The Matrix meets Inception with House MD

Rating: 9/10 (26 October 2016)

Went to see this movie at the Leeds/Bradford Odeon with my husband, son and son's friend last night.
In this Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Deliver us from Evil) directed and written (with Jon Spaihts: Prometheus, Passengers and C. Robert Cargill: Sinister, Sinister 2) film, from the comic book character by Steve Ditko, Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, The Imitation Game) stars as Doctor Stephen Strange the brilliant but arrogant former neurosurgeon.
Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls, About Time) is his former girlfriend Christine Palmer, who finally tires of his wallowing cruelty following the accident that robs him of his surgeons hands. By chance he hears of a former physiotherapy patient who walked again following a seemingly incurable back injury, so he decides to find out more. This leads him to Jonathan Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt: Clear and Present Danger, Demolition Man) who tells him to seek Kamar-Taj and The Ancient One who can open his mind to unknown mysteries of the universe that could be the answer he is seeking.
Once there, Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor: 12 Years a Slave, Children of Men) takes him to The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton: The Chronicles of Narnia, We need to talk about Kevin) who can begin his magical education.
Strange's arrogance still has not left him though, so he distracts Wong (Benedict Wong: The Martian, Moon) from his post in the library and reads a forbidden text which leads him to the enemy, Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen: Casino Royale, Hannibal), and he must choose between his new life and his old.
This film had so much fantasy action it made the head spin. Brilliant effects reminiscent of The Matrix and Inception, coupled with fantastic action and a good story. It also had a believable villain (though a tad underused) and set pieces of fighting/imagery that pulled you into the fantasy world and didn't let go.
Cumberbatch was a strong lead and even though we felt he was channelling House MD, his arrogance did not tip over into being unlikeable (a fine line Marvel treads well, e.g. Iron Man), therefore we really cared about his character. The one liners that were trickled in helped to ground the movie and the odd nod to the wider Marvel Universe never hurts. Swinton was spot on as The Ancient One (despite fandom having a problem with her casting when it was announced, I think she convinced as the powerful yet flawed mystic) and it was great to have a strong female lead that got so much screen time. Sadly, the same could not be said for McAdams who though wasn't the romantic interest as such (Strange and Palmer had broken up), she did feel like a bit of a thinner character that the rest, which was a shame as she was clearly more than capable of just chemistry and laughs. Ejiofor was also outstanding (again a casting against character like Swinton), as were Wong and Mikkelsen, who unfortunately also suffered from lack of screen time, ditto the rest of the henchmen, but these are small problems when you take the film as a whole.
The real heart of the film is the dynamic between Cumberbatch and Swinton and the scenes where they are together, resonate and fill you with anticipation for how the rest of the Marvel Universe characters (Superheroes and Gods) might fare against, or teamed with, Strange.
A visual feast (which I am sure would only be enhanced watching it in 3D) and leaves me wanting more, roll on the Doctor Strange franchise.
There are two credit scenes, so be sure to stay right until the end and don't worry about keeping your eyes peeled for the Stan Lee cameo, it feels so crammed in it nearly takes you out of the action of the film.
Matrix meets Inception with House MD 9/10