People have been praising Doctor Strange for having the most illustrious cast to ever grace a Marvel production: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor (whose name could be mistaken for some Lovecraftian chant), Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Mads Mikkelsen. All of them have served the art of acting well and deserve the accolades and admiration they have received.
But none of them were in Ninja II: Shadow of a Tear, Undisputed III, or Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning. Until today, Doctor Strange couldn’t claim a direct connection to those masterpieces of DTV action. Thankfully, that has been rectified. Scott Adkins has been confirmed as part of the Doctor Strange cast, and is reported to “have several major action scenes featuring hand-to-hand combat.” His character is being kept in the dark, but he could be playing Dr. Strange’s knapsack and I’d be ecstatic.
Now, before some of you inundate the comments with proclamations about the lesser qualities of Scott Adkins’ acting abilities, I’ll ask if you’ve seen Ninja II: Shadow of a Tear, Undisputed III, or Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning. If you haven’t, I can’t really take your criticisms seriously because those movies prove that Scott Adkins wasn’t put on this earth to act. He was born and bred to be a wonderful kicker of asses, and he accomplishes that in those films to an almost deified degree. If you only have time for one, mainline Ninja II. Don’t even bother with the first Ninja film (I didn’t and look where it got me!) because you’ll find plenty to enjoy in the sequel.
I am now very invested in the success of Doctor Strange. If people learn of the greatness of Scott Adkins, then maybe we can get a Ninja III, but only if it’s a remake of Ninja III: The Domination. His time spent with Dr. Stephen Strange may prepare him to deal with possessed aerobicisers.
Source: TheWrap
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