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| Benedict Cumberbatch |
Welcome to the weekly column Trailing Off in which I take a look at a trailer from the past week and analyze its potential. This will be done using an obnoxious amount of analyzing and personal thoughts on the cast and crew as well as expectations. Coming every Sunday (it's called Trailing Off for a reason), I will attempt to highlight films ranging from new blockbusters to lesser known indies and give them their due. Partially to spread awareness, I do believe that there is an art to the sell and will do my best to highlight why these trailers matter or don't with approval (trove) or disapproval (trash). So please stop by, recommend some trailers, and I will see you next time.
Trailer in Discussion
Directed By: Scott Derrickson
Written By: C. Robert Cargill (Screenplay) & Jon Spaiths, Steve Ditko (Comic Book)
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton
- Preamble -
It seems inevitable that there will always be a new Marvel movie character to write one of these pieces on. While I have tried to avoid franchise films in order to give a less biased opinion, it does seem sometimes like Marvel is egging me on, asking me to review their latest trailers as they introduce new characters and expect the world to embrace their cinematic equivalence. The last big one was Guardians of the Galaxy, which seemed to go over pretty well. Who knew that a talking tree was what was missing from the huge franchise's appeal? Well anyways, it seemed inevitable then that I would tackle Doctor Strange, for better or worse.
Don't get me wrong. Despite being lukewarm on most of the Phase 2 movies, I genuinely try to give them a shot. After all, these characters all have something compelling to offer and it's exactly why they've lasted for decades. After all, Iron Man was enjoyable and most things leading up to The Avengers had potential. I think that it's been fun to see how much Marvel attempts to play a trust game with casual audiences. It is why I chose to do Doctor Strange this week. I know close to nothing about it. However, it cannot be any weirder than a talking tree, right?
The one caveat that I can give is that I am not into Marvel's more supernatural characters. They are fine, but there's a certain convenience to them that results in the stories feeling a little too lazy. It also doesn't help that I haven't really gotten the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch. He is a decent actor, but his status as greatest living British actor seems a little inopportune. I hope that this goes over better than I'm thinking. Speaking as Marvel already has too many eccentric types, it wouldn't seem right to have another that exists solely to look cool.
- The Dissection -
Why does it feel like Marvel basically decided to remake The Matrix? For starters, I think that I barely understand what is going on. I'm guessing that Cumberbatch is a doctor who falls in line with a bald Tilda Swinton and learns kung fu while buildings collapse in on each other. I'm feeling like this film is borrowing every piece of iconic imagery from sci-fi's big films from over the past two decades. Add in what looks like Inception imagery, and I feel like this is more to appease fans who feel that Marvel only makes films that borrow from comic books.
I don't get a strong sense of anything that is happening. With that said, I think that it sets up the plot pretty well and makes me as curious as Cumberbatch's character. Why is Swinton knocking the life out of him? Why do I care about him walking up stairs in a cape? There's a lot of mystery that helps this work as a teaser, even if I don't think it's the traditionally lazy type that has become the norm. I like how it sets everything up, and makes me wonder what I should be expecting with one of the few post-summer Marvel films to be released in the past decade.
With that said, it's mostly a series of images that compel. Beyond the set-up, I am left to wonder what I'm looking at. While you are reading this and thinking that it is a bad thing, I do think that there's a lot of value in paying homage to other films. In fact, it helps to add a familiarity to one of the more different-looking films so far in their series. Considering how bland Captain America: Civil War's trailers look, I will accept Doctor Strange's direct lifts from other films for the time being. As I've mentioned plenty times before, this column is about how it convinces me to see a film. It doesn't do much, but it does a lot more than I was expecting it to.
I don't get a strong sense of anything that is happening. With that said, I think that it sets up the plot pretty well and makes me as curious as Cumberbatch's character. Why is Swinton knocking the life out of him? Why do I care about him walking up stairs in a cape? There's a lot of mystery that helps this work as a teaser, even if I don't think it's the traditionally lazy type that has become the norm. I like how it sets everything up, and makes me wonder what I should be expecting with one of the few post-summer Marvel films to be released in the past decade.
With that said, it's mostly a series of images that compel. Beyond the set-up, I am left to wonder what I'm looking at. While you are reading this and thinking that it is a bad thing, I do think that there's a lot of value in paying homage to other films. In fact, it helps to add a familiarity to one of the more different-looking films so far in their series. Considering how bland Captain America: Civil War's trailers look, I will accept Doctor Strange's direct lifts from other films for the time being. As I've mentioned plenty times before, this column is about how it convinces me to see a film. It doesn't do much, but it does a lot more than I was expecting it to.
- One Sentence Sell -
Benedict Cumberbatch is a superhero now.
- Trove or Trash -
TROVE
If anything, I like the idea of this film doing things beyond what we've seen before and will hopefully more different than the last dozen movies say that they have been.
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