“Doctor Strange” is, in itself, a strange character and choice for the next standalone Marvel/Disney superhero film.

With audiences asking for a Black Widow movie and getting excited for other Marvel properties i.e. Black Panther, Spider Man Homecoming, etc. The decision to choose this character for a movie  may seem odd at first. What Doctor strange does do is set up an entirely different world, introduces a major plot element that will be used in future films, and tries to successfully integrate magic into a heavily science based universe. The real challenge of this film is to accomplish all of this while having a strong plot, understandable world mechanics, and memorable characters.

The plot is somewhat standard with the common tropes being made interesting by the characters and the settings. It’s a selfish person’s journey to redemption and the understanding that other people matter besides himself. The villain is forgettable, given a tragic background but lacks any other interesting quality for the audience to care about him. The main villain of Doctor Strange and his company is a very basic, evil for the sake of evil, type of villain. This actually works well since the simplicity of him shows off the emotional development of the main character, which is really all he’s needed for.

Benedict Cumberbatch portrays the main protagonist, Dr. Stephen Strange, a Brilliant neurosurgeon who turns to the mystical arts after going through a life changing incident. The character is established as an arrogant showboater who became a doctor purely because of the money and recognition. As expected, he learns to open his mind to new possibilities and realizes that he doesn’t know as much as he thought, he loses these negative traits for the most part.

He’s accompanied by Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, the always faithful love interest, and supporting characters Benedict Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tilda Swinton whom all serve their expositional/plot purposes well.

Mads Mikkelsen plays the villain, Kaecilius, whom unfortunately continues the bad trend of Marvel villains: having an interesting concept and backstory but still being uninteresting. We do spend some time with the character and learn of his motives, but it’s set up to where you’re supposed to care because of the character’s circumstances and not because we feel sympathy for the character.  

Any style Scott Derrickson has developed as a director has been overshadowed by the typical Marvel film beats. What makes the typical “Marvel movie” can really be described as having quick quirky character lines/beats, interesting clear visuals, good action scenes and a simple villain. Besides the directing, the visuals are fantastic. A bright complex carnival of lights and displayed by all of the magic in the film.

Magic is generally explained as a high level of bodily energy that one can learn to understand and control. In this movie it is explained well enough, as our main character learns to use this ability to teleport, astral project, as well as defense. The movie was awkwardly paced at moments, where they would speed through certain parts of the plot , and characters would say/do some actions that simply served the plot and not the characters, but it’s so minute it’s forgivable.

The film had a strong opening weekend, with an $84 million opening and a $325 million opening worldwide.“Doctor Strange” is a cornucopia of complex and stunning images with interesting world building and characters which pair well with the standard marvel movie formula.

“Doctor Strange” is a cornucopia of complex and stunning images with interesting world building, and characters which pair well with the standard Marvel movie formula.