Movie Review: A Magical, Fun and Visual Marvel!- Doctor Strange

***Spoiler Alert!***
After a long time since its inception, MCU introduces magic to their universe and due to that, Doctor Strange has been a very important movie. They got is perfect with casting. This is one of the most star-studded cast movies in the whole of MCU. Being an origin story and not having much of connections with the rest of MCU movies, Doctor Strange had large audience base and Marvel has been successful in getting them give a shot for their latest outing. With a strategically planned path by Kevin Feige (President of Marvel Studios) and wonderful vision of Scott Derrickson (Director of Doctor Strange), Doctor Strange comes out as a fresh serve-up.

Doctor Strange starts off with Master Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) and his disciples stealing forbidden rituals from their London Sanctum Library (too much for being a safe house eh!). They hold the librarian with Lassos of Truth something that looks like the Lasso of Truth (of Wonder Woman) and beheads him. Enter The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), who is really ancient as her name suggests, tries to stop them by taking them into Mirror Dimension, a dimension she has mastered from those forbidden rituals (yep, hypocrite!) and fails. We are introduced to Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), a famous neurosurgeon performs an impossible surgery and saves a life. However, he's arrogant, inconsiderate, narcissist and chases fame. When he meets with an accident (in a Lamborghini! Not lying, I loved that sequence) and loses functionality in his hands, he becomes driven to heal himself. After all the medical procedures fail to fix him up, he embarks on a quest to heal himself with mystic arts. He travels to Kamar-Taj, where he meets Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who then introduces Dr. Strange to The Ancient One. She takes him under her wing and teaches him of mystical arts. However, Strange is not aware of the threats that await the sorcerers and their realm and things start changing when he slowly accepts the world of Sorcerers. Why did Master Kaecilius steal those forbidden rituals? What are the bigger threats that are lingering to attack mystical world and subsequently, The Earth forms the rest of the story.

Basically, a master trains his disciple when he sees great things waiting for him. Yet, the master fails to keep his promise to the disciple who feels cheated and turns to the dark side. The master finds another man, trains him as he sees great things waiting for him and this disciple thus helps the master to defeat the evil disciple. That's the story of Star Wars. Wait, no, that's the story of Kung Fu Panda. No, no no, wait. Scratch that! That's Doctor Strange. Okay, lets try this another way.
A filthy rich inconsiderate douche loses his bodily function and so embarks on a path to redeem himself. He also has an African-American best friend and a bald mentor who is partly to fully evil. That's the story of Iron Man. Oh boy! No dammit, that's Doctor Strange!
I hope you got my point by now. The story line is nothing impressive. What makes it work you ask! It's the execution that makes Doctor Strange a good film. The visuals are stunning. They might remind you of Inception every now and then, but, the visuals are impeccable. The script helps making the movie interesting which has a sub-par story. The screenplay is crisp and the dialogues are philosophical and funny at the same time. Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Wong shine in their roles. Mads Mikkelsen, considering the potential he's got (watch 'The Hunt' and 'Hannibal-The Series'), is wasted. Michael Stuhlbarg is wasted. Did I even mention Rachel McAdams? Yup, she's wasted too. A typical girlfriend role is all she gets and that's an insult on her acting chops. Really wish both of them to make appearances in future projects.

Highlights:

  • Visuals! Visuals!! Visuals!!!
  • Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton and Benedict Wong Performances
  • Script & Screenplay
Drawbacks:
  • Old story-line for a movie about mystical realm
  • Sub-par villain
Mordo says to Strange, "Forget everything you think you know." And that's how you have to approach this movie. This has lot of new concepts coming into a Superhero movie and Marvel Universe. The plot as a mystical being wanting to conquer The Earth is a let down. The climax with "I've come to bargain" is hilarious and also demonstrates the power of time-gem. Dormammu, the superior mystical being simply submitting to Strange at the time loop is Marvel underplaying their villains, yet again!(refer Red Skull from 'Captain America The First Avenger' and Crossbones from 'Captain America Civil War'). 
What do Doctor Strange do the best?
         Visuals. Seriously, can't stress this more!
What do doctor Strange do the worst?
         Wouldn't call it 'the worst' but, c'mon people, you could've come up with a really better story line than this!

Verdict: Good yet far from greatness!

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