Marvel’s ‘Doctor Strange’ more than lives up to its name

You wouldn’t think injecting a little magic into the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be that big of a deal.

Especially since it’s already a world where it’s no longer uncommon to see an alien god and a scientist who turns into a big green monster, and where some guy is considered a superhero just because he’s really good at shooting arrows.

But you’d be wrong.

So very, very wrong.

“Doctor Strange” is alternately one of the most and least Marvel movies yet.

Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a world-class neurosurgeon, the kind CBS would build a long-running procedural around. He’s also filthy rich, arrogant, condescending and alienates most everyone around him. He’s basically an East Coast version of Tony Stark. Heck, for a good chunk of the movie, he even has a glowing orb in the middle of his chest.

Strange is on his way to collect yet another award, speeding in the rain in his Lamborghini while cutting off other cars and looking at brain scans on his phone, when a horrifying wreck causes severe nerve damage to his precious hands, leaving him unable to shave or even write his name.

After exhausting his bank account chasing all that Western medicine has to offer, Strange is set on a path to Kathmandu and a mystical place known as Kamar-Taj.

There he meets The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), who’s responsible for safeguarding the mystic arts, and her loyal disciple Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Together, they teach the man of science that there’s more to the world than his powerful brain can comprehend.

At this point, it’s best to not even bother trying to follow what’s going on as “Doctor Strange” gets bogged down in explaining the multiverse, astral projection, mirror dimensions, the dark dimension, sling rings that can open dimensional gateways and eldritch light, which sorcerers can use to create weapons by summoning energy from other dimensions.

And that doesn’t even get into the use of mystical relics such as the Staff of Living Tribunal, the Crimson Bands of Cytorrak, the Wand of Watoom and something called the Brazier of Bom’Galiath.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Strange complains at one point.

“Not everything does,” The Ancient One responds. “Not everything has to.”

Basically all you need to know is that Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), a former student of The Ancient One who’s taken the whole smokey eye look to an extreme, has aligned himself with Dormammu, the ruler of the dark dimension, to bring chaos and immortality to Earth. It’s up to Strange and his colleagues to stop it.

Continuing the Tony Stark comparisons, Strange has to heal himself, master his new skills, find redemption and make amends to the only woman who cares about him — in this case it’s Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams).

And as for that glowing orb, that would be The Eye of Agamotto, which along with the Cloak of Levitation gives Strange most of his powers. One of those is the ability to manipulate time, which is just the worst. Because just like the scene in 1978’s “Superman,” when Supes flew around the world to turn back time and save Lois Lane, it renders pretty much everything meaningless.

Directed and co-written by Scott Derrickson (“Sinister”) along with his “Sinister” partner C. Robert Cargill and Jon Spaihts (“Prometheus”), “Doctor Strange” is the most visually impressive Marvel movie yet.

Buildings roll over atop themselves and rotate like a carnival ride. It’s as though the similar scene in “Inception” had a baby with Lionel Richie’s “Dancing on the Ceiling” video — or, if you’re from another era, Fred Astaire’s big number from “Royal Wedding” — and then dosed that baby with LSD.

Smug and hyper-intelligent, Strange fits right in Cumberbatch’s wheelhouse. McAdams, meanwhile, makes out better than she should have been able to with an underwritten role that mostly relies on her reacting to the craziness around her.

“Doctor Strange” is entertaining enough, complete with Marvel’s now patented periodic bursts of humor. It just never feels particularly vital. I’m not convinced the character needed its own origin story, much like I’m not sure Ant-Man did, either. Marvel could have been better served by dropping him into another movie, a la Black Panther in “Captain America: Civil War,” and then setting him out on his own adventures.

Still, even as it closely adheres to the Marvel origin story template, it’s the studio’s most out-there release yet — and that’s saying something after “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

As a result, “Doctor Strange” more than lives up to its name, if not necessarily the hype.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @life_onthecouch.