Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton
Director: Scott Derrickson
After striking gold with Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel was pretty much unstoppable. They believed they could make anything work. Time to move into the realm of the supernatural. Time to get Doctor Strange.
Dr Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) was a brilliant surgeon. A pompous ass who knew his work and let others know it. A terrible accident left him unable to enter an operation theatre again. Unable to accept his fate, Stephen searches for a cure in the Far East. In the land of Kamar-Taj he meets Mordo (Ejiofor) a sorcerer who introduces him to his master, the Ancient One (Swinton). The Ancient One takes him on and trains him to face Kaecilius (Mikkelsen), a former protégé turned foe. There is also a small matter of the demon Dormammu, the Destroyer of Worlds, who is coming to devour mankind.
The story of the Master of the Mystic Arts needed mysticism. It needed suspension of belief slightly more than that required to deal with a talking raccoon and a tree. It needed someone to make people believe that magic exists. The casting was key and Marvel got it right with Benedict Cumberbatch. It is perfect casting. Unfortunately, it is not inspired casting, like Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man. Cumberbatch carries on his Sherlock persona. You really cannot see another person in the role, but you feel it is familiar. Not that he doesn’t do justice. He brings his swagger and comic timing to the table.
Tilda Swinton is an amazing actress. She takes on a role that should have been done by an Asian man. She makes us forget about the whitewashing and brings us yet another unforgettable character. Mads Mikkelsen continues to have fun in the most outlandish roles. Mordo is a villain in the comics. Here he is Strange’s right hand man. A performer like Chiwetel Ejiofor doesn’t have much to do. Rachel McAdams is her usual effective self as Dr Christine Palmer. The stand-out is Benedict Wong as the sanctum librarian Master Wong.
The special effects are good. Especially, the Matrix-inspired astral push where the soul comes out of the body or something like that! The Sorcerer Supreme is nothing without his cloak and that almost takes on a character of its own. There is also inspiration from Inception where the buildings fold. Again, nicely done, but not completely new.
Doctor Strange is not the most accessible of character in the Marvel universe. The movie tries to dumb him down and even has an ending that is really stretching it. As we see later on, Strange is very good in a team-up. But in stand-alone movie, it is really tough to get on-board.
Stan Lee cameo: Stan laughing while reading Aldous Huxley, while the sorcerers lay waste to the landscape around, without obeying the laws of Physics
Post-credits scene: Thor! And Mordo goes dark.
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