14 – Doctor Strange
Alright, new characters, new actors, new costumes, new visual effects, new sub-franchise. Here is where we are introduced to magic in the MCU. We are introduced to a new villain, in the form of an inter-dimensional demon named Dormamu. And we get a fantastic new hero, Doctor Strange, brought to life by Benedict Cumberbatch. He was so perfectly cast. It’s like the character came right of the pages of the comic books and became a living person. I have to say, that is one of the MCU’s biggest strengths. They have brought together an amazing cast of actors who really do the source material justice.
So Doctor Stephen Strange starts out as an arrogant, high-profile surgeon, an ass, even to his only real friend, fellow doctor, Christine Palmer, played by Rachel McAdams. Then, through personal injury and struggle, finds his true calling as the Sorcerer Supreme. He has a natural talent for the mystic arts. He learns this skill from an order of magicians in Tibet, at a place called Kamar-Taj. There he meets The Ancient One, perfectly played by Tilda Swinton, and fellow student, though, at the beginning, much more advanced, Karl Mordo, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Wong, played by Benedict Wong. They teach him how to use his talent to create teleportation gates, and shields and weapons made of mystic light. And of course we have to have a down-to-earth bad guy for him to fight. For that, we get Mads Mikkelsen playing Kaecilius, the rogue sorcerer who serves Dormamu. Incidentally, it was an intentional decision to have the CGI Dormamu voiced by none other than Cumberbatch, himself, like an evil reflection of the hero.
So here, the filmmakers took the visual effects to a whole new level. They created realistic images on the screen, the likes of which the world had never seen before, except maybe a much simpler version, in the 2010 film, Inception. They bent and warped reality so much that it was like a living, moving M. C. Escher fantasy. The buildings turned and twisted, fractured and morphed, multiplied and shifted. And there were live actors funning and fighting their ways through the chaotic and gravity-shifting landscapes. And as strange as the images were, there was a beauty to them that was amazing to watch. They really outdid themselves and I loved every minute of it. And the astral projection stuff worked really great on the screen.
And that brings me to the exciting action. The scene where Kaecilius attacks the New York Sanctuary was fantastic. Doctor Strange is still only learning to use his magical powers, but he is the only man available to defend the building. It is there that he meets the silent character in the movie, the Cloak of Levitation. Not only does it become an ally in the battle, but it ultimately shows Strange how to win. I particularly loved the magical fetters with which Kaecilius is captured. So cool! Mikkelsen was so awesome in that whole scene. There were battles fought with glowing mandalas and ropes, and magical artifacts and portals. It was fast-paced and thrilling to watch how creatively the film used the new dimension of sorcery to drive the story.
And what’s more, the characters had arcs. They were developed and once again, in the short space of this one movie, we learned to love the hero, who, after all, was the focus of the plot. But more than that, even other characters like The Ancient one and Mordo, had arcs of their own. By the end of the movie we are questioning whether they are good or bad, whether their motives are moral or not. Well, actually, Mordo ends the movie by really turning into a bad guy, which is a complete reversal from where he started. And now we have a great new cast of actors joining the MCU, ready and primed to appear in more films in the future. And boy, do they ever! Doctor Strange is now one of the pillars of the franchise and even characters like Wong and Mordo show up later on. I remember seeing this movie in theatres when it came out, and I knew, right away, that I wanted to own this movie. It is always so fun to watch!
Top 10 Favorite Parts
- The car accident. Came out of nowhere!
- The Ancient One knocks Strange’s astral projection out of his body to show him how much he doesn’t know.
- Strange is taken to the Mirror Dimension for practice.
- Strange steals books out of the Kamar-Taj library behind Wong’s back.
- Strange discovers and practices with the Time Stone
- The fight in the New York Scnctuary. Strange gets the Cloak, and Kaecilius is captured.
- The fight in the hospital.
- The Mirror Dimension fight in New York, and the death of The Ancient One.
- The reversal of time to restore the Hong Kong Sanctuary, and the city surrounding it.
- Strange traps Dormamu in a time loop, and Dormamu takes Kaecilius and his followers.