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Doctor Strange Review and Post Credit Scenes

Doctor Strange Review and Post Credit ScenesScore 84%Score 84%

It’s that time of year again, Marvel is releasing their newest blockbuster, Doctor Strange. This is definitely are second tier kind of movie, along with Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. Doctor Stange doesn’t quite have the brand power of Iron Man, Captain America or to a lesser extent Thor and Hulk. I’m leaving out Spiderman and Xmen simply because their Marvel licenses to other film studios and aren’t controlled by Marvel or Marvel Studios… Oh, that reminds me… Doctor Strange is the first marvel film to feature the all-new Marvel Studios logo animation, and it is quite tasty. It’s not hugely different to the one it replaces, but it is a nice evolution. So the important bits…

Is there a Post-Credit Scene in Doctor Strange?

Honestly, at this point, do they ever not have at least one post-credit scene?! So the short answer is yes. But that’s not all there is to it.

Is there a second post-credit scene?

Wait wait wait! Don’t you want a review first?

The Review

This isn’t the first Review, and won’t be the last. Tonight I  saw the UK premiere in the Odeon in Leicester square. We were lucky enough to have a surprise visit from the film’s director and cast. Benedict Cumberbatch gave a short little speech to introduce the film, which was nice. But I won’t let his suave British handsomeness influence my review 😉

This is Marvel, but not as you know it. Well, kinda.

I walked out of the cinema and my colleague said “It’s a little more sci-fi than other Marvel films, I love sci-fi, so that’s ok” and that is basically it. Whereas in Iron Man or Captain America, the sci-fi element is pretty firmly based in fact. Ironman is a slightly more super than human, man. The kind of experiments most of the population believe has been happening since the war anyway, so it’s not that far-fetched, right? The Iron Man suit, well, we have iPhones and jet-packs, jet engines and actual robots. It’s definitely plausible. But Doctor Strange falls more in the realms of Thor and his, well… realms. This isn’t just Sci-fi as Ironman, Spiderman, and Cap, this is fantasy!

The fantasy world of Doctor Strange is beautiful and mesmerizing. There are kaleidoscope motifs that feature throughout, and the is one of few films where I actually think 3D adds something. I will need to watch it again in 2D to know for sure, but if you’re not adverse to 3D, I think it will be a good choice. There are scenes that take place with reality folding in on itself, in strange (pun intended) and interesting ways. This films definitely has a few head-nods to other films such as The Matrix, Inception, Divergent and Harry Potter, but that doesn’t detract in any way, and this film feels unique enough, as super-hero films go, to stand on its own in the Marvel cinematic universe.

 

The Origin Story

The humble origin story, it gets a bit of a bad wrap I think, it’s hard to feel invested in a character without some kind of origin story. This origin story falls into a similar vein as Ironman. Super-ego, messiah-complex neurosurgeon served some humble pie in the form of a horrendous car crash, caused by his dangerous driving might I add, that strips him of his most treasured possessions. His hands.

His hands are so badly damaged in the crash, the resulting breaks, scarring, and nerve damage leave him a trembling ghost of his former self. Using his reasonable wealth to try cutting edge medical procedures to correct the damage leads him to poverty and no closer to his former glory. When he has almost given up and resorted to the drawn out process of physiotherapy, he hears about a man that recovered from a broken back, that in his professional surgeon’s opinion, is impossible. He tracks down the man and was put on the path to find mental and spiritual cures rather than medical ones.

On thing that Marvel always does reasonably well is being self-aware. They are never afraid to mock themselves, or the slightly campy, heritage of the comics. little tidbits like Shamballah as the wifi password. And a few nods to the fact it sounded like Doctor Stange had joined a cult. Which leads me on to the fact, this is pretty funny. It has some good, unexpected humor. It has maybe 40% more jokes than there would have been if it was made before Guardians of the Galaxy or Deadpool. There is some proper laugh out loud moments, that could have easily been left out for fear of losing the darker dramatic tone of some of the scenes. So if you like your marvel with humor, then you are in luck. This has more than it could.

Don’t worry though, if you like your Marvel dramatic, there is plenty for you too. There are some especially good dramatic scenes from Chiwetel Ejiofor, you will feel you are watching a Shakespear play, more than a comic-book film, and that is only a good thing. Comic book films should be given weight, they should be offered to good actors and they should be respected, as their fans respect them. As fans, we know that they can be a bit goofy or campy sometimes, and we don’t mind that you make little changes for a modern, cynical film audience, and this does all that in spades.

If you want to see a visual spectacle of a film, that has funny moments, real emotion, and some real drama, then you can’t go wrong with this. It is entertaining as a Marvel film should be and tells an origin story in an interesting and beautiful way. With definite nods to the Matrix, Inception, and Divergent, there’s enough visual spectacle to keep even the most cynical movie-goer entertained. Doctor Strange deserves your time.

Doctor Strange poster

Aren’t you forgetting something? *Slight Spoilers*

Oh yes, the post credit scene. The first one that you are likely to see as it is right at the end of the important credits, the one with nice animated backgrounds to keep you entertained. This one sees Doctor Strange sit down with Thor for a “meeting” and general chit chat. It definitely lies on the humorous side and lets us know the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok.

Well… I hope you enjoyed the review. Have a great day.

Umm?

Sorry, I was doing a Marvel… If you wait until the VERY end, you will be treated to an even better scene, that actually kind of sets up the continuation of the Doctor Strange storyline… But saying any more than that will spoil too much.

But YES! There are TWO post credit scenes at the end of Doctor Strange!

 

Doctor Strange Review

84%

Summary A visual spectacle of a film, that has funny moments, real emotion, and some real drama - you can't go wrong with this. It is entertaining as a Marvel film should be and tells an origin story in an interesting and beautiful way. With definite nods to the Matrix, Inception, and Divergent, there's enough visual spectacle to keep even the most cynical movie-goer entertained. Doctor Strange deserves your time.

Review Score:
84%

About The Author

Luke B

Luke B started life on his day of birth, strangely. He enjoys artistic and creative pursuits such as painting, drawing, sculpture, music, 3D graphics, video games and everything else. He builds websites as his day-job and builds personal ones in his spare time. He also likes Lego.

1 Comment

  1. Emily

    Really enjoyed the film! I agree with the Matrix and Inception similarities. Very good 🙂

    Reply

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