Released: August 14, 2007
Director: Jay Oliva
*****
In the continuation of the Marvel Animated Universe, Stephen Strange, an arrogantly renowned neurologist, finds himself unable to use his hands after a car accident. Given a map to a hidden Tibetan monastary, he travels there in hopes of recovering the use of his hands. What he finds is mystical. What happens is magical. There is a reason this character is named...Doctor Strange!
Okay, so maybe that's a bit more creative license than I should have taken. But at a lean and mean 75 minutes, Doctor Strange barely has time to introduce us to the characters, the situation and the dramatic storyline before the credits roll. Much like its predecessors (Ultimate Avengers, Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther and The Invincible Iron Man), Doctor Strange is an origin story. And much like those other films, it has a lot to be recommended...and leaves a lot to be desired.
Is there any possibility we will ever get one of these direct to DVD movies in which we don't have to be given a backstory in the characters first appearance? Watching Stephen morph from an arrogant prick to the Sorcerer Supreme is a decent enough through line...but it's old. Barring that, the other storyline (that of a traitor and some monstrous thing only Strange can fight) are typical comic book fare. Which, to be fare, is exactly what the film is aiming for. No one is particularly well developed except the title character and, honestly, the plot is by the numbers. When the Master tells a lieutenant not to break the group into teams, what happens the minute the Master is out of earshot? He breaks them into teams. At times, the audience is ahead of the characters, causing some moments of pure boredom as Strange catches up.
Even if we've seen it all before, the film comes off visually brilliantly. Much like 300 looked like a graphic novel put on screen, Doctor Strange is full of bold colors and impressive eye candy. Action sequences pop with excitement while scenes of exposition are finely detailed. These kinds of things are important in animation, particularly in comic book animation.