Marvel has done it again. “Doctor Strange” is a perfectly weird addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I think it’s safe to say that any film that stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Mads Mikkelsen, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tilda Swinton was bound to be a good one.
If anything, “Doctor Strange” wasn’t big enough for such actors! It’s a hilarious, thought provoking, highly detailed, good feel of a movie that is perfectly safe to bring your kids. Well, with the exception of some blood.
As always, make sure that you stay through the credits for the previews for the next Marvel film!
From this point on there are spoilers, but take it from me when I say that you need to see it in IMAX 3D. It’s worth it.
If you’re anything like Stephen Strange, played by Cumberbatch, you can’t resist the urge to obtain forbidden knowledge and your photographic memory is what got you through college.
The film starts off with a decapitation and a spell battle that bends reality as a group of rogue sorcerers, lead by Kaecilius (Mikkelsen), do their best to steal forbidden knowledge from the library of Kamar-Taj, but are chased down by the Ancient One who attempts to retrieve the stolen pages back, but fails.
The film heads into the character of Doctor Strange being a hotshot neurosurgeon who is a cocky asshole, but even these scenes are enjoyable and not without their humor.
The way the camera angles during the brain surgery or the spinning of his watch collection as he opens the drawers or the sound of a watch affecting his concentration shows how deep Strange thinks in terms of the smallest details.
This focus of small details is what makes this film glorious. There are insane patterns and transformed cityscapes, and with the wave of one’s hand and teleportation to different parts of the world through magic. The amount of possibilities through spells in the future of these films should be highly interesting especially if more dimensions are discovered as the series grows.
After getting into a car accident that ruins his hands, Strange loses everything while attempting to regain his hands only to drain himself of all funds and push the only person who loves him away.
This leads him to a former patient that he had turned down that had recovered from a severe spinal injury. He tells him to head to Kamar-Taj if he wants to heal his hands.
It’s there that Strange becomes a student of the Ancient One, who’s played by Swinton, and begins to learn to let go of his ego, and to see the infinite possibilities of becoming a sorcerer. While still in training and excelling rapidly in his spell skills, he looks at a forbidden book that ends up putting him smack dab in the middle of a war between good and evil who’re battling over the fate of the universe.
Although I offered spoilers, I would truly like to leave the jokes, details and play by play to the film itself, but only give you an idea of what is ahead. I want to leave the mystery of exactly what it entails and where it will take you. Go see it!
The only fault I see with this movie is that it wasn’t longer even though it’s almost two hours long. The film could’ve gone on for twice as long to dive deeper into the characters and background, especially with such a caliber of actors, and I would’ve stayed for every second. The film also explores a new area in the Marvel Universe, which contains forbidden knowledge and a whole new area of villains and crazy mind-altering spells.
This movie was not as much as a serious and thought provoking one as the trailer made it seem, but I enjoyed the humor and corny jokes from Strange. It really is not as dramatic as it was presented to be and is honestly a bit disappointing in that sense. Though, I still loved it.
