Doctor Strange

Our Review

The origin story hits autopilot, but the visuals refuse to. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Stephen Strange, a superstar surgeon whose hands are ruined in a car crash, as a more brittle cousin of Tony Stark: arrogant, brilliant, insufferable, then broken. The familiar beats come on schedule, the fall, the pilgrimage to Kathmandu, the training montage, the betrayed mentor. What keeps it alive is the image machine around them.

The mirror dimension sequence, city blocks folding into each other like a kaleidoscope designed by an architect having a breakdown, is the franchise’s boldest visual idea since Inception made it fashionable. The time trick Strange uses to beat the god of the final act, an infinite loop of dying on purpose, remains the series’ cleverest ending, a climax resolved by stubbornness instead of firepower.

Tilda Swinton’s casting as the Ancient One sparked a deserved controversy about whitewashing an Asian role, and Mads Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius joins the long line of Marvel villains built from good actors and two character notes. Rachel McAdams gets the thankless girlfriend role and salvages more of it than the script deserves.

Formula with flourishes. Our score: 7/10.