Doctor Strange

When I walked into the theatre to see Doctor Strange, I had very little familiarity with the character or the history of the comics. I intentionally did not read up on them prior to the film because I wanted to judge the film on it's own merits, rather than compare it to the film's source material. As such, the film is easily one of the most visually stunning films I've seen in a long time.

Stephen Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) is a very gifted surgeon, but also egotistical and tries to only take on patients that offer him a challenge. One night while on his way to a charity event, Stephen is in a devastating car wreck that leaves his hands severely and perhaps irreparably damaged. After he is unable to find suitable treatment through Western Medicine, he heads east to Nepal to find the Kamar-Taj on a lead from a man who had a miraculous recovery from severe paralysis. Once there, he seeks out the Kamar-Taj with little success until he meets Mordo (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), who takes Stephen to meet The Ancient One (played by Tilda Swinton). There, under the tutelage of both The Ancient One and Mordo, he begins to learn the art of sorcery. Using the same dedication he applied to medicine, Stephen begins to excel in the art once he begins to let go of his ego. While initially training with the sole purpose of regaining full use of his hands, Stephen finds himself drawn into a fight between the members of Kamar-Taj and the dark Sorcerer Kaecilius (played by Mads Mikkelson), who seeks to unleash the Dark Dimension where time does not pass and one can live forever. 

The film was directed by Scott Derrickson from a script that he wrote along with C. Robert Cargill. The film he created is a visual marvel from beginning to end. I saw it in IMAX 3-D and I have to say it was worth it just for the eye candy alone. The Sorcerers are able to create a dimension on top of ours called the Mirror Dimension that allows them to manipulate their environment in any number of ways while ours remains unaffected. This is used many times throughout the film as landscapes and buildings move, change and are manipulated in all kinds of dazzling and kaleidoscopic ways. However, as amazing as the visuals are, the film itself does follow a fairly predictable storyline. It is basically the standard issue Hero's journey storyline and in many ways very reminiscent of the the first Iron Man movie. That said, the film does have it's clever flourishes to make everything feel a bit fresh. I appreciated the fact that Stephen Strange and his co-worker Christine Palmer (played by Rachel McAdams) were former lovers and now just friends. It's a unique twist to the usual love interest relationship and her reaction to Stephen's new Sorcery world were pretty priceless. Like much of Marvel's films, it also finds a nice balance between seriousness and humor to make an overall quite entertaining film. While I criticize the more derivative parts of the plot, I concede that they are done with flair, humor and as a fellow fiction writer I doubt I could've done better. 

The casting for the film is top notch, with Benedict Cumberbatch leading as Stephen Strange. He portrays Strange's emotional journey from a surgeon at the top of his game to a devastated man who has lost everything to someone who not only learns how to become a better man, but also gain a new life he never could have dreamed of. Chiwetel Ejiofor does well as Mondo, who has studied under the Ancient One for a long time, but also has a rigid idea of what can and cannot be done in the natural world of sorcery that causes him and Strange to butt heads at times. Mads Mikkelson brings more layers to the role of Kaecilius than one would expect for a villain and his actions do actually make sense to a degree. It's refreshing to have a villain that isn't just a one note mustache twirler, but actually has reasons behind his actions. 

Then finally, there is Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One. This was a casting choice that caused a fair amount of controversy as it was seen as another example of Hollywood whitewashing characters. While I agree with the complaints and they are valid, the situation with this character is a bit more complicated. The character in the comic books was a far more stereotypical Asian caricature and not unlike Shane Black's approach to The Mandarin in Iron Man 3, the filmmakers were trying to sidestep any sort of offensive Asian characterization by changing the race of the character completely, making the Ancient One of Celtic origin and casting Tilda Swinton in the role. Is it a bit of a cop out? Yes. Could there have been a way to still cast an Asian actor in the role without being problematic? Yes, but then we get into the whole "White Man travels East to learn the secrets of the universe from the Asians" trope that is equally problematic and was another reason why they changed the character completely to avoid said trope. In this film, the Kamar-Taj are a global wide group of Sorcerers from many different cultures and the Ancient One just so happens to be of Celtic origin. That said, Tilda does a magnificent job in the role and gives the role a certain unique depth and fierceness to it that Swinton excels at.  

 Overall, Doctor Strange is a visual feast with some of the most dazzling effects I have seen in a long time. The film may follow the same heroes journey plot line we've seen many times before, but through some well placed humor, great performances and some nice narrative flourishes, Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill gave it a nice polish. It's worth seeing in 3-D on the biggest screen possible and as with all Marvel movies, make sure you stay through the credits.