Doctor Strange
Marvel’s sorcerer supreme is wizard
Serving as an introduction to the mystical side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Strange is a movie at odds with itself: visually adventurous, but narratively conservative. Though the story of Stephen Strange’s walk on the weird side may be superhero origin 101, it still has a few tricks up its sleeve.
After his hands are mangled in an accident, neurosurgeon Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) travels to Nepal in a last-ditch attempt to find a cure. There he meets The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), who opens Strange’s mind to a new plane of existence, and enlists him in her quest to protect Earth from interdimensional terrors and their acolytes, including Mads “Death Stranding” Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius.
More successful as an introduction to a new corner of the MCU than a standalone tale, Doctor Strange owes a debt to the first Iron Man in structure and plotting. There are even echoes of Tony Stark in Strange’s hubris, humour and immaculately contoured facial hair. This overfamiliarity can prove wearisome, while several of the supporting cast (notably Mikkelsen and Rachel McAdams’ fellow surgeon) are severely underserved.
But visually this is the most ambitious Marvel movie to date. Weapons are conjured out of thin air, cities twist and fold on themselves, and action sequences defy all known laws of physics. Kudos too for a final set-piece that subverts the increasingly clichéd city-levelling climax in gleefully inventive fashion – quite the illusion. Jordan Farley