Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is a 2016 film produced by Marvel Studios. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Mads Mikkelson, Tilda Swinton and Rachel McAdams. The film was directed by Scott Derrikson.

Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a phenomenal and overly cocky surgeon. When Strange is severely injured in a car crash that caused irreparable damage to his hands he seeks a cure through traditional medicine. However, upon seeing that to be a dead end Strange seeks help from a mysterious group. Strange soon learns that they are actually sorcerers charged with defending the planet from supernatural threats and embarks on his training to join their ranks.

The film is very different to what Marvel Studios typically produces. The film is visually spectacular and is at times truly magical to witness. Some of the visuals are comparable to those in ‘Inception’ only far, far more extreme. It is truly some of the greatest CGI I have ever seen in a film.

The cast all give fantastic performances, and were all very well cast. Any fans of the hit T.V. series ‘Sherlock’ will soon realize that Cumberbatch is very much playing a somewhat watered down version of his Sherlock Holmes portrayal.

There is a good amount of humor throughout the film. Not too much to take you out of the moment, but not too little that you become bored or tired of the film. Some of the jokes do fall flat and come across as awkward, but the vast majority will get a laugh from you.

The plot of the film is nothing original. At its core it is little more than another cut and paste superhero origin movie. Something that we’ve all seen time and time again at this stage. However the film is able to mostly cover that up with its great visuals, characters, action set pieces and witty dialogue.

The fact that it barely mentions the other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe help this movie to stand on its own to legs. However if like me you are a fan of Marvel films, there are plenty of little in jokes and references to find whilst watching.

Many people have complained that prior Marvel film always have the same ending (protagonist(s) fighting off a horde of faceless robots/aliens/goons and a forgettable villain fight). This film however elected to break away from that trend in an interesting way that I have yet to see in any other film.

Overall the film is very well made and quite possibly one of the best films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. There is plenty to love in this film for every type of film goer. I was always engaged throughout the whole film and never once wandered how long until it was over. It is a film that I would gladly watch again, and I would very confidently recommend it to virtually anybody.

Score: 8.5/10