Doesn't quite reach that Marvel brilliance

Rating: Null/10 (5 January 2017)

The fourteenth film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the one where they most unambiguously try to bring magic into their existing universe. In this movie Benedict Cumberbatch plays Dr. Stephen Strange, a renowned neurosurgeon who must set out on a journey after a car crash ruins his hands. This will eventually end up with him discovering the existence of the mystic arts, or magic if you prefer.
The movie contains pretty much everything we've come to expect from Marvel films. Absolutely, phenomenally gorgeous visuals, which in this particular case are especially noteworthy, because they take the reality bending aspect of magic and really play with it. Think Inception, only even more kaleidoscopic. Granted, sometimes the visuals are a tad busy, but most of the time they're simply gorgeous.
We also get great actors, good humour and a villain that could have been better. Exactly what most of the Marvel movies have been all about. But in this case I found myself noticing the story formula a bit too much. It felt like the movie was simply going through motions, giving us the old, trusted, tested and patented Marvel story. I felt myself missing something new, something exciting, a twist on the old pattern. But it never came.
The second big problem I have with the movie is that the magic is actually pretty boring. What I mean by that, is that it makes sense that Stephen Strange only has a few tricks and spells in his repertoire. He's only starting out. But the villain, one of the most powerful magic users on Earth, uses the exact same tricks, with very little variation. Sure there's the dark power he's drawing, and some of the magic users have different magical artefacts, but it still felt stale, unimaginative. Elemental attacks, summoning creatures, mind control, invisibility, transmuting the terrain to your advantage, the list goes on. None of this is seen in the film. It's just blasting coloured lights and teleporting most of the time. Allows for some good kung fu fighting, certainly, but does not come close to being what it should be.
That being said, the ending is a huge exception to the issue above. It's creative, set up well in advance, makes sense for Strange's character and is simply entertaining as well as visually interesting.
All in all, for me Doctor Strange falls on the lower end of the scale when it comes to MCU movies. It is certainly a good film in its own right, but doesn't quite match the splendour of its predecessors.