I’m going back on the transplant list

I recently had an appointment with the kidney transplant clinic, in this YouTube video I talk about what they said….

Review of Avengers Endgame – Where the Rat Saves the Day.

A couple of weeks ago my family and I managed to go and see Avengers endgame at the cinema. And I thought I would give you my review.  So please don’t read this if you have not seen Avengers Endgame as there are spoilers ahead.

First of all I have to say Avengers Endgame was just amazing. It was just a joy to watch. The films starts by showing us the home life of Clint Barton (aka Hawkeye). They are having a nice picnic when his family vanishes in an instant, victims of the cliff-hanger from Avengers Infinity War that wiped out half the souls in the universe. Where Infinity War ended with the devastating scene of beloved heroes turning to dust, this scene drops us right back in the devastation as real people vanish.

The first part of the movie is really dark as our heroes have reached rock bottom and still reeling from the events of infinity war.

Stark is marooned in space with Nebula on the verge of death when they are saved by captain marvel. At this point the film writers have assumed that you have seen captain marvel and know how she was introduced.

With the avengers back together they discuss what to do next. You could cut the tension with a knife as Tony blames Steve Rogers for all what has happened as he references past movies. The acting is brilliant here. But they eventually come up with a plan and track down Thanos to a planet who is now weak and alone. It was a bit of anti-climax as Thor kill him. All that is within the first 15 minutes. It was a shock killing Thanos straight away and a gamble in my opinion. As it left me wondering what was going to happen next.

Then we cut 5 years in the future and discover how badly the remainder of our heroes have been adjusting to life after the snap.

Its quite sad seeing our heroes struggle with the emotional turmoil. From Hawkeye turning into violent vigilante to Captain America attending self help groups. There is an over whelming sense of dread. But it is also funny at the same time especially with Thor now being an overweight drunk who spends his time playing Fortnite which got an extra loud laugh from my son who is a Fortnite fanatic.

But fortunately a rat saves the day when it presses  a button in a van and accidently brings back ant man back from the quantum realm. Who discoveres what has happened because although 5 years have passed, it was only 5 hours in the quantum realm. And so he comes up with the idea of going back in time to retrieve the stones so that the snap can be undone.

So our remaining heroes are split into teams and go back in time to retrieve the stones.

If we ignore the plot holes of time travel it was a joy to watch our heroes revisit some previous moves and characters.

We had Professor Hulk, Ant Man, Captain America and Iron Man travel to New York City in 2012 during avengers assemble film. Banner visits the Sanctum and convinces the Ancient One to give him the Time Stone. Rogers successfully retrieves the Mind Stone, but Stark and Lang’s interference inadvertently allows 2012 Loki to escape with the Space Stone. So Rogers and Stark have to travel to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in 1970, where Stark obtains an earlier version of the Space Stone, and encounters a young Howard Stark in the process, while Rogers steals several Pym Particles from Hank Pym to return to the present. In the meantime Rocket and Thor travel to Asgard in 2013 from the Thor 2 film and extract the Reality Stone from Jane Foster and Rhodes & Nebula travel to Morag in 2014 and steal the Power Stone before Peter Quill from the Guardian’s of the Galaxy film. At the same time Thanos of 2014 learns of his future success and the Avengers’ attempts to undo it. Thanos then captures present-Nebula and sends past-Nebula to the present day disguised as her future self. Also we have Hawkeye and black widow travel to Vormir to get the soul stone.

There are layers and layers of call backs, Easter eggs, references and returning stars that will make even the most stoic fan giddy with delight. But it was heart wrenching and emotional as well. The main heart wrenching shock for me was the death of the black widow who had to sacrifice herself to get the soul stone. I had tears running down my face as Hawkeye and black widow battled it out as who would sacrifice themselves.

Reuniting in the present, the remaining Avengers fit the Stones into a Stark-created gauntlet. Banner dons the gauntlet and uses it to resurrect all those whom Thanos had disintegrated.

At the same time Past-Nebula uses the time machine to transport past Thanos and his warship to the present where he attacks the Avengers’ compound, and we come to the climax of the film.

