Just a bridge episode

Rating: 6/10 (6 November 2016)

Probably the biggest reason why I went to see this movie was because I think Benedict Cumberbatch is a great actor and has done some great work the past few years. I didn't know much about the character Doctor Strange but liked a lot of the other Marvel movies, so one with Benedict just had to be great, right? And for sure the acting is absolutely the best part, but as there are some really good actors in this movie they sadly haven't got that much to work with.
For some reason the Marvel movies that only are about a single hero have started to become some sort of bridge episodes between the bigger "Avengers" movies and not much more. Just introducing characters without making an interesting enough movie about them. Benedict does what he can with what he's given and he does it very well, but that really doesn't help that the story feels kind of unnecessary. There are two obvious reasons this movie was made: 1. Introduce Doctor Strange into the Marvel universe since he most certainly has got a very crucial role in the coming Infinity War, 2. Introduce one of the remaining Infinity stones so they can make Infinity War at all.
When you think about it this movie feels rushed in production to be able to introduce the characters in time for some bigger event in the Marvel universe. The characters almost has no clear motive of why they do what they do, except maybe Dr. Strange but that's really vague too. The humor is mainly poor (the post credit scene being the funniest of the whole movie, I think says a lot). The CGI isn't that good and makes everything seem either like stolen scenes or ideas from Inception, or like a newly released computer game where the characters are obviously green-screened in.
So why should you watch it? If you follow the whole Marvel universe you kind of have to because there might be key elements introduced here. If you're a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch you probably won't be disappointed, though he has done much better films. And to be fair it's really not that bad but interesting, and somewhat exciting if you're into superhero movies. Just my expectations for a Marvel movie has gone up beyond this lately, and if you're looking for something mind-blowing you're not going to find it here.