Movie Review - Doctor Strange

I knew that Doctor Strange was a Marvel superhero. I was familiar with his appearance - the white hair on the sides, the french beard, the red cape and what not. But I hadn't the slightest idea of who he was, what his USP (stands for Unique Super Powers) were, his enemies etc. So this movie, for me, was a blind run. I mean you gotta start somewhere with superheroes, right? So what did I feel about this (origin) movie? Read on to find out...

The good aspects first. The visuals. A few years ago, I was awed by Inception's "earth-folding" scene. This movie makes Inception's visuals look like a walk in the park. Suffice to say, this movie must be seen in theatres, preferably in 3D to get the maximum enjoyment. Nuff said!

The performances were good. B.C.Batch, as always, plays the witty 'I-don't-care-for-humans-give-me-something-interesting' kinda guy and he is undoubtedly good at that. I sometimes felt B.C.Batch borrowed a little too much from House M.D. but that's just me. Tilda Swinton plays the Witch from Narnia, only this time she is a bald monk with magical powers. Chiewetel Ejiofor and Benedict Wong are entertaining and likable as always and Rachel McAdams, though good with her performance, felt like a wasted opportunity. She just comes and goes just to remind everybody that she is in the movie. Similar is the case with the phenomenal Mads Mikkelsen. He could have been so much more, but the character he plays felt like an after-thought just for the good side to fight the evil side. I felt that he did not get the screen time to be Hannibal levels of bad.

The story is, for the 29875690th time, good vs. evil. A talented surgeon gets into an accident and gets his hands crushed, which means that he cannot be a surgeon anymore. So he goes to Nepal as a last ditch effort to get cured only to find that he is in the middle of an all out magical war with the bad guys. That is pretty much the gist of it. In fact, that is the whole story. If that sounds too generic, it is. Kinda boring if you ask me. There is a twist in the movie which a child can see coming from a mile away. But like I said, the visuals will keep you entertained, so you will not find yourself sleeping. And the movie is not too long thankfully. 

I must say, the movie is okay for what it is. For fans of the character, you will love it. For others, take it as a 1 hour 45 minutes visual thrill-ride. Much like Thor 2, Guardians of the Galaxy or Ant-Man, I feel indifferent towards it as a Marvel movie. But as an origins story, I am left wanting a bit more.

                                      

                                                                        Score - 7/10