Spoiler Alert: Dr. Strange The Sorcerer Supreme, Part 2 · 12:43pm Aug 1st, 2014
: Meanwhile, the magic warriors battle shadow-wolf-things in Central Park, and I think now's a good time to talk about one of the major problems with the movie: the action kinda stinks. This is a movie about our dimension's GREATEST sorcerer, and the elect wizards he chooses to stand beside him, so you expect some really impressive attacks and unique spells that just blow your mind, right? Well, that's not what we get. Most of the sorcerers in this rely on conjuring up weapons that they then wield like ninjas. That's it. There are energy attacks, elemental control, and transmutation here and there, but that's the bare minimum for this kind of story, and it always takes a back-seat to some rather generic martial arts fights. Mordo's probably the worst offender; for a guy who is supposed to be Strange's greatest rival, his main tactics are stabbing and slashing.
: Strange, gettin' rather irritated wit' havin' ta work so hard an' gettin' no results, finally asks Wong what's up. Now, bear in mind, Strange is at the end 'a his rope. He spent his last penny tryin' ta become useful again an' do what he does best. Wong gave this suicidal man a beacon 'a hope that he could get what he wants most in life. An' now Wong tells him that what he's doin' has nothin' to do with his hands, an' doesn't e'en bother ta tell 'im what it IS about. It...it's just dishonest an' unsympathetic.
: Oh, no, it's even worse than that. The implication is that Wong knew that Strange had the makings of a great sorcerer, but didn't think Strange would believe in the existence of magic. So instead of, I don't know, showing Strange magic, he tricks Strange into RISKING HIS LIFE by crossing that mountain range so that Wong could manipulate him into eventually learning sorcery. It's not just dishonest, it's not just a betrayal of trust, it's arrogant, manipulative, and all around irresponsible. And that's coming from someone who's boss didn't warn me about the demigod I'd have to fight! And the worst part? The film never calls Wong out on it.
The Ancient One, however, reaches Strange before he leaves, and, unlike Wong, actually talks to Strange about what is going on. He tells Strange that he has to accept that his sister's death wasn't his fault, that her disease had escalated to beyond his control, in order to find peace. He's being honest and offering Strange something he actually needs. Thank Celestia!
He also, however, explains that magic works essentially by believing that something is or isn't true. Not only is this NOT true-if it were that simple, do you really think Magic Kindergarden would've been such a nightmare?-but it's also a pretty generic use of the "Anything's Possible if you Believe!" morale that's so common these days.: The Ancient One sends Mordo an' crew ta Manhattan ta take out two giant monsters, one at a time. Mordo, howe'er, in his pigheadedness, decides ta split up his team inta two groups, believin' that they're powerful enough ta beat either beastie with only half 'a their group. He's right, but he loses four 'a his allies i' the process. The Ancient One berates him fer it, an' tells Mordo that he'll ne'er inherit the mantle 'a Sorcerer Supreme, an' that Strange will. Mordo's so angry about this that, when trainin' Strange the next day, he throws Strange off'a a cliff an' tries ta cut 'im in two when he's unarmed. Ya know, yer really bein' transparent when yer makin' a feller named Sinestro look subtle.
: Well, you do realize, the name "Sinestro" doesn't neccesarilly....
: Um, Twilight, darling? Not now.
: What? Oh, right. By the way, we will get to THAT mess some day, too. Anyway, as if Mondo was a filly arguing with a classmate over a toy instead of a respected sorcerer who just tried to kill someone, Wong separates him from Stephen and decides to train Strange himself. The so-called magic training, I might note, looks indistinguishable from the martial arts training Batman would have also received from an old bald man in Tibet.
....why do we keep drawing comparisons between this film and more famous superheroes?: After shaving off that horrid beard with a mirror he made by water bending (Why didn't we see THAT part of the training?), Strange changes into a snazzy sorcerer's longcoat and teleports with the other sorcerers to the Sanctum Santorum in New York. Strange asks why Wong didn't just teleport him to Tibet, and Wong replies that it would've been impossible for Strange to use the portal before he was himself a sorcerer.
Okay, I'll admit that I haven't touched a graphic novel in years, but even I know that Dr. Strange has teleported non-sorcerers before.
How old is Rarity????
2334396 It's less of an indication of how old she is, and more of an indication of how young she was when she was convinced that comics were immature. I'm guessing Rarity is....twenty-five? So she probably stopped reading comic books when she was five. And given that she couldn't have been reading for more than a year at that point, it shows you just how uncool comic books must have been at Ponyville Elementary's "in" crowd.
Well, if she last touched a comic when she was five-ish, she could still be in her mid-twenties. Two decades is still more than one.
Even so, brother, maybe you should've had her say "years."
2334424 Oh, fine!