Ever since I was a kid, I've always loved checking out the local cinemas whenever I am on vacation. So last week Marneen and I visited the Ward 16 theatres in Waikiki to check out Dr. Strange. The cinema was lovely, reclining leather chairs with foot rests and a retractable table for food and beverages. We both really enjoyed the movie, which succesfully captured the essence of this reasonably obscure (to the masses) comic book character while also making him relatable and appealing to a wide commercial audience. Great casting by Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role, and was lovely to see the very trippy visuals paying tribute to some of those classic mind-bending panels which the great Steve Ditko dreamed up for the Doctor's early 1960s comic book adventures. Certainly, Chris Nolan's Inception may have been the clear inspiration for some of the sequences depicting large cityscapes morphing, but Dr. Strange ups the ante and takes it to a whole new level. Easily one of the best Marvel movies to date for me. The only distraction for me is that Benedict Wong's voice reminded me so much of the voice used for Curt Jergens' Stromberg villain in the 1977 Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.
Destined to be a stoner's classic. Will definately try to check Dr. Strange out again before it leaves the cinemas - in IMAX 3D if I can.
