Doctor Strange

With each new Marvel film one could expect the studio to push the limits of what a superhero film should consist of. Films such as Captain America: Winter Solider, Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man all consisted of elements that we have never seen within a superhero film before. Now, Marvel Studios attempts to push the envelop once more by leaving the world of high tech armors and super soldiers and entering the mystical world of magic. Leading this charge is Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Stephen Strange and hopefully he could answer why there is this strange mystical feeling that we have seen this all before.

From Marvel comes “Doctor Strange,” the story of world-famous neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange whose life changes forever after a horrific car accident robs him of the use of his hands. When traditional medicine fails him, he is forced to look for healing, and hope, in an unlikely place—a mysterious enclave known as Kamar-Taj. He quickly learns that this is not just a center for healing but also the front line of a battle against unseen dark forces bent on destroying our reality. Before long Strange—armed with newly acquired magical powers—is forced to choose whether to return to his life of fortune and status or leave it all behind to defend the world as the most powerful sorcerer in existence.

I am going to start off the review by discussing the only strong positive thing that came out of Doctor Strange and its by far the visuals. Beautiful vibrant colors pop at you throughout the film, the costume design is beyond extravagant and the framing is spot on. Doctor Strange and his fellow Sorcerers Supremes powers aren't fully on display until they enter the Mirror Dimension and my god, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner would hate this place. As they are men of science, they would hate that all rules of physics are thrown out the window as our Sorcerers Supremes are capable of breaking buildings apart and reforming to however they please. It is hard to no...

All continues to be well in the Marvel Comics Universe as the film adaptation of another mischievous and majestic superhero from Stan Lee’s printed page empire emerges and reigns supreme on the big screen. The latest cure from the Marvel movie bag of explosive tricks is the entry of the dazzling and decorative Doctor Strange. Armed with a collection of notable performers, a convincing colorful scope of visual vibrancy and a hearty touch of spiritual and reflective potency the spellbinding Doctor Strange is an engaging and oddly sophisticated action-oriented comic book fantasy adding imaginative flavor to the typical escapist gem from the Marvel stable of powered personalities.

Some may argue that Doctor Strange is merely another conveyor belt cinematic comics confection that follows a safe and similar makeup that constitutes the obligatory Marvel Comics movie foundation–excitable weirdness, overly splashes of wayward whimsy, copious characterizations attached to their brand of eccentric grandeur and larger-than-life gestures of dark and devious exploits grounded in the basic landscape of good versus evil. Listen, sometimes traveling down the conventional path of constructed and adventurous Marvel-made spectacles is not necessarily a bad thing to consider. After all, the well-known and more popular superhero icons such as Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, The Avengers, and The X-Men for instance seem to benefit nicely from the anticipated formula that routinely delivers the entertaining goods for its avid core of fanboys. So why not wipe off the seemingly obscure and underrated Doctor Strange and provide the same kind of popcorn-pulsating mystique for blockbuster cinema?

Doctor Strange started out as a comic book creation in 1963 by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee. Director Scott Derrickson (“Paradise Lost”, “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”, “Sinister”, “Deliver Us From Evil”) does an admirable job in giving shades of bizarre brillia...

Though the core events may not be anything new for the MCU, particularly in so far as its origin stories go (Stephen Strange's A-to-B is virtually identical to Tony Stark's in the first Iron Man film) the psychedelic filter through which we experience these events is entirely fresh!

Not all of the humour lands, and in fact sometimes actually detracts from the story. While the effects are very impressive from a conceptual angle, the graphical end-products do sometimes fall short. Benedict Cumberbatch is a fantastic actor, and does a fine job as Doctor Strange, virtually the whole cast are proven actors, but none are really given the chance to flex those acting muscles to any sort of a newly impressive degree.

Those minor nitpicks aside, Doctor Strange is another very successful entry to the MCU, just further proving that Marvel really know what they're doing in this latest form the film industry has taken.

Final rating:★★★½ - I strongly recommend you make the time.

I will begin this by saying I was hyped about this film since it was announced because I was always attracted to magic and the supernatural and Doctor Strange is one of my favorite Marvel superheroes. PLOT:A simple enough story,a brilliant surgeon's journey from the peak of his career to a ruined man,incapacitated due to an accident.Losing all his money in an attempt to heal his hands,he finds out about a mysterious healer in a place called Kamar-Taj.With his last dollars, he gets a one-way ticket to Nepal to find this place and is introduced like so into a whole new world.He has an affinity for what he discovers to be called "The Mystic Arts".He learns and develops quickly but is thrown into a fight with the one who would become his first nemesis, Kaelcilius,too soon.He is almost killed but with the help of his ex-fiancée,Dr. Christine Palmer(who operates on him) he is saved and returns to the Sanctum Sanctorum.He tries to stop Kaelcilius but needs to be rescued again by his teacher,who is killed and leaves him with a valuable lesson.To finally defeated the Zealots he bargains with their boss,catching him into a time loop for all eternity if he does not call his servants off and sets everything right.In the end his ex-friend and mentor,Mordo goes on a quest of finding himself and ends up becoming a sorcerer murderer. Characters: 1)Dr.Stephen Strange:Benedict portrays him amazingly and is always on point with the character.I liked his journey and how he changed and grew to see that he is just a tiny bit of an infinite multiverse.He was pretty good using magic and I hope he will develop quicker to the Sorcerer Supreme. 2)The Ancient One:My favorite character in the movie.She is a wise teacher,has the best quotes,best battle scenes,best entrances and an amazing battle costume.I loved how even she was aware that for higher goals she needed to cross the line and do things she teaches against and also isn't proud of. 3)Kaelcilius:A tragedy of love brought him t...