The last 30 minutes or so of the film is absolutely breath taking as we have all the avengers (YES ALL) face Thanos and his army. I was like a little boy in a sweat shop. I had a huge grin on my face and tears rolling down my face as I watched all the heroes fight. As a child I watched all the marvel cartoons and I could only dream of seeing them all on the big screen. It was just a joy to watch.

In the end Iron Man sacrifices himself to use the stones to disintegrate Thanos and his army.

Following Stark’s funeral, Thor appoints Valkyrie as the ruler of New Asgard and joins the Guardians of the Galaxy. Rogers returns the Infinity Stones to their original places in time, and remains in the past to live with Peggy Carter. In the present, an elderly Rogers passes on his shield to Sam Wilson.

Before I go on, I just want to touch on a couple of plot holes that I saw.

1.      Is Loki still alive somewhere with the tesseract.

2.      And if is alive somewhere, why was he in prison on Asgard in 2013 when Rocket and Thor retrieved the reality stone from Jane Foster.

3.      Why didn’t Future Nebula die, because she killed her past self. Wouldn’t that be a paradox.

There are probably others. Anyway, If we ignore these I think this was perfect ending to a decade of films. I was an emotional wreck at the end.

It started with iron man 11 years ago but After 21 Movies, avengers endgame is the perfect culmination of an era of marvel movies. No other movie franchaise has ever attempted anything like this before. And if you haven’t seen the other marvel movies you probably wont appreciate the gravity of this film. But in my opinion Avengers: Endgame was absolutely fantastic and fulfils your wildest expectations with all its might, delivering a grand spectacle that will literally make you draw your breath, clap and whoop, and jump out of your seat all at the same time. Absolutely Amazing. It’s very well-paced and you’ll be so wrapped up in all the frantic action and character moments that you won’t even notice how long it is. The 3 hours just flew by for me. I thought the acting by Robert Downie jnr and Chris Evans was absolutely outstanding. In fact all the acting from all the stars was brilliant.

The effects were amazing. I have literary run out of superlatives to describe how good this film was. I don’t think this will ever be surpassed or ever repeated for that matter. I know for some people, particularly non marvel fans, it may lost on them and not be that good but for me I can honestly say this was the best super hero film I have ever seen.

But I will leave you with this thought! Who would of thought  at the end of avengers infinity war that a rat would save the day in the end?

That’s just my opinion though, what do you think?

P.S I have also done a review of Avengers Endgame on my YouTube channel.

Click here for my video review

Did you know I have 2 YouTube Channels?

Sorry I have not written a blog for a quite a while. This is due to 2 main reasons. Firstly because of my health condition I have found it very hard and second I have been busy building up my YouTube channels.  I would like to go back to writing Blogs again even if it is just something small and I will try to upload something once a month. So please be patient as sometimes this may not always be possible because of my health. But This blog with hopefully will be the first of many.

As you are aware I have chronic kidney disease and had to retired from work due to ill health in 2015. To relieve my boredom and to keep my mind occupied I started making YouTube videos.

I now have 2 YouTube channels, my main channel and my gaming channel.

On my main channel you will find a wide range of videos. These include talking about my journey coping with kidney disease, product reviews, recipes, Film reviews, TV reviews and other Vlogs.

On my gaming channel you will find a wide range of videos of games that I attempt to play on the Xbox or PC. I love playing video games and making YouTube Videos of them.

I am not an expert by any means and do this as hobby to relieve my boredom.

I enjoy making videos and I try to upload a video each week, but sometimes because of my health this is not always possible.

If you want to see some of my videos then please click on the links below

Click here for my main channel

Click here for my gaming channel

Kidney Failure Update: Natural Remedies I use to help with my Kidney Disease

Hi there,

I hope every body is well. This blog is about some of the natural remedies and supplements I use to help alleviate my chronic kidney disease. 

Ever since my I was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease I have always been on the look out for natural remedies and foods that can help me so I don’t have to take drugs with horrible side effects. As I have said before there is no cure for chronic kidney disease/kidney failure and so I thought I would try natural medicine as it would be away to bring the body back into harmony with itself and its surroundings and so help the body heal itself.

Therefor I decided to try some natural remedies to see if they will help. I will go through a list of some of the natural remedies/Supplements that I actually use. 

