"Doctor Strange"

I’m just going to say it. This was really cool. I’m still baffled at the effects they pulled off for this movie. Like that multi-dimensional New York City? I can’t get my head around it.

However, I believe that this is an Iron Man remake with magic instead of super genius tech. Let’s think about it. Arrogant billionaire genius with a taste for music, fast cars, and a dresser drawer just for watches, check. A love interest played by an actress we can love to hate, check. Arrogant billionaire genius gets cut down in his prime and forced to live with his life-threatening condition, check, check, check.

Benedict Cumberbatch trades his Sherlock cloak for scrubs to become the brilliant neurosurgeon, Dr. Stephen Strange. One rainy night, he was speeding along the highway to a neurosurgeon conference, and he gets into an accident, he caused himself, and it ruined his perfect hands. And, yes, dude, you ruined you. Not Nic, you. After months of searching for a cure to the insane tremor in his hands, he travels to Kamar-Taj, a Nepalese temple where, little did he know, people can heighten their intellect beyond the physical realm. After one language-riddled trip that got all handsy (SHUDDERS), he begins his journey. Soon enough he discovers missing pages from an ancient text that can summon the spirit Dormammu, an evil being bent on consuming Earth into the Dark Realm, and Steven Seagal (not really) stole the pages. In a failed epic battle, that flipped New York on its head, the Ancient One was mercilessly killed despite any effort from Strange and his girlfriend to save her. I actually have a problem with how she died. I’ve already seen a partial bit of this scene where she faded, from the Guardians 2 Honest Trailer, and I was expecting her to finally be at peace and just go. But, no, she just went out like a White Witch. Maybe she gets stabbed, gets put on life support until Dormammu is silenced, and then she goes. I don’t know.

I got off track. In the final showdown, Strange introduces Dormammu to an endless cycle of violence that we’re accustomed to by getting him caught in the time loop. To break it, Dormammu promises to extract Steven Seagal and his Zealots from Earth. And that’s how he’s defeated! What the hell? Then Strange goes on to protect New York from any other interdimensional beings.

This opens a new set of questions for me that I’ve been bouncing around in my head. In The Winter Soldier, Sitwell mentioned Stephen Strange being a potential threat. Did Dr. Zola know he was going to get into a life-altering accident and become an all-powerful sorcerer? Was the accident completely his fault or was he nudged by a thought dead HYDRA agent and he lost control? Was Obadiah Stane working for HYDRA when he put a hit out for Tony or was it for his own selfish reasons? Did Nick Fury know about HYDRA infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. longer than we knew, and that’s why he recruited the Avengers? I want answers.
I understand London and Hong Kong being good places to build sanctums to protect the Earth; they are thousands of years old. But why New York? New York is barely four hundred years old. It’s a teenager compared to the other two. St. Augustine, Florida, is easily a hundred years older. Is it so Dr. Strange is conveniently in the city with the Avengers and Spider-Man for when something big goes down?

Strange’s friend, Mordo, left Kamar-Taj after learning where the Ancient One got her power, and, in one of the end credits scenes, goes on a rampage to destroy sorcerers, claiming there are “too many.” Does this mean Mordo will bring evil into the world? Is he Thanos’ link to Earth?

The other end credit scene is a sneak peek at the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok, in which Dr. Strange provides some possible answers to what the hell happened at the end of The Dark World.

One last thing I want to talk about. The Eye of Agramotto, a medallion Strange used to control time. It’s an Infinity Stone. There’s that word again. And for the first time, a character is echoing my question: What is it? I’m gonna throw something if I don’t get answers!
Even though I said this was fun, I'm calling this a win, it's starting to get tiresome. I don't know how long Marvel wants to keep this up. Even now, it feels like the end, but it also seems to be the beginning. Both Thor and Captain America want to leave after Endgame, but Guardians 3 is moving forward without James Gunn at the helm, Black Widow is getting her movie, Black Panther is getting a sequel, and Spider-Man's third-second sequel hits theaters in July. I want an indication that there will be an end to this. It was fun, all of it, but it needs to end.

Oh, and one more thing, sorry. Are you going to reference everything else the actors ever did? Strange’s address is 177A Bleeker Street, similar to Sherlock’s address, 221B Baker Street, and they cast Sherlock himself to play Stephen. And let’s not forget the Scripture on Nick Fury’s headstone in The Winter Soldier: “The path of the righteous man… Ezekiel 25:17.”

I hope you liked this. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment about what you thought or if you want to recommend a movie for me to review. Thank you for reading. I'll return next week with another movie. See you then.

Released On: November 4, 2016
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mads Mikkelson, Benedict Wong
Director: Scott Derrickson Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 7.5/10

Awards
Academy Awards

• Best Visual Effects Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli & Paul Corbould - Nominated

(Click here to view more awards for "Doctor Strange")

Videos
How It Should Have Ended - How Doctor Strange Should Have Ended
Screen Junkies - Honest Trailers: Doctor Strange
How It Should Have Ended - Doctor Strange - HISHE Review (SPOILERS)
CinemaSins - Everything Wrong With Dr. Strange In 15 Minutes Or Less