Doctor Strange: Cumberbatch not strange enough

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg

Rated: 6/10

Benedict Cumberbatch has many takers in India and that’s what will drive this new one from Marvel Comics this winter. No, he is not a patch on his Sherlock Holmesavatar but he is still his usual, unusual self, so Marvel has quite a character at hand to showcase through Doctor Strange.

As Dr Strange, a celebrated neurosurgeon with a zen for the supersonic lane while behind the wheels, Cumberbatch is eccentric and edgy as ever and drives the film from all angles. Crippled in the hands after a near-fatal car crash, Dr Strange’s rollercoaster life holding the knife to name and fame ends abruptly. His journey to Kathmandu, mysticism and finally to sorcery, comes full of exciting jigs and a lot of amazing CGIs which keep this comic book character alive through the two-hour soiree punctuated with evil vs good vs saviour of humanity vs dark force vs science vs mysticism.

For a totally scientific being like Dr Strange to turn into a supreme sorcerer saviour of the world with minimal questions about the efficacy of the other world goings-on from a ramshackle hut sitting in the midst of a milling Kathmandu gives you some doubts about the switch-over but such niggles are fast dressed up in the mumbo-jumbo of the magic world where martial arts and astral beings overpower everything pretty amazingly.

The embedded humour is as laconic as Cumberbatch himself but once things turn serious, it is party time for fantasy adventurists. Doctor Strange has a good hold on you. But if you are a Cumberbatch fan, you may feel his persona has been somewhat under-exploited. As the arrogant, self-assured and, of course, brilliant neurosurgeon, Cumberbatch is much better than as a student of magic wherein he is a hesitant learner to an ageless bald woman sorcerer who claims to be engaged in saving the bastions of good against an evil force but is later identified as the one drawing her immortal force from the dark force itself.

But this one is not about her, or her mission. It is more about Cumberbatch’s self-discovery as a magical being which is pegged on a chiseling away of his arrogance, ego and me-is-the-best surgeon-in-the-world mindset. However, his cutting wit and arrogance is what punctuates his screen personality so, doing away with it slowly and surely was something Marvel could have avoided. Overall, the film is all about an interesting humdrum of two worlds far apart but closely connected.  

Source: Sunday Pioneer, 6 November, 2016