Doesn't transition from the comic book to film

Rating: 5/10 (14 February 2017)

I'm not a Cumberbatch fan. Ever since his "demand" to speak to Theresa May I've regarded him as having an ego bigger than his ability can cash. How apt then that he plays such a character in this film. The difference of course is that in the film his character finds redemption.
The story is rather far fetched in that mystical forces are but an effort away as is the end of the world, and is just that bit overly rooted still in the comic book rather than being able to make a successful transition to film. The villains offer little menace due to an inability to relate the film to the real world. A comic book is aimed at children whereas a film needs to appeal to a wider audience and here it struggles. It's just too much of a suspension of reality to drag you in to believing the story. The hero of the piece is fast tracked through his training at a speed that must make all other trainees somewhat miffed adding to the lack of realism that even a fantasy film must anchor itself with.
The actors all do a good job, Cumberbatch included, and the effects are top notch but it's the story that lets it all down. It's just brought too much of the comic book to the film and as such it's too simple and at the same time too far fetched. It's not a turkey but it's not even close to getting into my list of films I'll watch more than once.