Doctor Strange (2016)

Can you still call Doctor Strange the Marvel film with the highest potential for weirdness after they adapted Guardians of the Galaxy? The latter definitely seemed like more of a gamble when it was coming out, but the source material of GotG has always been relatively conventional compared to the cosmic psychedelia of the Doctor’s adventures. Taken at face value, Steve Ditko’s acid-trip visuals and the hokey mysticism of Strange’s spells and costume seem like a harder sell to the current generation of filmgoers. There’s no longer much tolerance for fantasy campiness; Thor was reinvented as an alien for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the more magical elements of The Dark World (elves, for god’s sake) were drowned in pseudoscientific babble to make them sound more acceptable. These days, magic in movies is presented with the veneer of science to make it go down easier; just look at Neil DeGrasse Tyson trying to pretend Interstellar’s space bookcase made scientific sense.

So, while all that comic book weirdness is crushed into a recognisable hero’s journey formula, you have to give Doctor Strange some credit for showing us levitating cloaks, mandala-type mystical shields, and wizards tearing open fiery portals in the air, even if the bulk of the magic shown looks like the city-rearrangement scene from Inception on crack. It might not be as wacky as a battle between magicians should be, but it’s spectacular viewing – Strange is easily the best-looking Marvel film, and the first to really push the envelope with special effects instead of just using them to make traditional superhero action look more real; the dizzying abstraction of its city-warping battles actually makes iMAX worth the money.

As front-loading the verdict with praise of its special effects might imply, there’s not much more to Doctor Strange than its looks. Stephen Strange is pricklier and more obviously arrogant than his narrative cousin, Tony Stark: they both had hubris, and in both cases, it was shattered by a wound which left them helpless. But while Tony is too charismatic to stay down for long or not make it a part of his big comeback story, Stephen is more fragile, more broken. Some of the best character work in a Marvel origin film comes from the genuinely upsetting scenes post-accident when Stephen frantically bankrupts himself trying to heal his now-useless surgeon’s hands, and becomes a bitter wreck, driving away his only friend – Rachel McAdams in (even for Marvel) an unusually slight love interest role. But all that drama, where Benedict Cumberbatch’s gift for picturesque brooding and sneering hatred is well-used, comes to an end once he goes on his mystical quest and finds the cure: magic.

What follows then is pretty typical. Strange proves a highly talented student after some minor struggles, is inducted into a secret society which protects the world, struggles with the choice of accepting his weighty responsibilities, is thrust into battle against the villain (who is a version of himself, in the most boring Marvel tradition, a hubristic magician), etc. The best thing to say about the second half of the film is that the fight scenes are far more interesting than usual and the expected action climax is neatly subverted. Aside from that, it’s largely just a grievous waste of Mads Mikkelsen and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Tilda Swinton’s Ancient One is briskly quirky in a way that works rather than being annoying, but her character could be far more intriguing than it is.

Ultimately, Doctor Strange is another competently-made Marvel product. It would be nice if they aimed higher, but it’s a well-made and passable film, which will delight a lot of niche fans even if it disappoints those looking for the more complex drama of something like Triumph and Torment. As a another Marvel installment, it’s promising: the visuals are superb and the finale is subversive and inventive, suggesting that good things are ahead.