DOCOTOR STRANGE -REVIEW-

Dr. Stephen Strange is an arrogant yet successful neurosurgeon, who after enduring a horrifying car accident, begins a journey that leads him to discover that his world is not the only one that exists.

Doctor Strange introduces magic to the MCU, but actual magic, not like they did with Thor, here they fully embrace its existence.

The cast is great with actors like Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Mads Mikkelsen. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the Sorcerer Supreme and he is perfect for the role, although sometimes his performance is too similar to his work in BBC's Sherlock particularly in the first act. Tilda Swinton, in one of the least demanding roles of her career,  does a really good job as the Ancient One, she has the authority, inner peace and mysticism the role requires, while also being a complete badass. However, the rest of the wonderful cast feels wasted, Mads Mikkelsen's Kaecilius is an entirely forgettable one-note villain, Mordo's (Ejiofor) character arc is way too predictable. And perhaps the most affected one is Rachel McAdams who gets relegated to merely be the love interest.

The biggest problem with Doctor Strange is that it repeats many of the same mistakes the MCU has been dragging since its beginning. It follows the same formula of many Phase I movies, an arrogant millionaire, who receives a lesson in humility after suffering a life changing event, and ends up becoming a superhero; a forgettable villain; and a severely underserved female character. Marvel Studios keeps hiring this wonderful actresses: Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Portman, and now Rachel McAdams, and gives them nothing more to do than just being the main character's love interest. Paltrow and Portman's characters most recently have been relegated to mere verbal mentions in Age of Ultron and in Civil War, so the audience can be reminded about their existence. The female characters and also the villains are the weakest elements of the MCU thus far, and they should really find a way to fix this ASAP.

Despite those shortcomings, the movie manages to differentiate enough to be recommended, specially because of its great visuals, Doctor Strange is perhaps the most visually impressive Marvel movie to date, at times it feels like Terrence Malick made a superhero movie. Also, the resolution to the main conflict was a pleasant surprise.

Scott Derrickson's direction is solid, he uses steady cam in action sequences (for the most part), and handheld in dialogue scenes (normally is the other way around in this type of films), and the editing is very smooth, composed mostly by long shots, and panoramic shots so we can fully comprehend the onscreen action, while also giving us a sense of the scale of the situation.

Speaking of action sequences, Doctor Strange has some of the best and most visually varied action sequences of the MCU, Derrickson borrows some notes from Christopher Nolan's work in Inception, and cranks it up to eleven, although I would prefer if they had use more practical effects, there is an over reliance in CGI and it doesn't always payoff (specially in the car crash sequence which is a little clunky). Also, the final action sequence is impressive, full of how-do-they-do-that moments.

In the end Doctor Strange has many of the problems the MCU has been dragging for a while now, however due to some impressive visuals and some surreal well executed action sequences the film manages to inject enough magic to the MCU. Nonetheless, for a movie that professes to open the mind and to think differently, Doctor Strange feels overly familiar.

Title: Doctor Strange.

Directed by: Scott Derrickson.

Screenplay: Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrockson and C. Robert Cargill.

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen.

DOP: Ben Davies.

Editing: Sabrina Plysco and Wyatt Smith.

Year: 2016.