Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange 

Reviewed by: Aaron Gray

Score: 8/10

Recommendation: Watch the matinee.

Summary: Marvel has made a good origin story for their latest superhero, but in the end, it's all build up for bigger and better things that the studio has up their sleeve.

Review:  

Doctor Strange reminds me of how I walked into Guardians of the Galaxy.  I remember saying to myself, "A movie about a talking raccoon and a giant tree man?  Oh geez, Marvel, what kind of weird movie have you made?"  I was very unsure at first.  But by the end, Guardians of the Galaxy turned out to be one of the funnest superhero movies I had ever seen.  

I pretty much had the same experience with Doctor Strange.  I saw the trailers and I thought Inception and Man of Steel had a baby.  I was determined that the special kaleidoscope effects would give me a headache and make me nauseous.  I walked into it saying, "Alright, Marvel, if you made talking raccoons and guys with shrinking powers cool, you've probably found someway to make Doctor Strange cool."  And that's exactly what happened.  A lot of my doubts that I had about Doctor Strange vanished from the very beginning of the movie, especially with the use of the special effects.

Buildings get flipped around, the floor opens up, staircases and hallways extend, thin air shatters - all during action sequences.  It is not a headache.  It is awesome!  The special effects in Doctor Strange are so smoothly sewn into the action and the story, and it is so mesmerizing to watch.  It's almost enough to watch it in the IMAX.

Story-wise, Stephen Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) starts out as a super smart neurosurgeon.  He's intelligent, but he's also arrogant and kind of a jerk.  Strange gets in a terrible accident and he is left physically disabled, financially broke, and spiritually lost.  He finds a way to change his life by being under the instruction the Ancient One (played by Tilda Swinton) and her "cult" of mystic power users.  As he en devours to learn their ways, a former student of the Ancient One (played by Mads Mikkelsen) is paving the way for darkness and destruction to consume the world.  Stephen Strange suddenly needs to become a superhero and use what little he knows to save the world.

Although the transformation of the Stephen Strange character is fascinating, Benedict Cumberbatch kind of hogs the spotlight and we're not able to see a more clearer picture of a few of the supporting, yet important characters.  Mikkelsen's villainous character was one of those that suffered from that flaw.  He turned out to be yet another rather weak Marvel villain that had so much potential.

Regardless of very evident shortcomings, Doctor Strange is a great, fun introduction for this new and unfamiliar superhero.  I can't wait to see a sequel and, better yet, a crossover into other Marvel films.