Review: DOCTOR STRANGE Will Impress the Whole Family This Holiday Weekend

Thanksgiving break is upon us and the Holiday Season is in full swing, so what better time than now to spend the weekend at the movies? Whether you're lounging on the couch, stuffed from leftovers, and flipping channels for something decent to entertain you, or you're spending the weekend with the family and itching with cabin fever, most of us could greatly benefit from a trip to the movies this weekend. While there are other options out there for just the kids or the parents to enjoy, if you're looking for a movie that'll impress the whole family, check out Marvel Studios' latest box-office sensation, DOCTOR STRANGE. While the name doesn't ring as familiar to most as other Marvel heroes may, such as Captain America or Thor, Doctor Strange made a surprising $85 million in the box office opening weekend, and has continued to astound and mystify sales and critics since.

In case you aren't familiar with the story, Doctor Strange is the most recent addition to the Marvel Studios franchise that follows arrogant neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange, played by the extraordinarily talented Benedict Cumberbatch, as he seeks healing for an injury suffered to his hands in a car accident. After stumbling across a man healed of a similarly 'incurable' injury, Strange travels to the village in Nepal where the man claims he received his healing. There, the former surgeon is taken as apprentice to The Ancient One, who educates him in the mystic arts that Strange hopes to find healing in. Before long, Strange becomes entwined in a battle against sorcerers who desire to bring about an end to the world as we know it, and he must face them along with his own pride in order to save mankind.

In case that sounded a bit "out-there," so to speak, allow me to reassure you that the movie, while incredibly ambitious, isn't as distant as it may appear to be. What's great about Doctor Strange is that it succeeds in uniting an unfamiliar concept with a familiar one in its deliverance to its audience. While it maintains its characteristic psychedelic and otherworldly elements, protagonist Stephen Strange and his real-world background serve as the bridge between the audience and the story the same way it does for him to the new, distant life he must lead. Alongside these realistic elements, the movie simultaneously achieves its supernatural and otherworldly ambitions. Rated PG-13 for its "kaleidoscopic galactic intensity and other dimensional psychotropic violence," Doctor Strange more than lives up to its claim that the movie would be unlike anything seen before. Numerous scenes in the film are, as the rating describes, quite literally like being inside of a kaleidoscope, but in the best possible way. If not for its excellent storyline, seeing Doctor Strange solely for its experimental and brilliantly done visuals is entirely justifiable.

As with most Marvel Studios movies, this one, too, will entertain audiences young and old. Younger children and siblings who are used to superhero flicks will appreciate the new and exciting mind-bending visuals and root for Strange and his lovable sidekicks. The humor in the movie is diverse enough to make your nephew giggle and then your grandpa chuckle, and the plot is both simple and complex enough to be understood by your nine-year-old brother and discussed later in the car ride home by your twenty-two-year-old cousin. Parents will appreciate the generally 'clean' approach done by Marvel Studios, and older siblings will still be able to stifle a laugh at jokes that go over the younger ones' heads. Impress your grandma by mentioning Cumberbatch's 2015 National Theatre role as Hamlet, and use the movie as an intelligent and entertaining distraction for yourself while you anxiously wait for season four of SHERLOCK to premiere in January.

Doctor Strange will do more than suffice your family's unspoken desires to rid of cabin fever this Thanksgiving weekend; it will also surprise and astound you, both by its charming story and its stunning visuals. Doctor Strange is here to impress, challenge, and stupefy audiences- so what are you waiting for? Grab those leftovers, pile into the minivan, and take a family trip to the movies this weekend to experience Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange!

Images courtesy of Marvel Studios

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