Doctor Strange Review (Spoiler Free)- Popcorn Time

Doctor Strange is undoubtedly October’s must-see movie. I’ll tell you that right now. Then again, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise considering Marvel Studios has pretty much earned the trust of both the comic book fans and the cinemophiles. Even without reading this review, the fact that the movie is tagged with “Marvel” should let you know how it’s gonna be a good ride all throughout.

Side note. Aren’t we lucky we get to see it before November 4?

Doctor Strange Plot Summary

For those who don’t read the comics, Doctor Strange is the story of a neurosurgeon-turned-superhero when a car accident renders his hands unusable for his trade. The protagonist — Doctor Stephen Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) —  goes on a quest to search for a means to heal his hands, and gets more than he bargained for when he meets an immortal called The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). Under this new teacher, the atheist Strange learns of the existence of magic and the soul. Strange is forced to open his mind and become the Sorcerer Supreme, sworn to protect the world from spiritual threats.

The Good: Benedict Cumberbatch

That everything is better when in a British accent is something of an overused meme. And when I heard Cumberbatch was going for the lead role, I was fully expecting Stephen Strange to have a British accent. So imagine my surprise when Benedict Cumberbatch started talking in the most pompous American accent ever. It was dead on with what I’d imagined the character was supposed to sound like.

It wasn’t just the voice and manner of speech either. Cumberbatch is a damn good actor, and he had the character down to perfection. The arrogance of the world’s greatest neurosurgeon was there. His surprise at the existence of a world beyond the physical was completely believable. About 99% of the time, Cumberbatch hits the mark on the emotions he’s supposed to express.

Interestingly enough, Marvel’s jokes this time were somewhat more subtle than previous movies. There were good jokes, but I like how about a third of them require the audience to actually think to get the punch line.

And of course, the plot was incredibly solid. But again, this is Marvel. They’ve earned the audience’s trust. The fact that the plot is supported by some of the absolute trippiest CGI you’ll ever see makes this high a decent substitute for LSD.

The Bad: Doctor Strange’s Villain falls short

Mads Mikkelsen plays Kaecilius; a former sorcerer turned rogue, and intent on ending the world as we know it. Not that Mikkelsen’s performance was bad. In fact, he looks cool, he acted well, and his fight scenes were on point. You can buy his ferocity and ruthlessness just by looking at him. The problem is that Kaecilius as a villain is just a little bit unrelatable. It’s extremely difficult to listen to his motives and say “yeah, I understand him.” I’ve said this over and over: a story is only as good as the villain.

The Verdict: 8/10 for Doctor Strange

This is honestly not as fun a ride as Guardians of the Galaxy, but it is still a Marvel movie. The acting is great, the supporting cast is relevant to the story so much so that they may as well be main characters themselves, and to top it all off, there are quite a few Easter eggs that point to where Marvel is going with their franchise. It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t agree with the way the villain was written out. Still it’s a small deal in comparison to the rest of what the movie got right. So it goes without saying, go watch Doctor Strange.