QUEZON City, Philippines (November 7) – As origin stories go, Doctor Strange can be counted as one of the best that Marvel has come up with.
Of all of the Marvel Universe characters, Doctor Strange can be considered as the most esoteric, delving into the ancient philosophies as well as concepts like parallel universes, time-space continuum and others, more than enough to make an ordinary movie goer’s nose bleed.
But kudos to the filmmakers! They managed to capture that quality of the comic-book Doctor Strange and expose it to the audience without fuss, allowing them to imagine the vast backdrop of the world that the Marvel comic sorcerers live and move in.
Basically, this is a story of redemption – of a neurosurgeon so gifted and talented in what he does that he chose his patients based on how they will give him good publicity. He humiliates his less-able colleagues and lives a flashy lifestyle.
All that hubris will not go unpunished.
Then came the humbling accident and the desperation to be back at the top.
Then when nothing else works, the hero, down but not out, chooses to believe and to learn things anew and again become the master of everything he surveys.
One finds it hard to imagine any other actor portraying the role of Doctor Stephen Strange. Benedict Cumbersnatch has it down so perfectly, one could imagine that the role was made specifically for him.
The film has many brilliant scenes, the spatial-temporal fight scenes, adventures with wormholes and astral projections as well as a magical cloak with a wickedly fun personality.
Also, the fight scene where Doctor Strange won against the ultimate darkness through pure snark.
Over all, Doctor Strange is fun to watch and is different enough to carve its own niche among the other Marvel Universe franchise.
(written by Jay Paul Carlos, additional research by Vince Alvin Villarin)
