Docteur Strange

I've seen every animated film Marvel and Lion's Gate has done. "Ultimate Avengers" and it's sequel were good, but not great. "Iron Man" was just plain bad. But with their fourth film, they actually get it right.

"Dr. Strange" is an origin movie and as such suffers from the plight of most origin films. Crams a bit too much into one film. What this does is the final fight is a bit rushed, though not anti-climatic.

The movie is very well written and has a solid cast. Their are changes from the comics, but when hasn't their been changes from comic to movie? In this film, the changes don't hurt. The way magic is used is more like martial arts then what we see in the comic. This gives the feel of wuxia film. Magicians use a lot of magic swords in their fighting. Which actually works better then it sounds.

The only downside to the film is the backstory with Strange and his sister. That is riddled with plots holes but is brief enough that it doesn't drag the rest of the film down.

I highly recommend this film.

This is by far the best animated movie Marvel has produced so far. It takes a lot from Batman Begins as we watch Stephen Strange go on a similar journey. We have a man who is a cold-hearted surgeon (and as we find out later, has good reason to be) yet he is tasked with helping people on a daily basis. This makes for some great drama when we see how people react to Stephen Strange knowing this to be his personality. It is only when Dr. Strange becomes broken does he learn how to truly heal and it is that kind of spiritual journey that makes this story so interesting. As with most origin stories there is a slow build as the character learns about himself and what he must become in order to overcome his current situation. There is also influence from 'The Matrix' here as Dr. Strange is introduced to a world which is invisible to most but is all around us. This is where the action comes in as we see The Ancient One's warriors take on creatures from another world that are at the command of one of Dr. Strange's classic nemesis, Dormammu! It all leads up to a climactic battle that will not disappoint. Marvel is definitely learning how to improve with each new animated film and I hope this trend continues.

I've recently begun watching Marvel Comics' line of straight-to-DVD animation films partly because I was bored and had only just discovered them and needed some variation in my uneventful life and partly because I really love animation films. Animation is one of those mediums I treasure because it grants escape from the trappings of reality, gravity and the laws of physics, enabling it to show you sights that couldn't possibly exist in real life, like the Hulk latching onto the throat of a 60 foot man and choking the life out of him. That said, I was put off by the previous 'installments', if you can call these Marvel animations a series. The Ultimate Avengers movies of 2006 had a plot thinner than Christian Bale during the shooting of The Machinist, and was for all intents and purposes like a dead Christmas tree; covered in glittering action sequences but barren inside. Not that I expect much depth from a dozen vaguely related comic book franchises blended together into the big pile of paperbacks and money that is Ultimate avengers. I'm sure every one of these superheroes had their own story, with their own issues to work out, but there simply isn't time for all that if at least half of the movie has to consist of rampant action sequences. This is all fine, you know. These are movies for comic book fans who would like to see their favorite superhero jump out of the comic book panels and kick ass in animation, but some characterization would be nice. This movie is very much made for religious comic book readers and seems to assume awareness of the characters' back stories which in that case you are because you accompanied them through every page of their comic book series, and as such this movie doesn't really need to characterize them and therefore does so only vaguely. The only character I ended up empathizing with was Bruce Banner who, depressed and troubled by the Hulk, is desperate to find a way to control it. Maybe it was because I can unconsciously relate to an unattractive, bespectacled nerd who just likes to throw down and go Hulk Smash on all the bullies that took his lunch money in high school, or maybe because he was the only character whose flaws were more than informed and whose portrayal left me wanting to see more. Anyway I was supposed to be talking about another movie.

