It lives up to fans' expectations

Rating: 9/10 (14 November 2016)

After capturing fans' fascination in several movies and TV series, Benedict Cumberbatch is the star of Marvel Comics' new movie, Doctor Strange. In this latest Marvel production, Dr. Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch), a renowned neurosurgeon, suffers from severe nerve damage to his hands, leaving them permanently shaking. When none of the experimental surgeries work to fix his hands' instability, Strange discovers a man named Jonathan Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt), who somehow healed himself, after experiencing similar injuries.
Following Pangborn's instructions, Strange travels to a place called Karmar-Taj, where he meets the mysterious Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). All of sudden, Strange finds himself being thrown into a world of wizards and sorcerers, where he learns to create portals and weapons of energy, and even how to eventually heal himself.
Along Strange's journey to learn the mystic arts, he meets several other sorcerers, such as the skilled warrior, Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the blunt librarian, Wong (Benedict Wong), and the Sorcerer Supreme who teaches the wizards of Karmar-Taj, the Ancient One (Swinton). While there, Strange discovers the powerful Eye of Agamotto, which he uses to fight the former student of Karmar-Taj, Kaecilius, and the dreaded lord of the Dark World, Dormammu.
Directed by Scott Derrickson, Doctor Strange brings a whole new aspect to the Marvel world that fans have never seen before. Whereas other superheroes use technology as their power, Dr. Strange's power comes directly from magic and the magical relics which he discovers in Karmar-Taj. The relics are mentioned as magical objects that choose sorcerers, and enhance their power. The Cloak of Levitation, a red cloak with a mind of its own, chose Dr. Strange as its sorcerer.
Doctor Strange lives up to fans expectations in both visual effects and in the actors' performances. Much of movie is set in a different dimension, such as the Mirror Dimension, and has many scenes where the physical world is being bent into different patterns. One of the fascinating aspects of the movie is how much of the action happens while the characters are in their astral form, floating above their physical body.
Several times in the movie, the Infinity Stones are alluded to, and much the movie leads up to the next Avengers movie, Avengers: Infinity War.
The movie has several scenes with medical/surgical procedures, but they're not overly graphic. While there are multiple scenes with fighting and violence, they are more emotional, rather than bloody. Doctor Strange is rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action throughout the movie, and an intense crash scene. The movie runs 1 hour and 55 minutes.