By Santiago Ferreira Vila | Observer Contributor
Early last week Marvel Cinematic Universe released its latest film in their franchise, Doctor Strange. Based off the comic book of the same name, Doctor Strange follows main character Dr. Stephen Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, an esteemed neurosurgeon who ends up in a horrific car crash, which ends his career after his hands are injured beyond repair. Following the crash, Dr. Strange finds himself studying the possibilities of fixing his hands, in which he ends up studying the mystic arts, entangling himself between the fight of good and evil.
The movie, like the rest of its predecessors, comes out beautifully and Marvel themselves should be proud of what they accomplished. The story follows the comics inconsistently and fully entices the viewer from minute one. Doctor Strange also finds itself separate from the past Marvel movies in which viewers don’t need to be caught up on every other superhero’s storyline to be able to fully enjoy the film. This being said, the movie is expected to tie in with the films later on (Marvel fans, remember to stay until the end!).
Doctor Strange held a budget of $165 million, making it the smallest budget of the Marvel movies in the third phase (compared to Civil War’s $250 million and Guardians of the Galaxy‘s estimated $200 million). You’d expect the special effects to be a bit dumbed down to fit the budget, but this film proves the complete opposite. The studio outdoes itself with bringing both the character’s original story and fantastical abilities to life. The vibrant and elaborate world distortion feels almost lifelike when watching, mix that with some very well performed stunts and fight sequences, and you have yourself one of the most beautiful films of the year.
Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be doomed as he is type casted into yet another role as a genius character (prior characters include Sherlock and Alan Turing in The Imitation Game). This is going well for him as he brings the character of Dr. Strange to life, capturing both the intelligence and cocky attitude of Strange. He meets standards leaning towards par, leaving almost no room for criticism. Another A-game performance was given by Chiwetel EJiofor (12 Years a slave what is capitalized) who performed as Karl Mordo, Strange’s mentor in the mystic arts.
In contrast, the film had a few setbacks, one being the original storytelling of Stephen Strange. Commonly found in every marvel movie: character is doing well, character faces tragedy, character gains powers. This sort of repetition is one that fans might want to see a change in but, in retrospect, still worked. Another weakness is found within one of the major strengths of the film, the amazing visual aspects found within Doctor Strange sucks the soul away from the equally as good story. Audiences may find themselves so overwhelmed by the special effects that their minds will soon wonder away from the script.
Though the film had great acting performances, there were also some not great performances. Tida Swinton (the ancient one) was one of those where you feel that someone just wasn’t doing their best. Both Strange’s and Modo’s teacher, Swinton’s portrayal as the ancient one was just a near cringe every time she talked one on one to any character for all her lines were read in mere monotone. This was a major upset as Swinton received major acclaim for her roles in Shipwrecked!, and Only lovers left alive.
In all Doctor Strange delivers all you would expect from a Marvel Movie, a thrilling story, unique hero, and great visual effects. Pair it up with great actors and a director with background in cult classics (Scott Derrickson) and you have yourself a movie for all types of audiences.
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