Dormammu, I've come to bargain!

Doctor Strange (2016)

8.0/10 on IMDb
91% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chloe's thoughts: Signed, sealed, and recommended by Chloe; Watch it in cinemas
Watch if you: are a fan of Inception/Matrix; are a fan of arrogant Benedict Cumberbatch; don't mind the whitewashing
Doctor Stephen Strange is one of the world's best neurosurgeons, but when he gets involved in an accident that ends his career, he turns to the mystical world in an attempt to get his former life back.

If you haven't already seen the trailer, then be warned. This film is like Inception on acid. No, it's more than that. It's like Inception, plus Matrix, plus X-Men, plus Ant-Man, on acid.

The special effects in this film is really what makes this an incredible experience, and sets it well apart from other Marvel films. The mystic quality of this film allows them to just go crazy with the effects and illogical physics, and while there is A LOT going on in some scenes, it really works, and it looks incredible.

But bringing it back on a smaller scale, the movie was great in its performances. The whole cast is really great, particularly Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, and hey, even Tilda Swinton was good.

And yes, while there was a lot of whitewashing blacklash about this, if you put that all aside, Tilda Swinton is a great actor, and that showed through here. Every time she talked I felt like she was tucking me in for the best sleep of my life. I felt like everything was going to be okay. Every time I saw her face gently smiling at me someone, I felt like all my worries just disappeared. She was great at portraying this ancient mystical being that's so in tune with her spirit.

Was it weird that everyone was wearing ancient Asian outfits despite only one major character being Asian? Yeah, a little. But you get past that because of the actors doing a good job.

The humour was also sometimes a hit or miss for me. Sometimes it got really funny, but other times it just seemed too forced. For example, Benedict Wong was so funny in The Martian, just by his facial expressions and physical humour, but in this film I just really did not think he did a great job here (and yes, I know that his character rarely laughed, but I just felt like those jokes were not funny enough to be a running gag in the film).

Overall, I enjoyed this film, but I don't think it's a top Marvel film or one of those ones you would keep going back to, to rewatch. I think it's fun, has a great cast, an intriguing premise, and a good break from the other Marvel movies, as it's more magical, mystical, and surreal. But it's nothing spectacular; the script isn't the best, and nothing really stands out for me. However since it's an origin story, hopefully the next appearance of Doctor Strange will be better.

A few side notes:

Apparently it's good in 3D. I don't like 3D, and always try to avoid it, but let me know if you think it's good with the goggles.

Some of the scenes here were filmd by a handheld cam, and while it wasn't anywhere near shakycam level, it still felt a bit awkward at times

How funny is it that Benedict Wong stars alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, as Wong