Doctor Strange Review

Visually this is a genuine event. Derrickson and his effects teams build a kaleidoscopic architecture that folds New York and London into themselves, mirror dimension chases that run up walls and across ceilings, and an astral projection fight staged over a hospital gurney that nothing else in the series has matched for invention. The Dormammu ending deserves particular credit for resolving a blockbuster with a bargain rather than a beating, a hero who wins by agreeing to die repeatedly until his opponent gets bored.

Against that, the screenplay is boilerplate. A brilliant, insufferable specialist is humbled by injury, travels east, trains through a montage, and defeats a former student of his own mentor, which is the structure of Iron Man with robes on. Benedict Cumberbatch is good but has an accent to manage and little warmth to spare. Rachel McAdams is stranded in a thankless waiting room of a part. The casting of the Ancient One remains an unforced error the film never answers for. Mads Mikkelsen glowers effectively as another disposable antagonist. Beautiful, hollow, and entirely watchable.