he never wanted to fail, which makes him feel bad about himself. But this time, this time he stood up for people, not seeking benefits for himself. He could go beyond what he had been. And that was a beautiful moment.

Ok! I think I managed to cover everything I have wanted to comment about the movie. Now that I have seen the mid-credits scenes, I am totally excited about those 2 movies! If you did actually end up reading this far, thank you so much! :) Bye!