Doctor Strange was an interesting premise for me from the get-go because I knew absolutely nothing about Doctor Strange, and I was looking forward to have this movie inform me about who he was and what drove him to become who he is today. I was surprised by the depth of this movie, which immediately immersed me its darker, more realistic tone. The doctor is a complex character, once kindhearted, driven and confident, now disillusioned, angry and full of unresolved grief. When first we see the good doctor - voiced in smooth baritones by Bryce Johnson - in the hospital he is refusing a patient who in a masterful dig at US medical policy was neither rich nor sick enough to warrant his interest, satire. It made it immediately clear that this guy had issues. Here is a hero who is also a flawed human being who isn't built like a vending machine with legs and to its credit the movie never glosses over things. This is truly not a movie for kids anymore, and Doctor Strange never divorces itself from reality too far; no super serums or gamma rays granting super powers here, but a spiritual journey that forces the good doctor to reconcile with his past. Even the magic shown seems to have its roots in eastern philosophies and martial arts, both of which are plausibly and satisfyingly portrayed. The movie is well-paced, interrupting the plot with occasional flashes of action exactly when needed, and giving time to let the story reach its logical conclusion. When the movie was over, I was left in its wake, wanting more, and not just because it was so good. It was too short.

At just over 70 minutes, this movie, like the Marvel animes that preceded it, is short. But Doctor Strange is the only one of those movies that actually feels short. The reason why this movie feels too short is because I feel that there are two stories here, woven together less than seamlessly, leaving insufficient time to make the most of either of them, although only people that have read the comics will be able to determine whether I'm right about that or not. There is the origin story of Doctor Strange in which he finds his true calling as the sorcerer supreme that people know from the books, and then there's the other story about an evil entity of pure magical energy that wants to take over the world. Which of these you find the more interesting probably depends on your prior understanding of the Doctor Strange mythos (for a Marvel-novice like me, the origin story definitely won that one), but there was the potential for true excellence here that went sadly untapped. 20 to 30 minutes of additional runtime would have probably been enough to bring out the true heart in both stories, but as it stands the movie left me slightly unfulfilled. I was left wanting to know more of Doctor Strange's rise to Sorcerer Supreme; it went by too fast, like important tidbits that would have greatly enriched the setting had been omitted for the sake of brevity, and that's a shame I think. Kind of like if Batman Begins was only 73 minutes long. 3 stars.

Having been severely underwhelmed by The Invincible Iron Man I sat down to watch Doctor Strange as these were the two that I saw recommended when reviewing one of the Justice League animated movies. I was worried that Doctor Strange would be the same, but while it does suffer from a rushed and anti-climatic ending and from trying to cram too much in it is actually a huge improvement. The animation is wonderful, the backgrounds and colours are very detailed and bold and the character designs are more fluid. The music score is both rousing and with a haunting under-current, the writing is intelligent and the story is both coherent and compelling, even though it does have a feeling of cramming too much in occasionally. The origin story of Dr Strange before he became Dr Strange is just fascinating. The characters are identifiable and engaging, somewhat standard(true of a lot of superhero movies though) but there is a clear sense of conflict. The titular character is one of those tormented characters who has a huge change in psyche between when he is himself or Doctor Strange, it is fascinating to watch. And Mordo and Dormammu are great villains. The voice acting is simply great, Bryce Johnson and Kevin Michael Richardson are the standouts. Overall, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This the fourth part in the animated film series! After Ultimate Avengers, Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther and Iron Man this is one great addition. From these four movies I enjoyed this one the best! Why? Because I didn't know much about Dr. Strange. It is really fun to learn more about this super hero. (I remember seeing him in a Spiderman comic and that he was specialized in the supernatural and magic! That was it.) This movie does a hell of a job in showing who he is and what he is capable of. Of course the length of the movie didn't allow further characterization or lore surrounding the character. But we learn enough in an incredibly fast pace. Personally I didn't want this movie to end. I loved every minute of it. Because of the magic and mysticism that surrounds this marvel hero the visual effects are very impressive and beautiful. But what stuck me the most was the attention to the psyche of the main character Strange. You'll be witness of a big change in personality. This character development is not something we see often in cartoons about super heroes. Even these superheroes have human problems to deal with. They are not perfect and are just as flawed as we are. That is one of the main reasons why I love Marvel. Doctor. In this case it is even more interesting since Strange really has no desire to be a hero. He basically gets thrown into an adventure of a lifetime because he wants to continue being the best in what he does. That already makes him quite the character. Strange is still the best in this series of animated marvel movies and it makes me wonder why they haven't been able to approach the later ones with the same sophistication and finesse.

Definitely one to check out if you haven't done so by now.