Doctor Strange (film)

Doctor Strange is a 2016 superhero film set in the Marvel Media Franchise, the thirty-first film in the universe. The film stars Ryan Gosling, Krysten Ritter, Will Yun Lee, Adrien Brody, Natalie Portman, Tom Ellis, Mads Mikkelsen, and Jackie Chan and was released worldwide on February 19, 2016. The film ran 108 minutes and grossed $1.023 billion on a $150 million budget.

Plot

 * The film takes place in 2015, before Avengers: Secret Invasion

Stephen Strange is an eccentric doctor living in New York City. He is the ex-boyfriend of fellow doctor Christine Palmer. Strange only works for the wealth he gets from his career, which is why Christine broke up with him. However, Strange gets into a car crash which shatters the bones in his hands. Strange realizes he can no longer peform surgeries and is dismissed by his work. Strange searches everywhere for a way to restore his hands. Strange uses almost all of his money trying everywhere to get his hands back, though nothing cannot return his hands to the way they used to be. However, Strange finally comes across sailors who talk about a hermit in the Himmalayas. Strange finds a temple hidden in the mountains. Strange is invited in by the hermit, named the Ancient One. The Ancient One introduces Strange to her disciples, Wong, Clea, Mordo, and Kaecilius.

However, the Ancient One refuses to help Strange due to his arrogance. However, she tries to bring out the light in him. The Ancient One fails, though Strange's heroism appears when Mordo attempts to kill the Ancient One. Mordo is taken to an interdimensional prison. Strange realizes the true nature of the Ancient One and his disciples. They use magic to bend the laws of physics and protect Earth and it's dimension from alternate dimensions trying to invade. Mordo believes in an ancient book of text that says that the Dark Dimension is meant to be let in. Ancient One reveals that he has many more disciples across the planet. Three main points in New York City, London, and Hong Kong are ruled by Sanctum Sanctorums. Mordo reveals that Kaecilius recruited him and several other magic users across the Sanctorums. The Ancient One is nearly murdered by Kaecilius, though Clea protects her. Kaecilius takes Mordo and his followers and leave the mountains.

The Ancient One takes Clea, Wong, and Strange to a safehouse in San Francisco, which only he knows about. The Ancient One must now awaken Strange's inner magic along with his hands. Kaecilius, Mordo, and the others set up magical points in all the Sanctorums, set to go off in twelve hours. The points will then release all of the magic in the Sanctorums, which would open the Dark Dimension, awakening Dormammu, the darkest of all magical beings, more powerful than the Ancient One. Strange returns to New York City after learning about Kaecilius' plan to rescue Christine. She learns of Strange's newfound powers and his love for her, which she returns. The Ancient One helps Strange get Christine to safety, while Clea and Wong prepare themselves in the Sanctorum for Kaecilius, when he arrives to place his magical checkpoint. The Ancient One and Strange arrive afterward and set up magical barriers all along the building to protect Kaecilius and Mordo from getting in.

However, London and Hong Kong go off, releasing a gateway into the Dark Dimension, though not stong enough to merge the two dimensions, like the New York Sanctorum would. Kaecilius threatens to kill Christine if Strange does not let him set off his checkpoint. The Ancient One, Clea, and Wong beg Strange not to take the offer, though Strange reluctantly does anyway, apologizing to his friends. However, Kaecilius learns it was a ploy and he is sent to the Dark Dimension, where Dormammu feeds on Kaecilius's life force due to his failure. In turn, Mordo stabs Ancient One with a mystic knife, the only thing strong enough to kill him. Strange, Clea, and Wong try to stop Mordo, though he escapes. Christine agrees to continue to help out Strange, who reveals that the Ancient One gave him the "Words of Power", which turns any normal being into the new Ancient One. Strange gives it to Clea. Strange resides in the New York Sanctorum to watch over it, while Wong returns to Hong Kong to see his family and watch over the Sanctorum there.

In a mid-credits scene, Clea awakens in the night, being called by Dormammu. In a post-credits scene, Sharon Carter and Nick Fury arrive at the New York City Sanctorum and recruit Strange to stop a greater threat.

Cast

 * Ryan Gosling as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange
 * Krysten Ritter as Clea
 * Will Yun Lee as Wong
 * Adrien Brody as Baron Mordo
 * Natalie Portman as Christine Palmer
 * Tom Ellis as Lance Hunter
 * Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius
 * Jackie Chan as Ancient One

Production
A film centered around Doctor Strange came into discussion in 2012 after his character being cut from Avengers: Age of Ultron. Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer were hired to write the film in May 2013, while Scott Derrickson was brought on to direct the film in November. A release date was set the following month as February 19, 2016. Casting began in March 2014. Jared Leto, Ethan Hawke, Oscar Isaac, Ewan McGregor, Matthew McConaughey, Jake Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, and Keanu Reeves were all on the shortlist to portray the character. However, Ryan Gosling was originally cast as Baron Mordo, before Derrickson realized he would be better fit as Doctor Strange, officially casting Gosling as the titular hero. Additional casting occured in the following month, adding Krysten Ritter, Will Yun Lee, Adrien Brody, and Mads Mikkelsen to the cast as Clea, Wong, Mordo, and Kaecilius. Natalie Portman and Jackie Chan rounded out the cast as Christine Palmer and the Ancient One in July. Derrickson helped re-write the script with Donnelly and Oppenheimer after problems with the script arose. The script was finished in November and filming began on February 2, 2015. Filming concluded on May 4.

Box office
Doctor Strange grossed $341.3 million in the U.S. and Canada and $682.5 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $1.024 billion, against a budget of $150 million.

Critical reception
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 98% based on 256 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 8.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Doctor Strange artfully balances its outré source material against the blockbuster constraints of the MMF, delivering a thoroughly entertaining superhero origin story in the bargain." It was the site's second highest-rated film of 2016 behind Moonlight. On Metacritic, the film has a normalized score of 78 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.