1) ALPHA LIPOIC ACID 

I take alpha lipoic acid capsules as this is an antioxidant. Because high amounts of oxidants is thought to be a cause of kidney disease then reducing the levels of oxidants in the body nay reduce the strain on the kidneys. So Alpha Lipoic acid is used as a kidney-healing nutrient. It does this by helping to increase cellular kidney energy for healing. It increases energy, reduces blood glucose levels, prevents diabetes and can be used in the treatment of cardiovascular disease and much more.  It can be found naturally in Liver, potato, broccoli, brewer’s yeast, spinach. 

2) CO-ENZYME Q10

I also take Co-enzyme Q10 tablets. This is an important vitamin-like substance required for the proper function of many organs and chemical reactions in the body. It helps provide energy to cells. It also has antioxidant activity. This enzyme helps increase cellular kidney energy for healing. Also it helps with heart disease, lowering blood pressure and increasing energy.  It can be found in chestnuts,  salmon, almonds, broccoli, sardines, hazelnuts, and mackerel

3) OMEGA 3/FISH OIL

Another supplement I take is Omega 3 capsules. Fish oil rich in omega 3 have been shown to be particularly beneficial in healing as it reduces inflammation, reduces high blood pressure and decreases cholesterol. It has been used for many kidney-related problems including kidney disease and kidney failure. It is also most often used for conditions related to the heart and blood system. It can be found in a range of oily fish.

4) VITAMIN C & VITAMIN D

I take these in multivitamins tablet form.

Vitamine C is another powerful anti oxidant. It helps reduce inflammation and boost the immune system.  It can be found naturally in wide range of vegetables and fruit.

Vitamin D is another vitamin used to boost the immune system. Because the kidneys help produce the body’s Vitamin D stores people with kidney disease sometimes have vitamin D deficiency.  It can be found in sardines, salmon and milk.

5) GARLIC & GINGER

I eat a lot of garlic and ginger. These are also Anti-oxidants.  And they boosts the immune system and helps keep the heart healthy.  Both of which also help maintain the circulatory system, regulate blood sugar levels, reduces blood pressure and decrease cholesterol.

In addition I just want to mention Curry. Not only does curry include garlic and Ginger it also contains a lot of other ingredients good for the body including Tumeric, Chili and Coriander. So I eat a lot of curry, which is good as I love curry :).

Other things that I have heard are good for the kidney include Cucumber, Astragalus, Green Tea, Nettle Tea, Lavender, Ginseng and many others. There is a lot of information on the internet on natural remedies if you look. And I did a lot of research before hand. But I will say this, just be sure to check with your doctor before taking any natural medication. Due to my anti rejection tablets I could not take Astragalus or Ginseng because of the potential for interaction between them.

There is little scientific evidence that some of these remedies work as there have not been many clinical trials done. But there are is lot of papers and information on the internet about the benefits of these natural medicines. Therefor I am not saying these magically work but I am giving them a go. They may slow down my illness and prevent me from going on dialysis. Or they may just have a placebo affect. I just don’t know. But I am willing to give anything a go to help slow down this disease and improve my quality of life.

But on a final note, I will repeat, if you do want to take natural remedies or supplements always check with your doctor first just in case they interact with any drugs that you may be taking or whether they would suit you because of your particular condition

Thanks for reading.

I also did a YouTube Video about this subject.

Natural Medicine I use in my kidney disease

P.S Please remember more than 10,000 people need and organ transplant in the UK. So donation is extremely important.

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

 

My First Trip to Old Trafford watching a football match – The Legends Match

Hi there,

I hope every body is well. This blog is about my first trip to Old Trafford to watch a football match.

On Saturday 2nd September my son and I went to Old Trafford to watch a Legends match between Manchester United and Barcelona.

As you may know Old Trafford is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of around 75,000, it is the largest club football stadium in the United Kingdom.

I have been a Manchester United fan ever since I was young and this was my first ever time watching a match at Old Trafford. I know it was just a legends match but it still felt special.

It was a lovely sunny warm day and I remember feeling very excited when I arose. I was like a child in a sweet shop. We got to the ground at around 12 (kick off was at 3pm). My son and I had a slow walk around and took in the atmosphere.  Outside the ground was the fan zone with some things for children to do.

