Doctor Strange - Film Review

  TheBloodyCritique’s ‘Doctor Strange’ Film Review   

Doctor Strange is another entry into the Marvel cinematic universe, it follows Dr. Steven Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, a masterful neurosurgeon whose hands prevail where other hands seem to fail, after tragically breaking his hands beyond repair in a ‘you would definitely be dead after that’ moment, Dr. Strange talks to a nurse, a male nurse, black, who happens to have key information in regards to knowledge of a man who was completely paralysed and somehow healed, walking around today as if nothing had happened. Dr. Strange tracks this man down and questions him, the man basically tells him it was a magical monk Kamar-Taj in Nepal and gives him a rough address. Upon reaching Nepal Dr. Strange searches the streets of Kathmandu muttering the name Kamar-Taj over and over, Mordo, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, a sorcerer who happens to work for Kamar-Taj AKA the Ancient One, hears the name in his mutterings and takes him to her. The Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton, teaches Dr. Strange how to use magical powers and control the world around him and together they fight against the bad guy, played by Hannibal, played by Mads Mikkelsen.

Doctor Strange is written and directed by Scott Derrickson, whose other work includes Hellraiser: Inferno, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, Deliver Us From Evil and The Day the Earth Stood Still, I haven’t seen any of them and Doctor Strange hasn’t quite sold me on his skills. The writing is very weak, the dialogue is questionable, there’s a lot of exposition and too many coincidences are relied on to progress the story, I didn’t quite buy into this world, it all felt a little forced. This wasn’t a terrible movie though, it’s just very poorly put together and unoriginal, I saw a lot of elements from Harry Potter and Inception and Dr. Strange as a character himself was very similar to Hugh Laurie as House, it definitely draws inspiration from a lot of other places and never quite becomes its own thing but it wasn’t a completely terrible movie, there are elements that, if properly developed, could have been interesting but they never quite are, none of the characters have any real motive to be invested in and the story is too farfetched to feel any sort of tension or intrigue, it’s very mediocre.

Doctor Strange has a great cast, but everyone feels underutilized, Rachel McAdams plays the love interest which goes absolutely nowhere, they keep eluding to it but nothing ever comes of it! She even becomes aware of his magical powers and hardly even reacts to it, it’s very underwritten, character development and character relationships all feel forced. Mads Mikkelsen is completely wasted, he was amazing as Hannibal, he’s forgettable here, just another generic bad guy, no depth at all. Benedict Cumberbatch is serviceable, his performance isn’t anything special but he carries the movie as well as I imagine he possibly could, Benedict Wong as Wong, yep, was alright, I’m a big fan of 15 Storeys High which about 10-20 people have seen so I’m always glad to see him in anything. Tilda Swinton is okay as the Ancient One, she delivers some very Lord of the Rings sounding voiceovers explaining the plot and Chiwetel Ejiofor is there too, again, he’s okay I suppose, it’s hard to appropriately judge the acting performances when the writing is so poor, I think they all did the best job they could with the material they were provided.

Without setting this world and these characters up properly everything feels like a reach, the Ancient One introduces Dr. Strange into this world far too quickly and without any real reason, she’s right there ready to give lessons to anyone who finds her it seems, and Dr. Strange adapts too quickly to the world itself for a man who knew nothing of this magical realm and who firmly believes in science and logic, everything is thrown together, nothing feels like it’s unfolding naturally and it’s hard to find any area of the story to really be invested in. Like I say though, it’s not a completely fucking terrible movie, things definitely happen and having the realms of this magical world to work within has given them a perfect excuse for the use of a lot of trippy visuals, although at times they do look like something you’d have for a screen saver, nice little patterns and that. There are a few humorous moments and there’s an overall light tone to the story so it’s not taking itself too seriously, it’s amusing at times and I didn’t hate it, it’s a poorly written but fun little adventure with no depth.  

The list of forgettable superhero movies in the Marvel cinematic universe is ever growing and this is sadly another name on that list, it’s sad because somewhere in here there’s a good movie but the story is so underwhelming and the characters are so underwritten it just results in a very bland experience. If you’re looking for something with interesting shapes and colours, Doctor Strange might be perfect for you and if you were a fan of the comic, you’ll probably get something from it as well, but if you’re anyone else, if you’re looking for something new, original and engaging, something entertaining to be invested in, you’re better off looking elsewhere, Doctor Strange is an extremely underwhelming experience and I wouldn’t recommend it, it’s a combination of every other Marvel film we’ve seen and I’d give it 5/10, it’s serviceable, it’s shapes and colours and Benedict Cumberbatch and that’s about it.

What did you think of Doctor Strange?