Its excellent Netflix output has
so far been Marvel’s main avenue for expanding its horizons
(mostly into darker, grown-up territory). The company’s film division has lately been
mixing up its successful formula with new genres, however, and Doctor Strange is arguably the cinematic
universe’s most ambitious feature yet.
Trippy stuff like alternate
dimensions and the warping of time and reality are the film’s main attraction. Such
subjects seem to always invite a self-serious, arguably pretentious approach, the
picture and its makers practically preaching to the audience how smart and
great they are. Doctor Strange needs
no such sermonizing, tackling the material with a confidence so assured it's
able to have a smarmy, joke-cracking attitude about the whole thing and not
miss a beat. It would almost seem arrogant if the movie weren’t so much fun.
The film gives us a hero to match
in Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), a master neurosurgeon with an ego
that rivals Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. After a deadly car crash damages
the nerves in his hands, he travels to Nepal to seek treatment at the
mysterious site of Kamar-Taj. Upon his arrival, he finds a cabal of sorcerers
led by the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) who conjure interdimensional energy to
defend the world. Strange trains with his hosts and develops new powers and
abilities, conveniently just when renegade sorcerers led by Kaecilius (Mads
Mikkelsen) seek to summon the evil force Dormammu from the Dark Dimension.
Yes, strange, indeed. Novice
viewers or casual Marvel fans might not comprehend every bit of what’s going
on, though the film navigates through the narrative with reasonable clarity.
And frankly, the sights we see on that journey are much more engaging than
understanding it completely, anyway. The combat through kaleidoscopic mazes of
bending space and time are some of the coolest, most imaginative use of visual
effects in some time. It’s also very funny, at least as quip-filled as Guardians of the Galaxy. And aside from
the unfortunate whitewashing of Swinton’s character (sorry, but simply
referring to her as “Celtic” does not rectify things), the movie boasts one of
the bests casts of any single Marvel picture (as opposed to team-ups like The Avengers).
Above all, it’s different enough
from other superhero fare that it feels fresh and enjoyable. It may ultimately
be a lighter film than its trippy elements would suggest, less heavy than the
character drama some of the Avengers have gone through recently. But in a genre
that produces around a half-dozen films a year now, something that feels new
and exciting (on top of being a blast visually and otherwise) is a rare gem.