We started queuing up to get in the stadium at around 1pm. We got inside and found our seats, in the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand. The view was absolutely amazing. I was awe-struck.

Here are some pictures I took of the day.

We watched “The Vamps” perform before the start of the match. But was a bit of a let down as they were only on for around 20 minutes. I was expecting much longer. And other than that there was not much else pre-match entertainment. And further more there was not much at half time either. But this did not affect our enjoyment of the day.

A minutes silence was observed before kick off (in remembrance of those affected by Terrorist attacks in Manchester & Barcelona) and you could of heard a pin drop as an eerie silence came over the stadium. It was quiet an emotional feeling seeing every body observing it.

Finally we cheered as the match kicked off. And I was not disappointed as the game itself was brilliant. It was end to end stuff and full of action. Because of where we were seated I was really close to the action.  And I felt privileged seeing all the different “Legend” players from both sides. I saw Van Nistelrooy, Dwight Yorke, Ji-sung Park, Edgar Davids, Luis Garcia and many others. It just made the day extra special.

Although it did not really matter (in my opinion) who won, as it was a great spectacle and all the money raised was going to local charities, the match itself ended 2-2 (Manchester United won 5-3 on aggregate, as they had won 3-1 away in Barcelona).

The atmosphere was amazing and we had a fantastic time.  We even participated in a “Mexican Wave” at one point. The stadium itself is amazing and the staff were very helpful. However, I must admit the food and drink was very expensive. I spent £20 on a couple of drinks and an ice cream!

But on the whole, it was a great day :).

Check out this YouTube video I did of our trip.

My first visit to old Trafford

 

Kidney Failure Health Update: Coping with Depression

Hi there,

Here is another short update of coping with kidney failure. Today I want to talk about a touchy subject and that’s depression and other emotional symptoms that go along with my illness. Depression is extremely horrible to have.  And people with chronic illness also have to endure depression and other emotional problems as well as their main illness.  But some people think that depression is trivial and not a genuine health condition. They’re wrong – it is a real illness with real symptoms.

I find it very difficult to talk about but I thought I would write a blog about it.

I am sorry to admit but because of my illness I find it very difficult to cope. As a result I feel extremely depressed at times.

It is really difficult to explain how I feel. I have mood swings, paranoia, depression. Some days I feel isolated and angry, others days I feel insecure and stressed. I over analyse and over think things. I get worried very easily and have very little patience. As a result I get irritated and lose my temper quickly. My memory is bad.  I struggle to remember simple things. Sometimes I struggle to get my words out and become very frustrated. Some days I feel like I am spinning out of control. And sometimes it feels like I am being sucked into a black hole. Other times it feels like I need to cry and scream and kick and shout. Then other times I go quiet and just want to be left alone.

I feel angry, guilty and alone. I guess this is due to a number of reasons. For example that I cannot be the bread-winner of the family or the father/husband I want/use to be. And also I feel guilty and angry that the transplant did not work. I blame myself. I also think I feel this way because I was disowned and betrayed by my own brother who thought I was imagining my chronic illness and exaggerating my horrible symptoms. I don’t think I ever got over being stabbed in the back by him or understand why he did it (but that’s another story), which I guess has torn me up inside.

The symptoms seemed to have progressively got worse over the past year. For a while now I have ignored the fact that I have these emotional problems. But it has got so bad that I cannot ignore it anymore and so decided to do something about it. I have decided to seek counselling. unfortunately my transplant clinic do not offer counselling so I have had to be refered by my GP. But there is a long waiting list to be seen by a counsellor on the NHS. I was told it could take from 4 to 6 months.  So in the mean time I have decided to take advantage of the free telephone service offered by Kidney Care UK.

http://www.kidneycareuk.org

I found out about the service by accident. One day I put a posting on the kidney care Facebook site asking about counselling and somebody from Kidney Care UK mentioned that they offer a free phone counselling service. So I rang them up and started my phone counselling sessions last week.

Hopefully these sessions will help. But it has helped me a lot recognising I have depression and talking about it with some body impartial. By sharing my problems it feels as though a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. So I would encourage anyone who thinks that they are suffering from a mental health problem to seek out some sort of counselling.

