Doctor Strange

Dir: Scott Derrickson

2016

****

Doctor Strange was never a comic I had much time for. I liked the character but I was more into the sci-fi elements and science of the superheroes/Avengers rather than the mystical. Apart from the ill-fated 1978 TV movie, Doctor Strange has troubled Marvel somewhat, with few people wanting to touch it and fewer people knowing quite how to adapt the idea to film. He has appeared in several episodes of the animated Spider-Man, Hulk and his own one-off feature length cartoon (Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme) but never with any gusto. The character has always been full of potential and finally in 2016 it has been realized. The changes to Doctor Strange's origins are slight and the character tweaks work so much better than in the comics. Conceived back in 1963 by Steve Ditko, the original story saw a brilliant and wealthy surgeon loose the use of his hands following a car accident. Dr Steven Strange then exhausted his life savings and all that he had on experimental procedures and medicines to no avail until he hears of an alternative. He hears of an ancient one who lives in Tibet that can cure anyone and anything and spends his last penny on flying there to find him. He is eventually taught the universes mystical ways and discovers far more than he had anticipated about the world and what threatens it. Instead of returning to medicine he becomes a Sorcerer Supreme and help defend the earth against magical bad guys. Scott Derrickson's version is much the same except for a few changes. Firstly, the ancient one is a white women instead of an elderly Tibetan man. Marvel were accused to a 'whitewash' with this casting decision but as co-writer C. Robert Cargill pointed out in interviews, they were damned if they did and damned if they didn't with this particular character as keeping him as he was could have seen people accuse them of racial stereotyping, and to be fair, a racial stereotype is exactly what he was. Doctor Strange is one of the many silver age comic characters that are particularly out of date. Cargill stated that they cast Tilda Swinton as the ancient one as the character didn't need to have a sex, it was unimportant, the actress would give the character an androgynous feel. I'm not sure how Swinton feels about that but I understand and agree with where he is coming from. She is described as having Celtic origins, fine by me, she's a great actress and is fantastic in the role. Strange's old nemesis Baron Mardo is given a maker over too, he is now much younger, black, has been stripped of his Baronhood (just call him Karl) and looks a lot like the brilliant Chiwetel Ejiofor. If you are so small minded you think that Marvel are somehow racist, or indeed too politically correct, his casting should balance things out and address your concerns, you also may like to know that Mr Ejiofor does a pretty good job in the role. The look of the original comic has been refined and the good Doctor has quite a panache about him. I've not always been a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch but I have to agree that he is perfectly cast in the role, I honestly can't picture anyone else doing as good a job as him, apart from maybe Robert Downey Jr. There are two baddies (three technically) in the film, one real and one not so real. The real one is Kaecilius, played by the great Mads Mikkelsen (my goodness he's come a long way since Pusher). Originally a student of Baron Mardo, Kaecilius is now an ex-student of the ancient one who wants to join with Dormammu, ruler of the dark dimension and the films not so real villain. The existential ideas and the mirror dimensions explored in the film are in tune with Ditko's interest in the philosophy of Objectivism. The changes, in many respects, keep the essence of his original idea alive. No cameo for Ditko though, he's above all that but I'm glad there is plenty of his in the film to enjoy and enjoy it I did. It's got to be said (and has been), Doctor Strange was a big risk for Marvel. He's not a big character unless you're a fan, most viewers and fans of the film are not comic readers and he will be fairly new to most of them. This is perhaps why Marvel made sure that the film would be particularly unlike the other films in the Marvel/Avengers universe. The Special effects are so good they make Inception look like a Mr. Men book but they're not overdone and they serve a very important purpose. Science takes a bit of a hit but then this isn't all about spirituality and magic either, it's got far more in common with philosophy than it has with and kind of mumbo-jumbo. It really is the thinking person's superhero film, with elements of horror/thriller thrown in for good (and mature) measure. The only thing that doesn't work as well is the humour but I can see huge potential once the Doctor meets up with certain people in the Avengers. The conclusion/finale is unexpected and quite thrilling in that it is unlike any superhero/comic adaption ending that has come before. There is no big fight as such, at least not a physical one, and things are actually fixed rather than destroyed. It's quite an inspiring bit of writing from the guy who wrote the overrated Sinister and the man who directed the worst of the Hellraiser/Urban Legend sequels and the horrible 2008 remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still and wrote the most pointless film ever made (Devils Knot, seriously, why watch it and not watch Paradise Lost instead?). Marvel have made the right decision once again, to be fair though Derrickson's visuals are amazing and C. Robert Cargill started out as a film reviewer, so I have a lot of time for both of them, they have made one of the year’s best blockbuster, so much so that the term blockbuster is probably a bit insulting. I agree with others who say that Marvel go from strength to strength but here, with their least known and most risky character, they've more than delivered, they have excelled.