Dr. Strange is Worthwhile, Trippy

I caught Marvel's Doctor Strange last night. Benedict Cumberbatch is Stephen Strange in the same way that Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark. He owns the role like he was born for it. Serenity alum Chiwetel Ejiofor was excellent as Strange's fellow pupil/future enemy Mordo. Tilda Swinton won me over to allowing the sex change for The Ancient One with her serious yet quirky performance.

All the elements from the comics are present: the sanctum in New York's Greenwich Village with the odd skylight window, the Eye of Agamotto, the Cloak of Levitation (animated so that it most resembles Aladdin's flying carpet), Dormammu, Wong, the works. (No Clea, but they had to save something for the inevitable sequel.) Marvel Studios did a couple of cool things to tie this film into the larger cinematic universe including having Surgeon Strange turn down the chance to operate on James Rhodes after the events of Civil War and the after credits scene with Chris Hemsworth's Thor.

The visuals on Doctor Strange take the world rending from Inception, multiply it times one hundred and throw in a small hit of LSD. And while the special effects are dazzling, as we have come to expect from science fiction films in this day and age, the story is a familiar one. Arrogant lunkhead learns humility, finds love and uses his gifts to save humanity with a dash of humor. Iron Man? Thor? Doctor Strange? Yes, all of those. As origin stories go, this is pretty typical.

I have heard it argued that Doctor Strange doesn't belong in the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). I disagree. This movie belongs as surely as Guardians of the Galaxy. In the same way that Star Lord and friends battle interstellar threats, Strange battles mystical and interdimensional ones.

Thumbs up from me on Doctor Strange.