When a science person was the chosen one in the spiritual world!

You would have not expected it from this director if you had seen his previous films. This was based on the Marvel comics that I haven't touched. So basically I had high expectation to witness another side of Marvel universe with another set of (super)heroes. And surprisingly, it was very entertaining, nothing like other Marvel's heroes/story, except the possession of superpower to fight evil forces.

Firstly, Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead in a Marvel film, I did not think it would work. All I knew is he was a great sidekick, but that image has changed here. He was wonderful, definitely I'll be looking forward to its sequel as they had confirmed at the end. The theme wise, it is similar to most of the superhero tales, but some new concepts were added to it, I mean the superpower and that's what made it so unique.

Just like 'Thor', this film as well had taken the spiritual believes only for the basic platform. The rest of the developments are the clear mix of fantasy (illusion) and science. So it means the film is for theists and atheists. I am one of those who did not like 'Inception', which I think an ordinary action film with multiple layers. But this one was so awesome and it is for the people like me who think 'Inception' failed.

Visually spectacular. I regret missing it out in digital 3D. Its Academy Awards nominee in the category of Best VFX tells the story. There will be a tough contest, even I'm up for 'Jungle Book', but I won't be sad if this wins. The success story of Marvel continues. Not everybody reads comic books, but film goers are the majority. So adaptations like this are people like me. Let them keep coming, I love this format better. This film is not just for the youngsters, but old, families, as well as kids can enjoy, so I hope you won't miss it.

8/10

It is actually quite some time since I watched Doctor Strange but somehow the movie must have slipped between the cracks since I appear to have forgotten to review it. So I am about to remedy that now. To put it in simple terms: This is an excellent movie. It is a wonderful display of magical fireworks with a decent enough story to keep it together.

I have to confess that I have not really read many of the comics containing Doctor Strange so it is a bit difficult for me to comment on the aspect of the film versus the comics. From the little that I have read I got the impression that the comic book version of Doctor Strange was a wee bit more dark, serious and mature. This movie starts from the beginning of his career though so I guess there is some justification for the less mature Doctor Strange in the movie.

Doctor Strange is a skilled neurosurgeon but a bit of an asshole. Actually more than “a bit”. He gets involved in a accident, that he pretty much causes himself due to his arrogance. Fast forward to the interesting chapter were we get to see Doctor Strange being, reluctantly, admitted into a scruffy looking monastery on the other side of the planet. That is when the fun starts. Doctor Strange is in for a ride. Slowly Doctor Strange gets knocked into him that magic exists and he is expected to practice it.

The time at the monastery, or perhaps we should call it a school, leads to a few funny episodes and I do like the head monk’s bantering with Strange and the way she does things. Talk about getting thrown into the deep end of the swimmingpool first. Strange’s continued arrogance and immaturity is a bit annoying from time to time though. That has to be said.

What is the use of super heroes if there are no bad guys around. So after Strange having trained for a while, and mostly failed miserably, the bad guys starts to crash the party. So no more pretty living room magic for Strange. It is time to go head to head with some serious competition. Unfortu...

I thought marvel was going to far with all the releases.I was right about this one,Dr Strange was like Inception on DMT.Far to much CGI!.And for the story it started off in the right direction then it just ended up going STRANGE.All in all worth a look.But nothing special.

It was only a matter of time before magic and time travel found their way into the MCU, but Doctor Strange is a really well put together origin story on a character that could have been a mess to adapt as a film. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen, along with the Benedicts give the film lots of charisma, but the real star here is the style that Scott Derrickson and his crew were able to create. This is such a cool looking movie, both beautiful to look at and impressively technical.

Like most Marvel movies, Doctor Strange has a mediocre generic villain, but the characters combined with the visuals still make for a uniquely entertaining experience.

Doctor Strange gave me an Inception vibe with effects that were much on a grander scale. I'm a Nolan fan and even after seeing Dr. Strange, I'm impressed.

This movie might give DCEU a run for their money. Doctor Strange is a personal best for 2016. Great watch!