The next animated feature courtesy of the Marvel Films/Lionsgate partnership is Doctor Strange, a character from the Marvel comic-book universe that was created by Stan Lee, but never gained the status of being a flagship character like Spider-Man, or The Hulk.  Being a sorcerer supreme and a master of the mystic arts, Strange’s tales always reached the realm of maximum fantasy by battling creatures of magic and traveling to mind-warping alternate dimensions.

Doctor Strange, the movie, is no exception.  A renowned neurological surgeon, Stephen Strange searches the globe for a way to heal his hands after a tragic car accident hinders their operating ability.  His destiny leads him to Tibet, and under the guidance of an ancient sorcerer and a team of magic masters, learns he has abilities that reach far beyond the physical boundaries of his surgical talent.  Soon he becomes embroiled in an inter-dimensional war between his master, and a powerful demon of magic, Dormammu.

I may be a comic book fan, but I have never collected and read Dr. Strange on a regular basis, primarily because his adventures normally don’t interest me as a reader.  But after watching this animated effort, I am seriously impressed with how well developed and entertaining the end result turned out to be.  The film fully explores Strange’s origin, and then spins his ascendance to sorcerer supreme in the final act.  The drama within the story is as engaging as any live-action fantasy film.  The stakes are high, and not all the characters get out alive. 

The animation is strikingly gorgeous, on flow, clarity, and color vibrancy. Between the action, and the magic, it is hands down the best visual effort to date, easily outdoing both Avengers movies, and The Invincible Iron Man.  The sound is also a jack-in-the-box surprise.  The outer package leads you to believe it’s a normal 5.1, but when you get to the film’s audio options, you discover it’s a 5.1 EX enhanced track…and it rocks!  Prepare your system, because you can easily bring down a house with this DVD.

The only regrettable aspect of this package is the extra features.  The Origin of Doctor Strange is a decent featurette about the character and his history, but it is not very in-depth.  I found the Cinematics feature perplexing, because they’re from the video games Marvel Ultimate Alliance and X-Men: Legends 2.  Although neat to view, they make no sense from a story perspective unless you’re actually playing the games.  My impression of the Avengers Reborn first look is that it appears intriguing because it’s a future story showing what happened with the original team, but I also dread the fact that the new team consists of all their kids (there’s no footage yet, just interviews with the creative team).  Just when Doctor Strange took a mature creative step forward, Avengers Reborn looks ready to hit reverse.  Also on the bill is some storyboard art, and trailers for the other Marvel/Lionsgate films, as well as the new comedy Delta Farce (starring Larry The Cable Guy).

Features aside, the main attraction here is the animated flick.  Because of it, I now have a new appreciation for Dr. Strange in the comics.  The quality of the movie is top-notch, and my hats off to the creative team for producing such a well-crafted film out of what is regarded as a second-tier Marvel character.  For fans of animation, fans of comics, and fans who love great fantasy movies, Doctor Strange is definitely worth watching.

Review By Ryan Young