More of the Same, But Different!

Rating: 7/10 (14 December 2016)

Perfectly enjoyable fun. Sound familiar? Doctor Strange being a different kind of hero doesn't really excuse most of this film's conventional plotting.
There's a much more interesting film in here, one in which Mads Mikkelsen isn't the main villain (yet) and getting in the way of the hero's journey and in which Tilda Swinton is even more ambiguous. Her obvious parallels to Stephen are perfectly apt and yet not allowed enough time to breathe and spin. It's all a last minute reveal and then a call to arms because plot and all is well because plot.
A lot has been made of the "trippy" special effects, and I guess they are compared to the traditional visuals employed in these types of movies. But let's not get carried away. Besides the travels through space and mind it's mostly buildings moving around like they're in Inception.
I didn't buy the last end credits scene. Useless and not earned. I'm sick of hero's with photographic memories. Let the hero be exceptional on their own merits. Action scenes could be less choppily edited. But still, it's fun in ways other recent Marvel movies haven't been.