Doctor Strange

2016's "Doctor Strange", directed by Scott Derrickson.

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, and Scott Adkins.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects (Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, and Paul Corbould).

What is it about?

Doctor Strange is the origin story of Steven Strange, hot shot neurosurgeon whose talents are almost as immense as his ego. While distractedly driving his lamborghini, he suffers a career ending injury. Stripped of the physical talents that he needs to manifest his potent mind, he desperately heads to Nepal to seek help. He meets up with a group of enlightened cosmological masters: Wong (Benedict Wong), Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton)- who teach him the tricks of the metaphysical trade. He’ll need them to protect the world from the ex communicated Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) and his gang, themselves taking orders from Dormammu, lord of the dark dimension. With Strange typically preferring to look out for himself, will he be able to stretch his chakras to care for others to save the universe?

Why is it worth seeing?

Doctor Strange is the 2^nd film of Phase 3 of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU), Disney’s attempts to create blockbusters that are as involved and interconnected as the comic book series that they come from. Given that this is the 14^th movie in the MCU, Doctor Strange has 1 thing to offer that the previous entries don’t: its character’s powers don’t influence their fighting, so much as their environment and time itself.

Nominated for an Academy Award for their efforts, the visual team of Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, and Paul Corbould create something here that differs from the usual earthbound scenes that the previous MCU films offer. While some of the scenes take place in psychedelic areas not of this world, there are other scenes that take place on our earth that resemble M.C. Escher inspired scenes from Inception- as filtered through an’ Ayahuasca experience. It’s a mind altering respite from previous punch fests.

With our terra firma revealed as not being so firm, just who are these characters standing/floating over it? Cumberbatch, who retains his talent at playing detached and cerebral, doesn’t have much opportunity to show his demons- just what are the less attractive things that motivate him to use his photographic memory to get a PhD and MD at the same time? Same for Mikkelson, who’s character traffics in heavy eye shadow but rarely reveals his inspiration as a magical hatchet man for a world destroying entity. Finally, the soul of the film, Tilda Swinton’s Ancient One, has wise intentions- but a complex past that the film skirts around. Does the light side need the dark in order to thrive?

With great sideline talents such as Rachel McAdams and Michael Stuhlbarg largely wasted (it makes you wish for the modest successes of other bit players such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Natalie Portman’s ancillary love interests), the film’s narrative also betrays an impatience. Does the film really care about its characters and motivations? Or is this merely window dressing until the next team up? I lean towards the latter.

With fantastic special effects and time bending powers that are out of this world, it’s a pity that Doctor Strange is in such a hurry to leave it's own world. Maybe that's the real time loop film-goers are stuck in- a never ending series of origin stories all feeding into team ups.

Rating:

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.