Doctor Strange: Movie Review

It would be a huge disappointment if "Doctor Strange" didn't deliver on its visuals but boy it did. The film was massively mesmerizing in it scope and the bravado of its presentation. This is one of the rare instances where going bigger and going third dimensional is a must. While the film was visually stellar, the writing was less than so with its take on the superhero origin story feeling a little too familiar and formulaic from its peers.

Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) was once a celebrated but arrogant surgeon, until a tragic accident cost him his medical skills and career. With Western medicine unable to restore his crippled hands, he beginds searching for drastic alternatives. When he learns that a paraplegic man was completely healed in Nepal, he travels there and encounters The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), the enigmatic teacher who offers not only to heal him but to teach him the ways of the Mystic Arts.

From the start, "Doctor Strange" is eerily familiar to superhero origin films of recent years. There's the rich, smart and arrogant folly of the protagonist which ultimately leads to a huge nosedive. After a few months maybe years of isolation, our hero learns new tricks and rises up to be better. There's also an inkling of a love interest and a supernatural force that threatens to destroy Earth as we know it. There's a reason why this formula works and "Doctor Strange" banked on that. It mostly works with its mystical based backstory and a clever twist at the finale that we didn't expect at all. Visually speaking, this is one of the best films we have seen utilize 3D and the IMAX. The combination of big screen and 3rd dimensional depth is something to be experienced first hand. We just felt overwhelmed and fully into the world that "Doctor Strange" presented. It's a trippy, kaleidoscopic world that is definitely one of a kind. "Inception" has nothing on this film in terms of graphical scope. On the acting side, everyone was outstanding. It definitely made the mystic arts topic more palatable than it should be with convincing performances. Although we felt that Rachel McAdams as the love interest and Mads Mikkelsen as the villain were both under-utilized. Overall, "Doctor Strange" may not have broken new ground with his origin story but we are pretty much excited what's in store next for the Sorcerer Supreme.

Rating: 4 reels




Why you should watch it:
- this is one of the most visually impressive films we have seen
- the acting was outstanding

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the origin story is formulaic and all too familiar