I have to say…I liked this film much more this time around. It helps to have built up my knowledge of Doctor Strange’s character, and I did really like his arc for Infinity War/Endgame. If I had to say what I thought was missing in the film, it was that I wanted more Rachel McAdams, and I admit this, too: I like a love story and a couple to root for.
In many of the reviews, most critics felt like I did: we like Rachel McAdams, but there wasn’t much for her to do in Doctor Strange. Take this very pointed analysis from Vulture:
It’s hard to figure out what Rachel McAdams’s standout scene in Doctor Strange is. Maybe it’s the one where she offers Benedict Cumberbatch emotional support while he performs a surgery. Possibly it’s the one where she performs surgery on Benedict Cumberbatch and offers him emotional support. My personal favorite, though, is the one where she brings Benedict Cumberbatch some fancy wine and cheese while she offers him emotional support, all of which he refuses to accept. McAdams, a recent Oscar nominee, is technically playing Doctor Christine Palmer in the film, but her actual role is to be the latest in a long line of Underutilized Marvel Love Interests, or UMLIs (https://www.vulture.com/2016/11/rachel-mcadams-doctor-strange-marvel-love-interest.html).
So, while I enjoyed seeing her in the film, my hopes for a juicy leading-lady or kick-ass role was dashed at my first viewing. Who doesn’t love Rachel McAdams.
However, this time around, I noticed something else: this film is a very good love story. Let me explain, as I’m not going where you think I am. Ha.
When we meet Stephen Strange, he is at the top of his game as a surgeon. He’s charming, a little bit sexy, and a lot overbearing. He’s obsessed with his own abilities and puts down others who don’t match his prowess in the operating room. We get a glimpse from Christine’s gift to him, the watch that is engraved with “Time will tell how much I love you—Christine.” Yet we are a little bit perplexed by the fact that she loved (or loves) him. We can tell they are an on-again/off-again couple who are currently in an “off” stage, but he can’t be grateful to her for her care during his recovery from the car accident—and his cutting words to her are downright cruel. Later, he asks why she never returned his emails…and we in the audience were left saying to ourselves, “Why, honestly, would she?”
But all of this back-and-forth is a bait and switch, really. Because she isn’t really the person that he needs to learn how to love—though his apology to her is lovely.
His journey forces him to confront the ugly parts of himself, to learn how to be humble, to truly see himself as he is: a vain, heartless, and ego-centric man. And he is all but broken by the middle of the film. Yet, it is only now that he can truly grow.
The film is sneaky in that it starts off with the formulaic plot that sets up a gorgeous former lover and the hope that by the end, they reunite and fall back in love. But that wasn’t the point of the film. The real love story is the one where Stephen Strange has to learn how to love himself.
Only then is he worthy of his new-found abilities. Only then can he grow and become a better man.
I read that Rachel McAdams’s Christine might not be in Doctor Strange 2, but I can wait. Let’s let him grow a bit more, and maybe we’ll see her again. When he’s ready.
And now that I’ve written this entry, I can honestly say that I like the film even more—and I look forward to more Doctor Strange in the future.
In many of the reviews, most critics felt like I did: we like Rachel McAdams, but there wasn’t much for her to do in Doctor Strange. Take this very pointed analysis from Vulture:
It’s hard to figure out what Rachel McAdams’s standout scene in Doctor Strange is. Maybe it’s the one where she offers Benedict Cumberbatch emotional support while he performs a surgery. Possibly it’s the one where she performs surgery on Benedict Cumberbatch and offers him emotional support. My personal favorite, though, is the one where she brings Benedict Cumberbatch some fancy wine and cheese while she offers him emotional support, all of which he refuses to accept. McAdams, a recent Oscar nominee, is technically playing Doctor Christine Palmer in the film, but her actual role is to be the latest in a long line of Underutilized Marvel Love Interests, or UMLIs (https://www.vulture.com/2016/11/rachel-mcadams-doctor-strange-marvel-love-interest.html).
So, while I enjoyed seeing her in the film, my hopes for a juicy leading-lady or kick-ass role was dashed at my first viewing. Who doesn’t love Rachel McAdams.
However, this time around, I noticed something else: this film is a very good love story. Let me explain, as I’m not going where you think I am. Ha.
When we meet Stephen Strange, he is at the top of his game as a surgeon. He’s charming, a little bit sexy, and a lot overbearing. He’s obsessed with his own abilities and puts down others who don’t match his prowess in the operating room. We get a glimpse from Christine’s gift to him, the watch that is engraved with “Time will tell how much I love you—Christine.” Yet we are a little bit perplexed by the fact that she loved (or loves) him. We can tell they are an on-again/off-again couple who are currently in an “off” stage, but he can’t be grateful to her for her care during his recovery from the car accident—and his cutting words to her are downright cruel. Later, he asks why she never returned his emails…and we in the audience were left saying to ourselves, “Why, honestly, would she?”
But all of this back-and-forth is a bait and switch, really. Because she isn’t really the person that he needs to learn how to love—though his apology to her is lovely.
His journey forces him to confront the ugly parts of himself, to learn how to be humble, to truly see himself as he is: a vain, heartless, and ego-centric man. And he is all but broken by the middle of the film. Yet, it is only now that he can truly grow.
The film is sneaky in that it starts off with the formulaic plot that sets up a gorgeous former lover and the hope that by the end, they reunite and fall back in love. But that wasn’t the point of the film. The real love story is the one where Stephen Strange has to learn how to love himself.
Only then is he worthy of his new-found abilities. Only then can he grow and become a better man.
I read that Rachel McAdams’s Christine might not be in Doctor Strange 2, but I can wait. Let’s let him grow a bit more, and maybe we’ll see her again. When he’s ready.
And now that I’ve written this entry, I can honestly say that I like the film even more—and I look forward to more Doctor Strange in the future.
I like this movie more as I watch it more, and that's probably because I have seen more of Dr. Strange's character development. I like the messages in this movie about how you need to love yourself and find the strength within yourself to overcome obstacles, and you need to be a good person. I wish we saw more of Dr. Palmer in a strong female way, but I also think that we saw her in a real way. It wasn't the stereotypical strong "I don't need men," way, but I suppose it was subtle strength. Strong women sometimes struggle because they love men who don't deserve them. We see that struggle with her as she's trying to reconcile her feelings and be a good person and support someone she cares about while also not becoming the stereotypical woman who is hopelessly in love and lets a man walk all over her. Perhaps this is her story of learning to love herself, too, and realize she deserves someone who treats her better.
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