Marvel’s Doctor Strange was this week’s cinema visit. We didn’t know much about this character,but being a fan of the BBC hit TV show Sherlock, we wanted to see what Benedict Cumberbatch could do with another iconic comic bookS character.
Now we went into this film, not really knowing what to expect, as it was co-written and directed by Scott Derrickson, who we know mostly for his horror films such as Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
The film tells the story of Dr. Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch), a brilliant neurosurgeon, who has become very rich and slightly arrogant because of it.
We first see him called to help a close to death patient by another surgeon Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) a former love of Strange and as she greatly respects him, overrules Dr. Nic West (Michael Stuhlbarg) who has already called the patient’s time of death.
It is in this sequence we understand just how good Strange is, which sets up how great a loss it is when we see him involved after in a car crash, where he loses all use of the tendons etc in his hands, meaning it should not be possible for him to perform surgery again.
The film should be applauded here, as the cause of the car crash could have been avoided, had Stephen not been looking at his phone whilst driving! This is also shown as a message during the end credits, when most will be waiting for a Marvel Universe teaser to reiterate it =)
Strange throws all his money at a cure as not being able to perform surgery, he believes he is of no use to the world. In his quest, he will lose many friends and allies and is particularly insulting to Christine.
Whilst everyone tells him to give up, he is told of what sounds like a miracle cure to someone who beat these type of injuries called Jonathan Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt)
When Strange visits him, he is left amazed to the extent of recovery, especially as we learn he said himself the patient was untreatable, he begs for information which will lead him to Nepal.
Here he meets up with Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who will bring him to the ancient one (Tilda Swinton) and after Strange having to learn more about himself and letting go, she will master him in the ways of the mystic arts and how to control alternate dimensions.
With his new powers Strange, Mordo, The Ancient One and Wong (Benedict Wong) will team up to fight Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) who having stolen ancient pages from them, has summoned the dark dimension, where time does not exist.
The film follows this battle to its end in Hong Kong where Strange and Co must defeat Kaecilius and stop the dark dimension engulfing earth.
This film is a visual treat, improving on special effects seen in the likes of Inception and The Matrix. The film whilst feels serious at times does have some good humour, especially from Wong.
Also laughs are provided by the Cloak of Levitation, which acts as a protector and bodyguard for Strange (although we were reminded of Jackie Chan film the Tuxedo at times, another film about super clothing =)
The fight sequences use wire work and are done well, using Scott Adkins as one of the bad guys to take on Strange being memorable, but this film is sadly nothing original.
Again with a Marvel film, you are left coming out looking forward at what is to come, rather than what you have just seen.
Cumberbatch is excellent as Strange but the rest of the cast are underused, especially Mads as the lead bad guy, so memorable as a James Bond villain in Casino Royale & TV’s Hannibal yet he doesn’t have too much to do here.
Thor and the potential storyline of a Doctor Strange sequel are teased over the end credits which hopefully will do more than just wow us with special effects.
Doctor Strange is not an awful film, it’s just not a very memorable one either and we had hoped for better, to be honest!
You can see Doctor Strange in 2D and 3D
You can view the trailer at the Marvel website here
Did you like Doctor Strange? Do you have a favourite character within the Marvel Universe? Are you tired of Superhero films now? We would as always, love to hear from you!
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