Anyway, I think that is it for now.

Thanks for reading.

P.S Please remember more than 10,000 people need and organ transplant in the UK. So donation is extremely important.

http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk

.

 

 

Kidney Failure Health Update – Don’t be stubborn and always listen to your wife

Hi there,

I have not done an update on my health for a while so I thought I would give you a short update.

Its been over a year and half since I have had my transplant. Unfortunately the new kidney has never worked properly.

This week I had my 3 monthly appointment with the Kidney transplant specialists at North Staffordshire hospital. My bloods results were as expected with my kidney function hovering around the 18 mark. The Doctors did not really say anything else except confirming that the donor kidney is only providing a little bit of kidney function. Although the new kidney has not worked as I expected I guess it has helped keep me off dialysis for the time being.  I have not been put back on the transplant list as the threshold to be put on the transplant list is 15% kidney function. But even though I still feel crap they cannot do anything for me. And they will not remove the kidney or reduce the anti-rejection medication.

Since my transplant I have been up and down. Some days I have been ok but most days I feel terrible. I try to do as much as I can and I try to keep my mind active. But it is getting more and difficult. I don’t know if it is the effects of all the anti-rejection medication I am on but the fatigue and tiredness seems to have worsened over the year. Most days I cannot do anything. So I take each day as it comes. If it is a good day I try to do as much as I can. If it is a bad day I do nothing.

In February I was admitted to hospital with a severe stomach bug.  I remember it was a Tuesday morning (well it was Shrove Tuesday to be exact) and I had just come down for breakfast. I was in the middle of making pancakes with poached eggs when I felt incredibly unwell. I felt extremely dizzy and light-headed. The room was spinning and the last thing I remember is thinking I needed to sit down before I collapse. Then the next thing I remember is coming round on the floor with my wife standing over me. She was on the phone to the ambulance. I told her I was fine and persuaded her not to continue with calling an ambulance. She then wanted to call the kidney unit but again I persuaded her not to.

I felt extremely unwell and had severe diarrhea but I did not want go into hospital as I thought I just had a bug and I will get over it. It took 3 days for my wife to eventually persuade me ring the kidney unit and go into hospital. I was incredibly stupid and stubborn. The hospital ran tests and determined I was severely dehydrated and that my kidney function, Potassium and Magnesium levels were dangerously low. They immediately put me on a drip. Further blood tests revealed that I had Camplyobacter (which is a common cause of food poisoning). They did not give me any antibiotics as it was just a matter of riding it out until it had all got out of my system.

After a few days (most of it spent on the toilet) and several drips I had recovered enough to go home. But this event taught me a valuable lesson. Don’t be so stubborn in the future. Listen to your body and more importantly always listen to your wife :).

I have to remember that I am not as healthy as I used to be and I cannot fight illnesses like I use to.  They are dangerous to me and I need to go to hospital if needed.

Anyway, that’s about it for now. thanks for reading.

Remember more than 10,000 people need and organ transplant in the UK. So donation is extremely important.

http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spider-Man:Homecoming my review

Here is my review of Spider-Man:Homecoming (Released at Cinema in July 2017) which my family and I saw at the cinema recently.

I was not really sure whether I would like as the previous Spider-Man film (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) had let the franchise down. But I had high hopes because it was a joint enterprise with Marvel and his brief appearance in Captain America: Civil War was brilliant.

Spider-Man Homecoming is the first of its franchise but thankfully, it was not an origins story.  We pick up the story with an already powered up Peter Parker, played by Tom Holland, living with his Aunt May in Queens, living the life of a teenage school kid in high school with super powers.  I really like the fact that they didn’t go through the whole origin story again. As every Spider-Man fan knows Peter gets bit by a spider, he gets powers and he figures out his life as a hero.  You can only re-tell the same story so many times. We didn’t really need that story for a 3rd time.

Anyway, This film starts following the Battle of New York (from avengers assemble) as Adrian Toomes (played by the brilliant Michael Keaton) and his salvage company are contracted to clean up the city, but their operation is taken over by Tony Stark’s U.S. Department of Damage Control (D.O.D.C.). Enraged at being driven out of business, Toomes persuades his employees to keep the Chitauri technology they have already scavenged and use it to create and sell advanced weapons.

