Marvelous without the Marvel

Rating: 9/10 (14 November 2016)

This was one instance of a film where the casting alone got me excited to see it. It is hard to figure out the list of other actors who were being considered for the role of Doctor Strange (Colin Farrell, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hardy, Ethan Hawke Jack Huston, Oscar Isaac, Jared Leto, Matthew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor, Keanu Reeves, Justin Theroux, Jon Hamm, Johnny Depp, & Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Benedict nails it, with a nice American accent I might add.
There are a few references to other Marvel movies throughout the film as well as some during the end credits scenes, but other than that, it is very easy to forget that this film is yet another film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film does not rely on any of the past successes of Marvel movies to build momentum for this film to be successful as well. It is a standalone from the rest.
Doctor Strange is not a normal superhero and this allows the movie to stay away from being a normal superhero movie. So if the genre of "Superhero Movies" is something that you are not into, I would encourage you to see this movie as its own thing.