Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2.5/4
"Doctor Strange" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 02/11/2019
A brilliant but arrogant surgeon loses the use of his hands after an automobile accident, and while attempting to find a cure he discovers a secret society that uses the mystic arts to protect the Earth from attack by other dimensions.
Yet another in a seemingly endless stream of superhero movies, Doctor Strange at least stands out from the crowd thanks to its concentration on magic rather than extreme fisticuffs. This gives some hefty scope for eye-popping visuals as the manipulation of the environment – in a very similar vein to Inception and The Matrix – bends and twists city-scapes to the combatants will. But to be honest, this often makes the action scenes very difficult to follow and I often could not see the point of it all beyond purely superficial visual flashiness. The …
Rating of
4/4
Probably Marvel's best film.
Stuart '2-D' Pot - wrote on 09/20/2017
2016 was another bookmark year for Marvel, with Civil War, and topping that was quite a hard task, but Doctor Strange does it with enough visual flair to rival that of Inception, and a clever storyline, while not getting bogged down in the franchise building of the Avengers section of the MCU, and provides a solid prequel for Thor: Ragnarok. The story is simple: Stephen Strange is a brilliant, but arrogant neurosurgeon, and after a car accident robs him of the use of his hands, he sets out on a journey of healing, and discovers The Ancient One and her magical methods and gets put into the middle of a mystical battle with a former student who discovers a ritual to contact Dormammu, the destroyer of worlds, to bring the Ancient One and her sorcerers down. Cumberbatch delivers one of his …
Rating of
3.5/4
“Doctor Strange”: introducing new era into MCU
Evan Wheatley - wrote on 11/19/2016
"Doctor Strange,” in my opinion, is Marvel’s first step into the uncharted. Sure, “Guardians of the Galaxy” was a bold undertaking, but the concept of gods and aliens had already been explored in “Thor” and “The Avengers.” “Ant Man” may have given us a glimpse into the Quantum Realm, but at the end of the day, it was little more than a comedic heist film with a taste of “Honey I Shrunk the Kids.”
Helmed by horror director Scott Derrickson, “Doctor Strange” invites us into Marvel’s world of magic and mysticism. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Doctor Stephen Strange, an arrogant neurosurgeon acclaimed worldwide for his medical achievements. After losing the use of his hands in a car accident, Strange desperately searches the globe for anything that will give …
Rating of
3/4
Strange Days Ahead - MCU Still On the Right Path
Chris Kavan - wrote on 11/09/2016
Even with Guardians of the Galaxy under their mantle, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen anything quite like Doctor Strange. While it does have plenty of action - Strange is a much more mystical and spiritual experience than the rah-rah Avengers. At times I questioned if I was even watching a Marvel movie at all - and that's not a bad thing. In the end, it will be interesting to see how they integrate magic into the super hero world, but if anyone can pull it off, it's the wizards behind this sprawling epic known as the MCU.
We know right off the bat this is going to be something different when Mads Mikkelson squares off against Tilda Swinton - after beheading a poor librarian. Orange sparks of magic fly and a book written in a strange language is missing a few crucial pages. …
Rating of
3/4
Purple Yellow Red and Blue
baba ghanoush - wrote on 11/04/2016
Visuals are the main course here, and they really are something special. Opening up Marvel's catalog to Strange and tows' working magic presents an opportunity for the talented effects teams to conjure something more colorful and wholly other than the usual fare of explosions and massive, as-yet-impossible hardware. If you liked Ant-Man's "subatomic" faux-psychedelic sequence, you will probably like this movie even more.
Cumberbatch gives a solid performance of Strange's slow change of character, and holds the American accent reasonably well throughout. Swinton gives off a sense of coiled dignity. The other big names in the flick are more of character pieces, but that doesn't seem to hold them down at all. As with many of Marvel's productions, Doctor Strange keeps the general tone …
