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Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme (PG-13)
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A direct to DVD movie based on Marvel comics, in the vein of the Ultimate Avengers movies. Though this doesn't really seem as good as them. In any event, I'm not at all familiar with the character of Doctor Strange, though of course I've heard of him, vaguely. I think I tend to confuse him with the DC character Dr. Fate.

In any event, the movie starts with a group of sorcerers chasing a monster through a city. They defeat it, and their actions are witnessed by a surgeon named Dr. Stephen Strange. And it turns out they noticed him noticing them, which is important. But he goes back to his regular life, which basically involves him being arrogant, just trying to make money (though I gather it's more for the benefit of the hospital than for himself). He seems callous, but through flashbacks we get to see he became this way because he failed to save the life of his sister, April. Meanwhile, he apparently has a romantic past ("past" being the key word) with another doctor at the hospital, Gina Atwater, who wants his help with a strange case she's been working on, but he refuses.

He then has a vision while driving home, which causes him to have an accident, in which his hands become useless. Which is pretty traumatic for one of the greatest surgeons in the world, now unable to continue in his profession. So he travels around the world, using up all his resources trying to find a way to fix his hands, and ultimately fails. But then, as he's about to kill himself, he's approached by Wong, one of those sorcerers from before, who gives him a map to this place in Tibet, and gives him some hope the use of his hands could be restored.

So, Dr. Strange makes the arduous journey, and starts training under the mystics there, or whatever. At first he's just interested in fixing his hands, and the intense manual labor doesn't help at all. But eventually the Sorcerer Supreme, known as the Ancient One, helps him realize the power within him, which is basically just about... believing impossible things, thereby making them real. Or whatever. And then there's the real problem... long ago, the Ancient One sealed away some being from another dimension, named Dormammu, who is trying to break free, and sending all these monsters into our world, which the sorcerers have to fight. Some of those we've already seen don't survive. But there are always other sorcerers... most of whom don't matter, as individuals in the story. Aside from Wong, there's Baron Mordo, who hoped to become the next Sorcerer Supreme (as the Ancient One was sick and near the end of his life). But of course, he's rather a jerk and undeserving, and the Ancient One says it's Dr. Strange who's fated to be the next Sorcerer Supreme.

And... Strange realizes Dormammu's effort to return to this dimension is tied in to Atwater's comatose patients. And other stuff happens, I don't want to spoil anything, but of course there's a big battle in the end, and Strange becomes a better person, yadda yadda. Eh, the movie was okay I guess, but not great. Definitely not something I ever need to see again...


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