Doctor Strange, directed by Scott Derrickson, is the fourteenth Marvel installment. It received positive reviews from Marvel fans, movie critics and moviegoers alike. Personally, I have loved many Marvel films but wouldn’t call myself an avid fan. However, Doctor Strange was a different outlook on superheroes and I was pleasantly surprised. A vain and ambitious doctor, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, has everything going for him. Doctor Stephen Strange prides himself in his work, not even attempting to treat patients he believes he won’t cure. Marvel uses this theme a lot; arrogant a**holes who finally see the light in the end. Cumberbatch plays this in a funny way, however, playfully toying with “love-interest” Christine (Rachel McAdams) and befriending the librarian Wong (Benedict Wong) who Strange jokes about being similar to “Adele,” since they both go by one name.
Rolling Stone says, “Doctor Strange is similarly unique, deviating just enough from the cookie-cutter Marvel pattern to become its own living, breathing, thrilling thing – wait until you see his Cloak of Levitation, his encounter with the Dark Dimension, and the fight scene on the streets of New York that melts into a kaleidoscope of melting images scary enough to haunt your nightmares.” The most favorable scenes are the trippy ones, such as when the Ancient One, played beautifully by Tilda Swinton, hits Strange on the head, resulting in him having the trippiest experiences ever. The scene was originally supposed to be seven minutes long but after a while, you start to have a headache, going in and out of dimensions and a lot of kaleidoscope effects.
Doctor Strange was the biggest opening weekend ever for an original Marvel release, along with an all-time best opening for an IMAX film. I encourage everyone, whether you are a Marvel fan or not, to check it out. Hint: Stick through the film’s final credits and you’ll see a bonus scene that suggests Strange inching into the world of the Avengers!