Doctor Strange

#StokerScore 10/10

Have a quick look at a general synopsis of these two Marvel Superhero movies and imagine what it would take to make them a success. Not only that but one that would sell to a wide audience, at least wide enough to claw back the money spent making them and also not affect the ability of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to continue raking in the box office receipts;

Guardians of the Galaxy: An (at times) annoyingly arrogant leader who sides with a talking raccoon, a green-skinned alien, a red-skinned alien and a talking tree to defeat a blue-skinned sociopath.

Ant-Man: A wisecracking ex-con who finds a suit that allows him to make himself small and communicate with ants, allowing him to stop world domination by a megalomaniac scientist.

will we ever get to see 3-D Man and do we really need to?

These movies really shouldn't have worked (and I speak as a huge fan of Marvel comics) yet, through a diverse director-hiring and casting policy, the groundwork that was laid with the earlier movies such as Iron Man and Thor meant that people did turn out in droves to see them.

With continued director and acting-talent selection, Doctor Strange movie hit the ground running, at least in terms of hype. Benedict Cumberbatch isn't just bankable, he's a global star because he seems so love-able, I don't think I've met anyone who doesn't like the guy. Add to that his acting range and the movie was, if anything, setting itself up to be Marvel's first failure. 

Not a chance.

The movie looks awesome, at times resembling the view through a kaleidoscope I remember having as a kid. The (amazing) special effects aside, the story is, admittedly, no big shakes on the surface. Guy overcomes adversity, gets superpowers and de da, de da, de da. But the way in which it's done, the humour and pathos working side-by-side, made it a great experience.

The supporting cast are just excellent, they need to be to go toe-to-toe with Cumberbatch, and I found myself wanting more and more of this story.

In what seems to me to be Marvel's biggest problem, the villainous side of things is, well, not as super as the heroes. It's no secret that Marvel has been setting up the fight against blue/purple-skinned Thanos for ages, and maybe they don't want to have a particularly strong villain being compared to the threat that is coming from the cosmic menace but I do think they need to start and venture further with their bad guys and girls, a bit like they did with the open-ended defeat of Red Skull who I'd still like to see make a return to the movies.

Finally as to the debate on white people playing parts intended for people of colour, Tilda Swinto nails the part of the Ancient One

The villainy problem is a small thing and I'm not going to let it affect the overall score because, for 2 hours, I was immersed in the antics of a brave new character. Even if I can't quite forget the 70's version...

....Oh, and look out for a couple of extras in the mid credit and end credit parts