Doctor Strange is Marvel’s newest movie adaptation of one of their famous comic book story-lines. But this one is different than its predecessors: the main character and hero of the film is not a mutant, or an experiment, or a scientific breakthrough–he’s a sorcerer. Well, not at first, but by the end of the movie he is. Like, a really good one.
Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a rich, narcissistic, and extremely talented neurosurgeon. Some reckless driving causes him to get into a horrible car accident and he severely damages his hands, leaving them barely functional. After months of attempted surgery and rehabilitation, everyone has given up hope, except for Strange. When he learns of a paraplegic man who was miraculously cured, Stephen seeks the man out and is directed to a temple in Kathmandu, Nepal called Kamar-taj. There he meets a woman, known only as The Ancient One, who agrees to teach him her mystic ways.
I’ll be honest, when I was seeing the movie, I forgot it was Marvel until someone mentioned and infinity stone. Not that it’s a bad thing; Doctor Strange is by far my new favorite of the now 14 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. This movie featured maybe some of the trippiest scenes I’ve ever watched, which I absolutely loved. I was certainly not disappointed by Benedict Cumberbatch’s Marvel debut, nor his American accent. I’m sure his experience as the brilliant Sherlock Holmes really helped him portray the very egotistical character of Stephen Strange, and I loved watching him slowly become more humbled throughout the film. This is definitely a movie that I want to own when it comes out. Not to mention the scenes during the credits that Marvel is known for were particularly exciting to me in this one, so I can’t wait to see what Marvel does in the future.
I don’t think I’ve ever given a movie a perfect score until today, so that’s really saying something. It’s saying, “Hey, you should go see this movie, it’s super good.”
By Lydia Berg