Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is less of a movie and more of a journey into the strange corners of the imagination.

The title character from the Marvel Comics Universe may be from the minds of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (the men who gave us Spider-Man), but Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) saves the world not by using any sort of power but by coaxing the forces of nature into directions they might not ordinarily go.

Sometimes, despite his cool goatee and imposing cape, he succeeds simply because the mystical forces he summons flow in a way that's already going in a way he wants or because they're smarter or more practical than he is.

Maybe he doesn't need superpowers or a degree from Hogwarts after all. Stephen Strange is actually a neurosurgeon who has a memory to shame Wikipedia. And he's also happy to remind anyone within hearing distance how good he really is.

Before he can celebrate his accomplishments for the umpteenth time and remind fellow surgeon Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) why she avoids dating colleagues, the very good doctor winds up crashing his luxury car and damaging his once skilled hands. He gradually regains the ability to sign his name almost clearly (which puts him ahead of most physicians), but damage to the nerves in his fingers means he'll never touch a scalpel again.

Before despair can completely overcome him, he discovers a patient (Benjamin Bratt) he once rejected because his paralysis seemed irreversible. The man is not only walking but playing contact sports.

Hoping for similar healing, he follows in his would-be patient's footsteps to Kathmandu, Nepal, (the film reminds us that is the place in the Bob Seger song) and becomes a student of a bald, Celtic mystic known as The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). It turns out she can teach him how to do things that make restoring the full use of his hands seem like relieving a headache.

She and a warrior named Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) teach him how to use objects outside the physical world or even the current time to defend himself and others. These techniques will be useful because a rogue wizard named Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) wants to use these same dark arts to make himself immortal even if the rest of us have to die in the process.

While there is a cornucopia of eye candy throughout Doctor Strange, director and co-writer Scott Derrickson (who wrote the Arkansas-set Devil's Knot) approaches the surreal images with a tongue-in-cheek approach that allows viewers to enjoy the wonder and the silliness that come with Strange's post-doctoral studies. We know this stuff isn't going to happen outside the screen (even in 3-D), so acknowledging the make-believe is essential.

In addition to creating visuals that look like an M.C. Escher drawing or Salvador Dali painting come to life, Derrickson also knows how to create reasonably convincing people as well. Because he knows viewers are paying to see images that can't be seen outside of the theater, he sets up his protagonists and antagonists in an economical way. For example, we learn quite a bit about Strange in only a few minutes.

While it is fun to hear Swinton muttering pseudo philosophical mumbo jumbo (only she can make it sound deep), it's more fun to watch cities rework gravity and Strange's cape act like a sidekick (you'll have to watch to find out how).

With Sherlock and The Imitation Game, Cumberbatch has made a specialty out of playing men who are often too intelligent for their own good. Thankfully, he hasn't gotten tired of these roles yet. He's willing to risk alienating an audience by behaving like an egotistical swine, so when the very good doctor discovers his higher calling it's truly something to celebrate.

While there are nods to the rest of the Marvel Universe throughout Doctor Strange (yes, Stan Lee is in the movie, and you should stick around after the credits), it is refreshing to discover a territory where the heroes have something other than muscle to use in the fights against evil and audience boredom.

MovieStyle on 11/04/2016