Benedict Cumberbatch

This superhero movie by Marvel is a bit of a disappointment for action hero movie fans who loved the original Doctor Strange (2016). This sequel is so bad, Google doesn’t even classify it as an action movie – Google calls it a Horror instead!

The plot lacks cohesion, lacks originality, and lacks awesome action hero moments. Granted, there is a bit of a plot, there are some kind of new concepts, and there are some sort of decent moments in this movie; but it’s generally several levels below the bar set by the original – it’s not on the same level in any way except in the special effects department. So it should be no surprise that critics worldwide are calling it a flop. Actually, there is one thing it does a bit better – Horror – and we know that’s really what Hollywood loves most! But for fans of comfortable-yet-buzzing action hero movies, this sequel really kind of stinks.

Benedict Cumberbatch doesn’t perform poorly though – he does alright, considering what he’s working with here. Elizabeth Olsen plays the ‘bad guy’ – the Scarlet Witch, and does a fair job of that too. Xochitl Gomez plays the butch female superhero born from two mothers (trust Hollywood to push stuff like that) who works with Doctor Strange against the Scarlet Witch. Xochitl gave a very basic performance here – she’s not the best actress – not by a long way – but to her credit she was only in her mid-teens at the time of this movie’s release.

A bit sickly at near the start, with talk about harvesting organs from a still living man, followed by surgery visuals, the likes of we get again in unexpected close-up about half way through the movie. Also slightly too long of a car crash scene near the start. This movie clearly wants to traumatise the audience a bit, and/or incite bloodlust in those prone to it. Due to its name I guess we shouldn’t expect clean action – a touch of horror shouldn’t be surprising here.

Mood setting is generally excellent, with great timing where it matters. There are also a few great touches of humour in this movie.

The action gets very interesting at times, and satisfactory at other times.

The combat is fanciful – hardly realistic – but the sentiment is frequently on point.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays the lead role very well, as if he were made for this role. Additional cast members are generally pretty good too.

All in all, due to its qualities, with the odd drawback, plus the fact it’s not so realistic a movie as what I normally review, I’d rate this movie decent, not more or less. It’s a fun movie to watch every now and again, but it’s depth of vibe is limited due to its near cartoony nature. For this reason it’s comparable to movies like Bloodshot and Black Panther which have a similar mix of realism vs unrealism, and a similar level of action.

If you enjoyed this movie, you may also enjoy its sequel: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). However, that movie is a lot messier and of course less original since the lead character has already been fully established. And unlike the original, the sequel is not even classified as an Action movie by Google – it’s classed as a Horror instead!

Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) was also featured in a few other Marvel Studios films released between the two actual Doctor Strange movies, including Thor: Ragnarok (2017); Avengers: Infinity War (2018); Avengers: Endgame (2019); and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).