Review by Sarai Lewis
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 apples
Doctor Strange is a superhero movie based on the superhero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics with the same name.
Doctor Strange is the 14th film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and is directed by Scott Derrickson. The cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton.
Originally a narcissistic neurosurgeon, Dr. Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) soon discovers the way of the Ancient One (Swinton), while looking for healing for an injury to his hands he acquired in a bad car accident.
Not only does he find that spiritual healing is a reality, but he later discovers the realm of the mystic arts, and the fact that our world is simply “a dot amid the vaster cosmos”.
Now, with powers that allow him to tap into incredible multidimensional energy, he faces the question: will he use the powers for good and act as a gatekeeper for other realms, or will he use it to heal his crippled hands and return to his ‘normal’ life?
Of course with every Marvel movie there is a HUGE level of anticipation among comic fans and movie goers alike, and quite the number of prerelease theories.
This latest edition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score, is a great movie with intriguing visuals, and a unique storyline. Lets get into the details.
The first thing I’ll touch on is the plot. As a comic fan, I had a basic idea of who Doctor Strange was but it was fairly minimal. Although that basic idea was quite vague, I was still excited to see what Marvel had put together this time and see how it all unfolded.
One of the first aspects of the plot that I noticed was that this film was not one that you had to see every other Marvel movie to enjoy. Although it had its fair number of references to The Avengers and a few other character nods, it was totally independent to its own story and didn't waste much time on previous Marvel occurrences.
The plot itself along with the special effects and action sequences were just downright COOL. With a combination of glowing and vibrant magic sequences, hallucinogen-like visuals, and eye catching uses of special effects, they made the movie really interesting to watch.
I cant think of a time in the movie that I wasn't curious to know what was going to happen next, and because of my high level of interest it actually felt like the movie went by really fast.
At 1 hour and 55 minutes long, the movie felt like it went by really quickly and made you go “what, over already?”. I'm already curious on how Marvel will implement Doctor Strange in the future and a possible sequel film.
I will add that I felt the casting of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange was nicely done. When i first heard that he was confirmed for the role, I was very hesitant and I’m very pleasantly surprised at the outcome and his performance in general.
Not only was it fitting, his costume and overall look for the role was very nice and it felt like it flowed into the story perfectly. Not once can I say that I saw him as BBC’s Sherlock Holmes, or Khan from Star Trek.
Although Tilda Swinton’s role as The Ancient One wad very controversial due to the ‘white-washing’ of her character, I thought that she did really well and it was a pleasant addition to the movie. She was a very interesting and crucial character and her action sequences were really fun to watch.
In addition to a well put together cast, the tradition of Stan Lee cameos lives on, but I wont spoil it!
One thing I will add to the bulk of my thoughts about this film is the fact that the soundtrack was surprising, and at that very interesting. The score was a curious mixture of what sounded like (ironically) the BBC Sherlock theme, and a few other alternative and even symphonic sounds.
It stuck with me unlike some movies that I couldn't recall a soundtrack at all, and I was pleasantly surprised.
Overall, I really liked this movie and would recommend it to a friend, comic book fan or not. It was one that I never thought I’d like so much, and I left the theater fulfilled more than expected.
** Side note: There was in fact a mid-credit and after-credit scene, but I wont spoil that either :)