This week I review DOCTOR STRANGE. The latest Marvel superhero movie is about the mystical rather than the physical. When Dr. Steven Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), a neurosurgeon, loses use of his hands following a car accident, he travels to Nepal to see The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) as he learns that she may be able to help him. The movie also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mads Mikkelsen, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong and Benjamin Bratt with the requisite cameo by Marvel creator Stan Lee.
Time plays an interesting role because usually when time is used as a major theme it has to do with not having enough of it. I think the bigger theme here had to do with how time can be a blessing and, perhaps even more so, a curse. The differentiation is important because lack of time is a common concept; there isn’t enough time to do work or to relax or to spend with loved ones. We don’t tend to consider that more time isn’t necessarily better. For instance, if you live forever then you’ll have the heartache of watching everyone you love die since the whole world cannot live forever. Immortality and limitless time and life continue to be things we long for as a whole, but sometimes without acknowledging the consequences. It’s interesting, too, how DOCTOR STRANGE uses time as a punishment, so pay attention for that element as well.
Water and how it cleanses and represents rebirth is another theme in DOCTOR STRANGE.
For more about water, religious symbolism in DOCTOR STRANGE and product placement deals, take a look below:
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