Rent Doctor Strange (2016)

Strange Days - Doctor Strange review by Count Otto Black

Doctor Strange is one of the most cinematic of superheroes, since his powers have always been far more visually interesting than almost anybody else's; instead of firing a boring old ray or simply punching people, elaborate mandalas leap forth from his hands and have all manner of effects on his foes. And the places he visits in the course of his adventures are downright Surreal.

This movie, one of the best entries so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, does not disappoint visually, and Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent as the brilliant but selfish neurosurgeon who learns to be a better man in the course of becoming a very peculiar superhero. If you've seen the abysmal "Green Lantern", you may experience an odd sense of déjà vu, since it's almost a remake; an arrogant and thoroughly unlikeable man goes to a superhero academy where he's given visually interesting powers which he initially struggles with, his instructors bully him until he gets the hang of it, the baddie he fights for most of the film is the dupe of the real Big Bad, who is basically a giant floating satanic space head, and one of his allies is a good guy whom anyone who has read the comics knows will be the bad guy in the sequel. Fortunately, unlike "Green Lantern", they get it right.

Well, almost. If you've seen "Inception", you'll notice that the exact same CGI software developed for that film is in constant use here, and frankly it gets a bit tedious. I don't know what the rules of magic are supposed to be, but it seems that a disproportionate number of spells cause architecture to elaborately rearrange itself, and I can think of more interesting enemies for Doctor Strange to fight than a revolving corridor! Or indeed the villains who cause all those corridors to revolve. Some bloke with minimal backstory whose pact with the Dark Side causes him to develop incredibly seventies eye-makeup, his three nonentity minions, and a weirdly cartoonish hovering head that's supposed to be The Worst Thing Ever? The sequel needs to do better! And talking of the rules of magic, there's no real sense of what Doctor Strange's limitations are. His powers seem to vary from being slightly less useful than having a gun to godlike as the plot requires, and that's very lazy scriptwriting.

On the plus side, the standard of the acting is almost uniformly excellent. Right-on PC criticism has been leveled at the casting of Tilda Swinton as a character who in the comic is both Asian and male, but you know what? The Ancient One as envisaged by Marvel over half a century ago is such a clichéd racial stereotype that portraying him accurately would have been less politically correct than casting a white woman. I notice that nobody's whining about the fact that Mordo being black and not being a baron shows bias against Eastern European aristocrats, but that would make just as much sense. Some people won't be satisfied until James Bond is a disabled Eskimo lesbian. They should be happy that poor old Wong finally has a personality! It's not a truly great film, but it's far better than anything the Official DC Cinematic Universe has given us yet, and Benedict Cumberbatch inhabits the character superbly, making me eager to see what he gets up to next, now that his origin story is over and done with.

Fun thing to watch out for: although, like all Disney films, this one never, ever shows anybody smoking in case that causes the entire audience to rush out and get cancer, Stan Lee is briefly glimpsed reading and thoroughly enjoying a book advocating the use of illegal hallucinogenic drugs. Go figure.

Disappointing despite the big named actor - Doctor Strange review by OTR

Not such great fun as Marvel films go. Too unbelievable and too much cgi. Benedict Cumberbatch is too wooden.

Great entertainment - Doctor Strange review by JB

The effects were impressive and we loved the humour in the film, which kept our interest. I chose it because I'm a Benedict Cumberbatch fan - not our usual sort of film but us two oldies enjoyed it.

really enjoyed it - Doctor Strange review by CP Customer

Really enjoyed this film , wasn't sure on what to expect as i wasn't big on the Dr Strange history, but fit kept me intereted all the way through. Good effects and fight scenes .

A Likeable and Enjoyable Family Film to Watch - Doctor Strange review by CS

All these Comic Book movies are starting to get a little bit boring and samey and adding a link at the end of each film to The Avengers, Thor or Iron Man, is really starting to get tedious!

Dr Strange shares many similarities with films such as 'The Green Lantern' and 'Guardians of the Galaxy', the special effects and CGI are very similar, with many themes and much imagery being heavily borrowed from the two! Folding buildings and street scenes has been lifted literally straight from 'Inception' and the character of Dr.Strange himself, is little more than an adult 'Airbender'!

Benedict Cumberbatch brings his usual air of self assurance, arrogance and self interest to the part, but the character shares slightly too much in similarity to Iron Man, in the way that both characters are self absorbed in their own vanity!

The evil entity is straight out of The Green Lantern and this has a little bit of Harry Potter thrown in too. So in all it offers very little which is new or original and treads the usual comic book formula of bad guy vs good guy. What this film does do is to bring all these elements together in a strong and interesting way, so that once the acton starts it really does hold your attention.

All in I found this quite an enjoyable film to watch and thought the special effects were very well done, if not a little cluttered! Some interesting ideas and takes on the magic formula. Not a lot to be said about character development or acting, as the characters end up taking second place to the action.

This could have ended on a high note, which it did, paving the way for more sequels. That was until Thor annoyingly makes an appearance right at the end, leaving the door open for Dr.Strange to join the avengers!

CGI fest - Doctor Strange review by DS

This film is a celebration of CGI and frankly ends up seeming ridiculous as buildings morph into a kaleidoscope of shapes and sizes.

The main character is rather two dimensional, and the presented persona of a caring doctor trying to "help" people is a little at odds with the sports car driving playboy who vainly craves attention and recognition for his prowess as a surgeon. The film is entertaining after a fashion, but has not really made its mind up whether it wants to be a childrens film with splashy CGI and baddies, or a more serious film dealing with issues of good and evil and the pursuit of glory. The film is OK for teenagers and younger.

More comic folk vicar? - Doctor Strange review by NC

Film industry devoid of unique thought, so has to trawl the myriad of old comic books, some from the 50's. When apparently writers had originality, and imagination.

Not done any H G Wells for a while!

Is quite good of the type. Clever graphics, makes Benedict acting almost a second place event.

Personally sooner see the Imitation Game a second time, but if like the bish bash bosh, is quite colourful.