After his career is destroyed, a brilliant but arrogant surgeon gets a new lease on life when a sorcerer takes him under his wing and trains him to defend the world against evil.
Doctor Strange: one of the latest films in Marvel's Cinematic Universe that opens up an infinite amount of worlds to explore. A tangible experiment that you would think will hopefully bear fruit from Marvel's ever bounteous tree.
Doctor Stephen Strange, a brilliant but arrogant surgeon is tested beyond his incredible skills in ways he never could comprehend. After an accident and exhausting conventional medicine and techniques, he is forced to rethink his approach and finds himself chasing mystical medicine. It is an interesting tale of disposing the science he knows and following a new path, one that his closed mind struggles to comprehend at first. The character of Strange is flawed, broken but purposeful. A well rounded and interesting character.
Once his training begins by the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and Hamlet (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the audience is introduced slowly to these worlds that are ever-present, running parallel to the world we inhabit, in which Strange's powers lie. These various mystic worlds we witness are an awe to behold. It's visually breathtaking and the second half of the film is much like a kaleidoscope, bending buildings, portals, glowing energies and time warping. There is a lot going on that can sometimes overwhelm, but this is part of the intrigue and is one of the film's positives, it creates an infinite platform that the story could unfold from.
Now while I felt the character was a little too close to Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch carried the film with ease. His distinguishable and unconventional features suit the character very well. Tilda Swinton gives a memorable portrayal as the eerie but intriguing Ancient One. I felt Ejiofor was a little wasted in this, a very capable actor with a role that didn't showcase his talents. Finally, while Mads Mikkelsen is ultimately born to play every villain, unfortunately his character shows very little depth to be memorable.
What is probably most refreshing is the final act, rather than a rubble ridden catastrophic event, the film plays out to a much smarter conclusion. A very different ending to a very different Marvel film. The film overall didn't grip me as I hoped it would, with it the comic book genre deeply over saturated, each additional instalment underwhelms and has less and less of an impact. Although different it additionally felt more of the same from Marvel.
Doctor Strange is an unconventional film to what you are usually expecting from Marvel, a gamble from Marvel's tried and tested formula, but one that does pay off. An obvious introduction intended to be part of the bigger picture, with everything building up to Infinity War and with this world bending element added to the MCU, one thing is for certain, visually it will be entertaining.
