we know when the story starts, but not where it ends.
The story starts around the time of civil war. They mention a man in experimental armor getting injured, that is Falcon
When it ends? Not sure. Dr. Strange is a fast learner. I don't know if it takes him years to learn this stuff or weeks. I think he has a convo with Rachel Macadams that reveals how much time has passed, but not sure.
nope.
It mostly likely starts around the time of IronMan 2, and the man in the experimental Armor is probably a guy wearing the Hammer IM knock off suit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz1M5i5Y4Qc&feature=youtu.be&t=1m50sSome of the events (or the entire movie) had to be taking place during or before The Winter Soldier, which is why Hydra thought Doctor Strange to be a threat worthy of mentioning by name.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGpz8Q4Jq6ABut they did a terrible job of placing this movie in the timeline, or conveying how much time was passing, because as you said, we don't know if his training took weeks, months, or even years.
Just knowing that it had to of started around IM2, and possibly ended around TWS means years had passed, but they way training, and the final battle took place, you would think it all happened rather quickly.
and the movie wasn't that long, so if I could play armchair director, i would make a few changes:
1: I would have dropped subtle hints about the year i the beginning. His invitation to the speaking engagement being the annual award dinner of 2010 or something. (this is very minor though, not that important, other than to establish the placement of this movie in the timeline)
2: His montage of looking for a cure, and not being to use his hands just a minute or 2 longer. Show more of him getting frustrated because he couldn't even hold peas on his fork or something. A few more failed doctor visits, alternative methods, etc etc. show the trip to TAO as an absolute last resort and final ditch effort. Not that this was portrayed poorly, but more so to really show how desperate, selfish, and verbally abusive he was.
3: Give Kaecilius 3-5 more minutes of development, setting up his plans, recruiting and explaining his desires. Maybe deciphering the pages he had read or more to the connection ritual so we have more insight on his point of view and give his character a little more depth. Maybe a quick scene where he also took over and blew up the Tokyo Sanctum.
4: Add a few seasons changing to a montage of Strange continually getting his ass handed to him or just failing during training, and the later half showing him exceeding the students next to him.
I actually would have shown him show up to training in astral projection form, and had Mordo come wake his physical form and make him physically come to training. I think that would have been funny, and shown that Strange has progressed so far, that he is now doing all this in his sleep. This would have also doubled as letting Mordo show off some.
5: Fastforward through a montage of Strange deaths, dozens upon dozens of them, a few of them were he seems to dodge attacks, or not die instantly. for one to show that it wasn't 10 attempts before Dormammu gave in, and two, to show just how dedicated Strange was to this selfless act. Maybe even a scene in the middle of it where Dormammu tries to leave, and Strange follows him while trying to bargain in his ear. Dormammu kills him out of annoyance, and then back to the rest of the fastforward death montage.
I know that we know that it was probably days worth of attacks before Dormammu gave in to Strange's terms, but the general audience walked away thinking what was shown was it.
same issue with the training. I think it would have helped the movie to to add maybe a total of 10 or so minutes to add the stuff above. The movie was only like 1hr 52 minutes or something like that, and the 1st two suggestion are minor, but to include another 10 minutes to add depth to Strange, Mordo, Kaecilius and Dormammu would have been more than worth it.
Overall I liked the movie, but I think those few changes could have improved things a lot.