We then pick up the story 8 Years later where he is thriving in the city as a crime boss/arms dealer called, The Vulture and providing for his family and friends. At the same time Peter Parker (Spider-Man) has been drafted into the Avengers by Stark to help with an internal dispute (Captain America:Civil War), but resumes his studies at the Midtown School of Science and Technology when Stark tells him he is not yet ready to become a full Avenger.

But Peter continues his crime-fighting activities as Spider-Man. One night, after preventing criminals from robbing an ATM with their advanced weapons from Toomes, Parker returns to his Queens apartment where his best friend Ned discovers his secret identity. Peter and Ned then continue their investigation into Toomes with the disapproval of Tony Stark.  I won’t reveal much else as I do not want to spoil it for every body.

This is not a usual superhero focussed film, it’s more like a teen movie. As it focuses on the day-to-day troubles of a typical 15-year-old geeky teenager in high school as he tries to balance school with being a crime fighter at the same time. So if anything, it is more a Peter Parker focussed story than a Spider-Man one.  Tom Holland is brilliant as Peter Parker and Spider-Man.  He owns every scene he’s in, never getting blown off the screen by his co-stars, which include such formidable personalities as Robert Downey Jr. and Michael Keaton. Tom Hollands intelligence and good-natured manner perfectly captures Peter Parker’s youthfulness, earnestness and moral center. And throughout the film Peter screws up a lot, I mean a lot, but he’s a good kid who knows when he has to set things right and Holland sells all of that.

But I have to say Ned played by Jacob Batalon just about manages to steal the show for me as he has some particularly funny moments as Peter’s side kick.

In summary I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I felt it had the perfect combination of action, special effects and humour.

Marvel and Sony have succeeded to produce a great Spider-Man film in the marvel universe franchise. And yes there are a couple of post-credit scenes, so don’t leave too early.

 

Guardians of the universe 2 – My Review

Here is my review of Guardians of the Universe 2 (Released at Cinema in April 2017) which my family and I saw at the cinema recently.

I was really looking forward to this film and could not wait for it to be released at the cinema.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is the much-anticipated sequel to Guardians of the galaxy and takes place a few months after the previous film. The team now find themselves as galactic heroes for hire and Ayesha, leader of the Sovereign race, hires them to protect valuable batteries from an inter-dimensional monster in exchange for Gamora’s estranged sister Nebula, who was caught attempting to steal the batteries.

Afterwards it is revealed that Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) has stolen some of the priceless batteries for himself. They find themselves pursued by the sovereign drones. However, the drones are destroyed by a mysterious figure, and the Guardians are forced to crash-land on a nearby planet. The figure reveals himself as Quill’s father, Ego, who invites Quill, accompanied by Gamora and Drax, to his home, while Rocket and Groot remain behind to repair the ship and guard Nebula.

Meanwhile, Ayesha hires Yondu Udonta and his crew, who have been exiled from the greater Ravager community for child trafficking, to recapture the Guardians.

I won’t reveal much more of the story but the main thrust of the action is the Guardians trying to stay one step ahead of the Soverign and the Ravagers. But the real heart of this movie is Peter Quill meeting his father at long last. But what are his father’s motives?

I thoroughly enjoyed this film and I thought it was just as good as the first one. The best and funniest bit of the film in my opinion is the opening scene where the galactic avengers are fighting a giant octopus-like creature. But instead of keeping the camera on the battle we watch an adorable Baby Groot dancing to Mr. Blue Sky. It is really funny.

I thought the film was action packed and full of good special effects. With a good mix of action and comedy. Chris Pratt is outstanding as Peter Quill. The unifying plot thread throughout the movie is family. While Peter Quill’s lineage is a big focal point, we also learn a lot more about why Nebula has such hatred for Gamora and what went on during their childhood with Thanos, And there’s more insight given into Drax’s relationship with his deceased family. There’s time spent exploring how Rocket’s creation caused him some major trust issues, and it’s even explained where Yondu came from. As the team grapples with the conflicts and personal demons that threaten to tear them apart, their individual stories dominate the movie.

