Doctor Strange review

Doctor Strange is my third favourite Marvel Studios movie.
The sheer eloquence and ingenuity displayed before you in the cinema is enough to make you want to give this film five stars.
Add an all- star cast all giving good to excellent performances, subtle subversion of well known  Marvel movie tropes, an overly generous helping of clever comedy, well choreographed action that could possibly rival The Winter Soldier and many likeable and (a few) complex characters, and you have a contender for favourite action movie of 2016.

Can we start with the villain?
Please!
Screw you, I'll do it anyway:
Mads Mikkelson as the devious Kaecilius was genuinely surprising to me.
What? A Marvel Studios villain that came away being interesting and, dare I say it, memorable?!
Yes, surprisingly this villain has a certain degree of character, intrigue and a genuine motivation for once. Perhaps Mads adds a layer of depth not shown in the script and has tainted the character with his talent and charm, but this seems to me, to be Marvel's best villain by far.
Now, that's really not that difficult as a cliched 90's Bully, complete with the whole "gimme your lunch money" spiel, is more complex than the large majority of the MCU's villains, but this one seemed on par with Krall from Star Trek Beyond, which I also found to be a pretty decent villain.
Mads was, most likely, the most surprising part of the film for me, and as ever his acting and  delivery is top notch!
Now, let's move on to the meatier stuff; Dr. Stephen Strange himself.
Let's be honest here, Benedict was born to play this role. His resemblance to the original Steve Ditko drawings of the hand- deprived magician was damn uncanny!
And Strangely enough, he pulls it off expertly.
Benedict Cumberbatch may be the best part of this film, he definitely gives the best performance.
His character, without giving too much away, is very true to the original comic book version, with him being materialistic and arrogant and  trying to be in control of everything all the time.
He goes on a spiritual journey, and alongside Cumberbatch's equally eccentric and intriguing hero, we follow.

The story may be a tad unoriginal and similar to perhaps some other Marvel Studios movies (I am sick of this argument, so I'm not gonna make it), but it has elements that are completely its own.
It has my favourite end battle, with a neat subversion of some comic book movie tropes that I won't spoil as it made me so happy to witness, and I hope it'll do the same for you.
It has some of the most imaginative visuals I've seen since Interstellar, even if the action isn't all that impressive when compared to The Winter Soldier or Civil War, but like I said, it is well choreographed.
This is another stellar introduction movie that seems to be the least Marvel- referencing film since Iron Man; the world, although it acknowledges the Avengers and their Headquarters a few times, is very much its own.
And I advise waiting until the end of the first and second end credits have gone as both have surprises to share.

So in conclusion, I relished the ideas and creativity in this film, even if some other parts were slightly lacking.
Doctor Strange gets a magical 7/10