Look, I’m clearly in the minority. I know that, but Marvel films are just kind-of soulless, “who gives a shit?” enterprises…
Doctor Strange…Benedict Cumberpatch plays a humorless, uninteresting doctor that somehow develops the extremely interesting ability to travel through worlds, manipulate time, basically have God-like powers, etc. Although Doctor Strange the character may be the most enviably powerful superhero since Dr. Manhattan in “Watchmen,” the movie robs him of any real fun or awe. Rachel McAdams heads up a snooze-worthy supporting cast. [For a better Mads Mikkelson villain, the TV show “Hannibal” should suffice.] The best sequence is a backwards-bending destruction of NYC scene that is what the rest of the movie should’ve been: the forces of good and evil in a mischevious duel. Grade: C+
Captain America: Civil War…Is the “Avengers” universe trying to get us to hate Tony Stark? The first “Iron Man” film launched Robert Downey Jr. into super-star status and the entire Marvel goliath, but we have now seen him make the wrong decision in half-a-dozen films, then have to fix the consequences of his mistakes. Except that Stark never really learns anything, and you can be sure he’ll fuck something else up in the sequel to this movie. And in a way the movie’s best sequence—an extended airport tarmac battle between a dozen superheroes—is also its worst because it essentially acknowledges that what we’re watching is meaningless, and nothing is really going to move the needle one way or the other. Grade: C