Doctor Strange Movie Review

Before this movie, my only real exposure to Doctor Strange was in The Super Hero Squad Show. I really liked the character and his powers, so I was looking forward to a Doctor Strange movie from day 1. I'm glad that I was able to see this movie in theaters, as a movie with these kinds of visual tricks demands to be seen on the big screen. Apart from the wacky effects, this movie boasts great performances, music, writing, and characters.

Doctor Strange follows Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), an arrogant neurosurgeon who's among the best in his profession. When he loses the use of his hands after an accident, he travels to the land of Kamar-Taj to find a way to fix them. There he meets the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), the Master of the Mystic Arts, and Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who offer to instruct him in the ways of sorcery. He then gets involved in a magical war against the Ancient One's former student Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), who wants to obtain the powers of the Sorcerer Supreme for himself and gain immortality.

Doctor Strange is another fairly straightforward hero's journey. Strange loses his hands, something he really values, and on a quest to fix them, ends up gaining something more meaningful. Sure, this kind of story has been told numerous times, but the thing with Marvel is that they're always able to sell it in a way that feels fresh. This is largely due to the vast number of different characters they have at their disposal. These characters manage to make us care about the story.

Benedict Cumberbatch is great as the title character. He manages to sell Strange's arrogance as well as you'd hope, and it makes his eventual maturity into a wiser man all the more worth investing in. Of course, Cumberbatch also turns out to have great comedy chops, leading to some pretty funny moments between him and his fellow sorcerers.

Ejiofor's Mordo is such a fascinating character to watch. He's fiercely loyal to the Ancient One, and his friendship with Strange is also engrossing. This movie tests Mordo's loyalty to his friends in several ways, and it leads to him becoming strongly disillusioned with the ways of magic by the end. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of him in the future; hell, if Marvel plays their cards right (and they probably will), Mordo could end up becoming one of the MCU's best villains.

Meanwhile, Wong (Benedict Wong) ends up becoming an entertaining foil to Strange. He's a no-nonsense librarian as well as a skilled sorcerer, but he too has great comic timing. I especially liked his first foray into pop music and the funny bit with him laughing at the end of the film.

Mikkelsen's Kaecilius is a fairly interesting villain for this film; he makes Strange question people's concept of right and wrong and how far they're willing to go to protect the world. The Ancient One makes for a great mentor to Strange, and Swinton's performance is excellent. Rachel McAdams's Christine Palmer makes for a fun love interest to Strange, and I hope we see more of her in the future. Interestingly enough, in Marvel comics, she's known as a Night Nurse, same as Claire Temple, played by Rosario Dawson in Marvel's Netflix shows.

If I had to use one word to describe the visual effects in Doctor Strange, it would be "psychedelia." The Quantum Realm in Ant-Man was nuts, but when it comes to trippy special effects, this movie takes the freaking cake. It feels like Marvel was taking drugs when they were making these scenes. There are so many colors, and I love me some colorful visuals in my action movies. The action scenes are so entertaining; the Cloak of Levitation is its own character with its movements and behaviors, city blocks twist and turn and everything in between, and the time-travel hijinks allow for even more visual-effects goodness. If any other Doctor Strange movies have these kinds of eye-popping visuals, sign me up.

Scott Derrickson directed a great movie, and I want to see more of the inside of that head of his. Hopefully Strange's next solo flick comes sooner rather than later.