This article reminds me of one of the weaknesses (from a canon perspective) of the Doctor Strange movie. Back from his origins all the way through now, Strange casts verbal spells, invoking various powers in the multiverse — the Flames of Faltine, the Crimson Bands of Cytorrak, etc.
The new movie? Not so much.
It was keen seeing the Eye of Agamotto, and the (uncredited) Wand of Watoomb, but even though the magic Strange uses was visually stunning, it was also fairly limited — portal spells, magic melee weapons, Inception style reality warping, and some [redacted for spoilers]. Beyond that … really not much else.
And none of it was really named, or gave a sense of that continuity of powerful beings out there whose energies could be summoned by the right words and gestures (or which would raise the issue of who the heck _is Cytorrak?). It looked and behaved differently from Tony Stark's repulsor rays or Cyclops' optic blasts, sure, but that's about it.
Now, would it have been all that silly to actually see Benedict Cumberbatch using his outside voice to summon the Seven Rings of Raggadorr or the Vapors of Valtorr? Hmmm. Maybe. But I'm still a little disappointed we didn't.
(See also: http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Spells_and_Phrases)
Originally shared by +Ars Technica:
Visually stunning, but probably a bit more excited for Sherlock's 2017 return
Doctor Strange: Everything is magical except the magic
Fun and action-packed, it’s a welcome change from 2016’s crop of superhero flicks
Yeah, I was wondering about that. So he went from being a D&D Wizard to a D&D Sorcerer…more cinematic than literature friendly.
Imagining it… yes, all that silly. It would get older and sillier every time they shouted it out, too. And slow things down.
I loved the film and liked the wushu style of magic. Saying incantations, and banter during battles, is all very well in comics, where you can take your time to read it, but on the big screen? And that cloak – you don't pick the cloak, it picks you!
Also, on reading the actual review, it was obvious the reviewer hadn't understood parts of it:
When the fighting gets serious, the magicians transform cities into whirling kaleidoscopes that look like somebody got really excited about borrowing the software package developed for Inception.
No, they don't. They're battling in a "mirror dimension" at the time. The real city is untouched and the battles unseen (mostly) by the people in the real world. I think this is more based on Mirrors (2008) than Inception.