MCU Commentary Rewatch: Doctor Strange
(Cover art by Matt Ferguson, for the Blu Ray release. https://www.cakesandcomics.com/)
I know absolutely nothing about the director of this movie (Scott Derrickson). But Doctor Strange was one of “my” first heroes, and I’d been looking forward to it for a very long time.
It did not disappoint in theaters, so I’m also looking forward to the commentary track. It’s not a film that gets a lot of play on cable, so I don’t think I’ve seen it all the way through since the weekend I brought it home almost 4 years ago exactly.
And that’s pretty much all I have to say about that.
TL:DR;
Commentary Ranking: #1 of 24
For reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Strange_(2016_film)
Commentary Takeaway:
So as previously noted, I was not familiar with this director or his prior work, so I decided to take some notes. I’m really glad I did, because doing so over the first hour or so of the film really focused my attention on what Derrickson was saying, and just like Doctor Strange, I came to a starling realization.
Up until now, every presenter has been engaged in telling me how and when they made the movie, to varying degrees of success. But Derrickson wanted to use his platform for something different. He wanted me (and you) to know >why< he made this movie.
Why he aggressively campaigned to make it, taking a record eight (8!) meetings with Kevin Feige and the decision-makers at Marvel Studios.
Why he spent a large sum of money working up pre-vis before he was even hired, and wrote a fairly involved scene to show what he could do if he got the gig.
DOCTOR STRANGE is a damn fine movie. It has a commitment to realism you wouldn’t expect in a movie about magic, something he calls out repeatedly in non-boasty ways.
For example, early on in the movie Derrickson mentions that he likes stories about magic and magical worlds, but thinks that Hollywood relies too heavily on tropes. And while there are certainly trope-ey things here, they are >comic book< tropes, and for the most part they all work.
He had surgeons on hand during all the doctor scenes, to make sure what appeared on screen was as accurate as possible. Derrickson believes that the audience will know if you’re faking something, even if they don’t know what it’s supposed to look like.
Derrickson recorded the commentary track a few days before the wide release, and had never seen it with a live audience. He had only the barest idea of their reaction, but he knew what had tested well, and was himself very satisfied with the final cut.
During his opening statements, he said that he doesn’t think that either the opinions of film critics or box office returns are a good metric of how good a film you’ve made. Instead, he measures his work against the promises he’d made and the targets he tried to hit. He hoped that audiences would respond well to the movie, but if they didn’t he’d at least know he’d done his best, and would hold his head high as he was run out of town.
And I for one think he succeeded. I already liked this movie, but I like it a lot more after listening to the why of it.
Commentary Ranking:
1. DOCTOR STRANGE
2. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
3. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
4. THOR: THE DARK WORLD
5. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 1
6. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER
7. AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
8. ANT-MAN
9. IRON MAN 2
10. INCREDIBLE HULK
11. IRON MAN 3
12. MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS
13. IRON MAN
24. THOR
I don’t think DOCTOR STRANGE is a better movie than THE WINTER SOLDIER. But the movie Scott Derrickson was talking about while I watched it play out on screen was a far better one than I remembered, and for me that’s an A-number-one commentary track.
Both CIVIL WAR and DOCTOR STRANGE are stories about duty and responsibility. Where they differ is that Steve Rogers didn’t have to learn how to be a hero, or even question whether or not he was. Stephen Strange was an asshole from the jump, who tried again and again to run from his responsibilities.
The Ancient One’s words to Strange are the lightning rod that forges him into a good person. Not a hero, not even a Sorcerer Supreme. But a good man, who is capable of rising above his own bullshit. Something Tony Stark only learns after becoming a father, and dedicating himself to someone who means more to him than his own life.
And I’m not talking here about the big “lesson” of “It’s not about you.” I’m talking about a part a bit earlier in the film, when Strange is angry and confused and lashing out. She says to him:
“Measure your words very carefully, doctor.”
“Because you may not like them.”
“Because you may not know of what you speak.”
To the Ancient One, Strange is an angry adolescent struggling with a difficult realization. She’s not warning him, or rebuking his insolence as her other student Mordo does. She’s simply relating facts, and is very willing to have the discussion he wants to have after they save the world.
He isn’t, and she dies saving him. But Strange isn’t wrong either. There was another way to defeat Dormammu, one only his rebellion could reveal.
Derrickson wrote and presented that scene so smoothly that the first few times I watched the movie I thought her reaction >was< anger, and I could only see it for what it was after he told me what kind of movie he was making in his own words.
The only other MCU commentary track that even came close to doing that was Joss Whedon on AGE OF ULTRON, who tipped us early on that he wasn’t making a superhero movie.
He was making a war movie, and every decision he made throughout was in service of a battle between good and evil. It just wasn’t exactly clear which side was which. So that one’s moving up a notch as well. Sorry, ANT-MAN. you were entertaining and fun, but I’ve decided that I need more. And in case any of you were wondering, by this metric THOR is never going to move out of the bottom spot.