Steve Deace's Movie Review: Dr. Strange

Source: Steve Deace's Facebook | November 6, 2016 | Steve Deace

Saw Dr. Strange.

When I was a kid, my two favorite Marvel heroes were Captain America (I was a Reaganite, after all) and Dr. Strange. A lot of that is because my grandmother that I spent so much time with was into mysteries, occult, horror, etc.

This movie is well done as most of the Marvel movies are. I’d say it’s on par with the first Iron Man or Captain America/Thor as an origin story. It does a good job of explaining the “magic” being utilized here so it’s not confusing for the layman. However, if your children are not pre-aware this is fantasy like a Lord of the Rings they may take the magic talk that does use some eastern religious/Gnostic terminology a little too literally.

The director, Scott Derrickson, is one of the few “out” Christians in Hollywood (I’ve interviewed him before about this). And you can see how he wove some of those threads into the story. Like when Strange is taught there’s more to life than the material universe, that we have eternal spirits inside of us, and “it’s not about you.”

However, this film does have the same dualism philosophy at its core the Star Wars movies have with the Force. Such as the notion that transcendence is a morally-neutral proposition that is good or evil depending on the human wielder. Rather than the Biblical view that good and evil are themselves transcendent propositions predefined by a principality higher than us.

That being said, the visuals are stunning, the film has some surprising humor, and it’s overall entertaining. But again, make sure you are aware of the worldview implications going in.

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