Wonderful and Amazing Escapist Entertainment

Rating: Null/10 (24 October 2016)

Way back when I first heard that Doctor Strange was being brought to the screen I was a bit worried. How could they translate the complexity of character and his true coolness but stay away from the cheeseball stuff? Dress a guy up like the books and remain true to the seriousness of the character? Well, they managed to not only pull it off but deliver one of the best hero origin films ever made.
The director knew that you had to establish and truly care about the character. Making it grounded but still trippy really helps give it a flavor unlike any other comic adaptation. The Harry Potter meets Iron Man meets Ant-Man flavor was there yet it all feels unique. The MCU magic is there literally. Everything established in the Captain America films and both Avengers pays dividends in a way here. The universe has been established wonderfully and this film does the best job to date playing in that universe. Everything and every scene packs some sort of punch and resonates with true style and heart. They really let the action flow but also allow for key development of the overall story and over concept. This also allows them to probe deeper into the character's personalities. ALL the characters even the ones with smaller roles get to shine. This heightens the tension, so often missing from lesser comic-book movies, and adds real weight to the action sequences which are thrilling and often mesmerizing. Add more than a dash of thriller aspects and a few new characters that steal every scene that they appear in.
I honestly can't think of one way to improve this film. The result is a movie that's just flat out exceptional and that honestly delivers the best visuals I've ever seen in a movie.