Frankly, the latest flick in the unending series of Marvel Studios superheroes has no business working at all. Doctor Strange is essentially a movie depicting a war between good and evil wizards. One group wants to allow a malevolent, world-destroying force from the “Dark Dimension” to take our planet, while others are astral-plane protectors who want to stop it from happening. Pretty preposterous stuff, right? While it’s all pretty silly, the cast are great and there are enough trippy, kaleidoscopic visuals to earn it a recommendation.
Our entry point into this unusual tale is an arrogant neurosurgeon Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). After an accident leaves his hands torn up and shake-ridden, he travels to Nepal in search of alternative forms of healing. He becomes a pupil of a special order led by the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). But when villainous, ex-student Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) arrives with a gang of heavies to destroy the Sanctums holding back evil forces from another dimension, Strange must help his newfound friends save the world.
As expected, there’s a distinct pattern to these Marvel movies and as such, the character introductions feel familiar. Our hero takes a physical and mental blow and then must rebuild himself in a more altruistic fashion. It hits many of the same story beats as superhero titles like Iron Man. Of course, Strange also has a tenuous relationship with an emergency room doctor named Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams). While the pair trade a couple of funny jabs, there is something a little perfunctory about these elements. There’s a few of the typical training sequences as the Ancient One teaches Strange about his newfound powers. And taking a note from the recent Guardians of the Galaxy, the movie makes sure to wedge in a 70s music reference (although it does result in a funny line).
Yet, for all of the elements that feel too generic, there are enough eccentricities on display to make up for it. These visually dynamic moments serve the film best. A psychedelic journey to the Dark Dimension offers some great spinning imagery with nightmarish elements changing form and our lead character traveling through and being engulfed by them. The portals and magic powers add a lot of fun to the fight sequences. Room’s flip from one side to another, a cityscape turns into a moving Escher portrait and gateways to other parts of the world offer the lead escape options and places to send away his foes.
Probably the funniest and most unique idea is that of Strange’s cape. Despite being an article of clothing, it has a personality all its own. It even fights, sometimes willing itself against the hero and leading to entertaining physical comedy. Also well-handled is the interplay between characters when the strange and mystical is occurring. The villain earns a big laugh during a confusion-ridden introduction with Strange, and a seemingly humorless, stone-faced librarian Wong (Benedict Wong) makes an impression as well.
Of course, this is a comic book movie and as such it doesn’t always make complete sense. Even with the promise of immortality, it’s hard to imagine the real benefit of siding with a powerful force when its sole goal is to destroy the Earth (not to mention every other world in the universe). Subtlety is also another minor issue; the theme of not being afraid to fail is delivered in an amusing, but on-the-nose manner within minutes of being delivered.
While the film has its problems, when it takes advantage of its concept and twists its characters through wildly exaggerated dimensional planes, it’s a whole lot of fun. I also appreciated that it doesn’t get distracted from its lead to go on ten minute tangents in an attmept to set up other characters and future movies (there are two post credit scenes that handle all of that material). In the end, Doctor Strange is just weird enough to make it a trip worth taking.