MARVEL Saves Their BEST Trick For Last with their Dizzying, Dazzling, Daring Foray into The Fantastical

Rating: 10/10 (8 November 2016)

I must still be in my astral form, floating in an etherium of utter, unbelieving, bliss, gliding, translucent and glowing, for my feet have not touched the ground once. Forget everything you know about Superhero movies, a beloved genre that began beautifully as an eccentric niche, and was falling dangerously close to convention. Let your mind be opened to the infinite impossibilities that await you...................
Doctor Strange is a MASTERWORK worthy of the name, MARVEL!!! It is unprecedented in every mirrored and reflected facet, unparalleled in its incredulous abilities, there has NEVER been a film like it, it's breathtakingly innovative, truly groundbreaking, a kaleidoscope of unimagined vibrance, and mind-blowingly BEAUTIFUL!!!!! With a man at the heart of it all that is nothing less than pure MAGIC. I didn't watch a film last night, no, I EXPERIENCED a man transformed, body, mind, and soul into a superhero, and saw a star BURST into a powerful, blinding, supernova!!!! Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you an unstoppable force, the INCREDIBLE, INCOMPARABLE, SENSATION Benedict Cumberbatch!!!!
Mr. Cumberbatch doesn't just act, he BECOMES, giving life and laughter to a BRILLIANT Doctor at the top of his profession. His Stephen Strange is arrogant yet endearing, prickly yet charming, well-liked and jovial. He's got the world on a string and he knows it, and his steady hands have been magic from the beginning, garnering for him wealth, and acclaim, a career that he adores, prizes as if it were a real and breathing love interest. Stephen Strange feels so intricately nuanced and real, as exquisitely woven as the nerve cells he so expertly navigates. It's as if he's the other dimension, American Cumberbatch, like he's been living all this time in a parallel universe, just on the other side of the mirror, an ingenious doppelganger, who's as talented at neurosurgery, as Benedict is at acting. I believed him completely, as this rockstar doctor, dancing to 70's music, outshining his peers, laughing and quipping with the interns. I believed entirely that he could actually perform all of those complicated, impossible surgeries without batting an eye. Again, Ben doesn't "play," Stephen Strange he creates him.
Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch has exquisitely OUTDONE himself in this fast-paced, highly decadent, soaring epic of an origin story. It's so refreshingly new, so unique, unlike anything ever done before, a novel and masterfully executed, feat of cinema sorcery. It's a soaring magical kaleidoscope trip through the infinite and the impossible, a Technicolor, twirling dream through time. With his Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch has broken into a whole new untouched celestial realm of his vast and uncharted talent. I'm still a bit shell shocked...........
The visual effects are in themselves MYSTIFYING, and spellbinding, cleverly tricking the eye again and again, until you're SURE what you are seeing, is in fact real!!!! Think of the first time you saw a magic trick, no matter how seemingly simple, as a child. Remember that astonished look on your face, that wonder and baffled merriment as you tried to figure it, but couldn't!!!! THAT'S what Doctor Strange is!!!!! Countless times I thought, with wide, incredulous eyes, "HOW did they do that!?!?" I've seen movies in IMAX before, but I was not at all prepared for these breathtaking, heart-racing, effects that I not only saw, but LIVED through, up close in this EXCEPTIONAL world!
The supporting cast is excellent. Rachel McAdams is the gorgeous, natural beauty of Stephen's Ex, who keeps up with him, puts him in his place, and brings out something tender and gentle in him, as revealed in a beautiful, and loving inscription on the back of his watch. It's a moment that surprises and quietly delights, tugging at your heartstrings in the sweetest way. Benedict Wong's straight faced, dead pan reactions to Stephen's tom-foolery, and wittily relevant pop culture references, is BEYOND perfect, and there's this HILARIOUS scene of him listening to Beyonce that made the whole audience laugh SO hard!!!! It's a wonderful moment, and you really get invested into Stephen's side sojourn to make Wong laugh!!!! Tilda Swinton is a REVELATION!!!!! She's ethereal and mystic, and preternatural, as the Ancient One. Her voice sings with such old world wisdom, and again, her chemistry with BENEDICT is scintillating!!! Her tranquil strength, her enlightened power........... all prove her to be the ONLY choice as Stephen's Sagacious Sensei. All those naysayers who were wary of her casting will be FOREVER silenced after seeing her in action.
Marvel and Benedict Cumberbatch have made magic and mysticism real before our very eyes. Ben becomes their greatest, and most multi-faced, three dimensional hero. What makes him so compelling as a superhero for me is his vulnerability. He's not a hulking, gamma-radiated specimen. He doesn't have laser eyes, an iron suit, or even super strength. He has the power of his mind, the magic coursing through his fingers, and the inner peace of enlightenment. He's the hero that MARVEL desperately needed, to bring new enchantment to their Universe, to take audiences to new worlds, and show them places they can't even imagine. This film is a labour of love and a testament to the mesmerizing caliber of everyone involved. For the Man with the Magic hands, this is the golden portal to everything he's worked so relentlessly for. This is his moment, his entrance to the beyond. A level of stardom that he has so rightly deserved since he first uttered those immortal words back at Baker Street. Like Strange himself, he's got time on his arm, and magic at his fingertips. I'm ready to take this adventure with you, Stephen, by astral forms, between dimensions, and through conjured portals.The beyond, the awaiting wonders and dangers beckon. The portal opened, a limitless power protected, a hero rises, and the impossibilities are endless...............