The Most Visually Striking Marvel Film So Far

Rating: 8/10 (1 November 2016)

If there's one thing Doctor Strange has going for it, it's the sense of style. This is an incredible looking film, like Inception except take out the symbolism and amp up the excitement to eleven. The film convincingly makes magic look cool, and in a totally different way to other film's portrayals of magic. This ain't a Harry Potter rip off, that's for sure. The Magic here is a mix of Eastern philosophy, metaphysics, and some classic sci-fi mumbo-jumbo, but it feels fun and convincing enough.
I feel the film does lack in some areas. Mads Mikkelsen severely underused in his role as the villain, Rachel McAdams plays a romantic interest more boring than Natalie Portman in Thor (seriously Marvel, please work on your female characters. Besides Black Widow and arguably Pepper Potts, you are lacking in that department) and the Doctor himself is a bit unlikeable in a few bits, but really it's a redemption/hero origin story, so it's not as bad as it could have been.
I really did like Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, though. There was some controversy surrounding the casting of a British woman as a person who was in the original comics an old Tibetan man, but Swinton does a great job as playing a very unconventional 'wise person' trope. She is powerful, but has a sense of humour, and her casting bypasses the potential of some questionable issues of racial stereotypes present in the original version of the story. I also liked Benedict Wong as the temple librarian. He's a great minor character that really fits into the Marvel Universe.
The greatest of commendations really goes to the Post Production crew, with some of the best looking visual effects I've ever seen. I saw it in 3D, and while it isn't at all necessary to do so, the 3D effects really did elevate some of the more abstract and hallucinogenic sequences in the film.
Overall, Doctor Strange is up there as one of the better films in the Marvel Canon, and in my opinion, the best looking one so far.