We also learn about some new characters as well. There’s Ayesha and the Sovereign, Taserface and his Ravagers, and another new group of Ravagers (with Sylvester Stalone playing their leader). Pom Klementieff is a standout as Mantis, but then, so is Kurt Russell as well who is great as Star-Lord’s father.

I love Marvel films and I was not let down on this occasion. I left the cinema very satisfied.

So in my humble opinion, Marvel have yet again produced a great film in their marvel universe franchise. By the way, there are 5 (OH YES 5!) post-credit scenes, so don’t leave too early.

 

Doctor Strange – My Review

Here is my review of Doctor Strange (Released at Cinema in October 2016) which my family and I saw at the cinema recently.

To those unfamiliar with Doctor Strange, he is not your typical superhero as he doesn’t have super powers or gadgets, instead Doctor Strange relies on magic, astral planes, time travel and extra dimensions to fight evil. I have read a couple of comics, watched a couple of cartoon versions and so know a bit about him but wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw this film. However, I did expect a lot more than the 1978 TV film version which starred Peter Hooten. Yes I am afraid I was the one person that watched that when it first came out. This TV film was meant to be pilot for a TV series, but it was never picked up as a series. Surprisingly it did not put me off superhero movies.

Anyway Back to the 2016 version. Doctor strange is played by Benedict Cumberbatch and is the 14th film in the Marvel Universe. When we first meet him at the start of the film Doctor strange is a brilliant neurosurgeon (well the very best on Earth in his humble opinion) who is egotistical, arrogant and rude to his colleagues and every one else around him. He is involved in a serious car accident (caused by his own arrogance), which disintegrates the bones in his hands along with his identity. As his ego shrinks, Strange comes to see himself as a “tiny speck in an indifferent universe”. Desperate for a remedy so that he can regain his identity, Doctor Strange travels to Nepal, where he comes in contact with The Ancient One. She is an ageless entity who offers to revive his hands while simultaneously awakening his consciousness to the unseen powers of the multiverse. However, she is actually training him to make him a defender of the planet.

We are told that whilst the Avengers fight physical enemies, the ancient one and her defenders are here protect the world against mystic threats. Who Operate from sanctums across the globe. They can leap between realities and dimensions, portal-hopping to present-day London and New York in an instant.

While Doctor Strange learns to tap into these energies and learn about astral projection, parallel dimensions and time travel he still remains desperate to find the key to healing his hands which are still scarred and shaky from surgery. Meantime, he must confront Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), a former pupil to The Ancient One who has stolen pages from her sacred texts pertaining to eternal life and is trying to steal all of the Earth’s time and is planning to turn it over to an evil lord called “Dormammu” of the Dark Dimension.

Can he save the day? you will have to watch it to find out :).

Well, what can I say. To start with, this was not your  typical Marvel film as it deals with mind-bending concepts such as parallel dimensions, time travel and mysticism. Even so, I thought this film was awesome. It was much better than I ever anticipated. It was superb from beginning to end. Although the film was approaching 2 hours long it certainly did not feel like it.   The special effects are just jaw-dropping although this film does have the look of “Inception” but this is much better in my opinion. It is a visual feast as you watch city’s bend and fold when rival sorcerers fight each other, cast spells, alter reality and run through portals into other different realities. The scene where Doctor Strange travels into different astral realms resembles what I imagine an extreme acid trip would look like (I have never taken acid myself so I would not know lol) .

Benedict Cumberbatch was brilliant and played Doctor Strange fantastically in my opinion.  He fits into the movie’s comic-book world with ease. He is witty, funny, arrogant and pulls off being a sorcerer really well. Madds Mikkelson played the “baddie” pretty well although he did feel a bit underused at times. But of course I have to mention the cloak of levitation (a magic cloak with a mind of its own) which stole the show for me.  Even my wife and son thought the film was great too. I have run out of good things to say about it. All I can say is that I left the cinema feeling extremely satisfied and can say this is one of my favourite marvel films so far. So, if you are a fan of Marvel, go and see it.

I cannot wait to see Doctor Strange join up with the Avengers. It opens up all possibilities of what may happen in future films. Will we see parallel universes or even time travel? We shall see :).