Doctor Strange: 9 Reasons It's The Weirdest Marvel Movie Ever
Marvel's latest effort is Strange by name, and even stranger by nature.
Doctor Strange is an apt name for Marvel's new movie, if only because Doctor WTF This Is Really Weird doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
Coming from a studio that has put on-screen a violent talking raccoon, a tree who can only say what his name is, a character called Ant-Man, and a colourful robot called Vision in a shirt/sweater combo, it isn't easy to ramp up the weird factor. When it comes to Marvel, you may think you've seen it all.
That's where Doctor Strange comes in. The story may be very familiar, as it's the kind of origin we've seen play out in numerous films (the specifics change, but the broadstrokes remain the same). In almost every other way, though, the movie is unlike we've anything we've ever seen from the studio. Unlike pretty much any other blockbuster really, although it does take clear inspiration from Inception and The Matrix.
The movie has inherited plenty of the old Marvel problems - the plot is awfully convenient at times, and the villain totally forgettable - but it makes up for it with the freshness it brings in its action, visuals, and risks it takes. Like an M.C. Escher sketching brought to life, Doctor Strange isn't Marvel's best film, but it is their weirdest. (Contains spoilers.)
9. The Opening Is A Total Mindf**k
Doctor Strange doesn't make it easy for the viewer. Our entry point into the film isn't the recognisable face of Benedict Cumberbatch, either cloaked as the Sorcerer Supreme or dressed for surgery as Dr. Stephen Strange. Instead, it's Mads Mikkelsen's Kaecilius, leading what seems like some sort of cult.
Of course, it's not untypical for Marvel to have a cold open, but this one really catches you off guard. It starts like something ripped from a horror movie (in fact, there are a few horror influences throughout, something that comes with director Scott Derrickson), but then the villain flees through a door and we're in... London?
It totally throws you off, and things only get trippier from there. We get examples of the powers and dimensions we'll come to learn of throughout the film, with a battle between Kaecilius and The Ancient One, but with no real idea of what's happening (especially for wider audiences, who hadn't kept up with trailers and such like). It sets the tone for the entire movie, and what a weird, 'WTF is going on?' tone it is.