MOVIE REVIEW: Just what the doctor ordered

IF you happen to be sick, you probably won’t want to be treated by someone called Doctor Strange. And if you’re forced to select a neurosurgeon, you’re definitely not going to pick someone with shaky hands. Enter the strange looking Benedict Cumberbatch, playing yet another doctor, but this time with special powers rather than a flying police box. 

From Marvel Studios comes ‘Doctor Strange’, the story of world-famous neurosurgeon Dr Stephen Strange whose life changes forever after a horrific car accident robs him of the use of his most valuable commodity, his hands. 

When traditional medicine fails him, Strange is forced to look for healing in an unlikely place — a mysterious enclave known as Kamar-Taj. 

He quickly learns that this is not just a centre for recovery, but also the front line of a battle against unseen dark forces. Before long Strange, armed with newly acquired magical powers, is forced to choose whether to return to his life of fortune and status or leave it all behind to defend the world as the most powerful sorcerer in existence.

From the start of this movie you feel like you’re in for a slightly different experience than many of the superhero flicks of the past.

Cumberbatch fits the role like a glove and is simply one of the most believable actors around. He is ably abetted by the always watchable Rachel McAdams with the bald headed Tilda Swinton popping up as a surprising convincing Tibetan guru.   

The movie skips between New York, London, Hong Kong and Tibet and mixes many elements of old and new world technologies. There are certain filmic tropes which you will by now come to expect of these types of stories. 

The part where the student (Strange) is trained in the ways of the master, the part where he has the showdown with the baddie (Mads Mikkelsen of Hannibal fame), the part where he saves the world. 

What makes ‘Doctor Strange’ different is the acting, the sharp and funny script, and the impressive, ‘Inception’ inspired, special effects. We score it a medically fit 4 out of 5 stars. 

Paul O’Rourke