Do You Believe in Magic? In a Young Stephen’s Heart.
When a devastating car accident takes an award-winning neurosurgeons most valuable tools, his hands, Stephen Strange is on the search to return to his normal life. The answer he finds flips his whole world upside down. What does he find? Let’s find out in our review of Doctor Strange.
Stephen Strange is a cocky and rich playboy, but he doesn’t eventually turn into a powered armor wielding hero like Iron Man. Instead, he finds himself in the world of the mystical arts. Being a student of Science and Medicine, he was skeptical, but after meeting the mythical, Ancient One, he’s opened his mind to anything.
In a world of magic, it seems that anything is possible. You can teleport to different locations, conjure objects, and shape time and space. There also seems to be countless dimensions outside of the one we all live and breath in. This seems like a daunting world to undertake. The movie doesn’t take much time to tell us how most of this works, but in world with super heroes and demigods, it doesn’t surprise us that magic exists.
Having sorcerers use all of this magic, it is presented in an astonishing way. The visual effects are mind melting. You can probably call it the Marvel version of Inception in a way. There must have been a lot of work put into the cg, because the world is filled with visual effects. Whether it’s time warping, or reshaping the landscape, the cg is stunning. We watched this in IMAX 3D, but the 3D isn’t very relevant over time.
The special effects don’t just stand out here, but the cinematography is outstanding as well. As comic book movie fans, we may often pass on looking for good visuals outside of special effects, but Doctor Strange stood out for me. Especially when they went to the foreign country, they showcased all of the scenery and architecture.
I wish we got a little more background and exposition on the big baddie, Kaecilius. It felt like they rushed it with this one. All I feel that we got was a quick statement about how a great pupil turned bad. It would have been nice to get some kind of flashback.
What I like about Doctor Strange and almost, if not the whole Marvel Studio library, is that they can tell these stories while having fun. I really liked the casting, I wouldn’t know who else to have as the Sorcerer Supreme. Cumberbatch was able to bring his gravitas to the role and leave room for humor. I am really looking forward to the future of the character in the MCU.
Although there are some story and character elements that aren’t fully fleshed out, Doctor Strange was still an enjoyable watch. It’s great to know that magic is in the MCU now, it will open up several new possibilities for storytelling. The visuals were stunning, but you don’t need to watch it in 3D. It’s still worth it to watch it in IMAX though. Please go out and watch this ASAP!