Dr. Strange is visually stunning with great acting. It is also void of spirit and lacks coherence.

Rating: 6/10 (10 November 2016)

Dr. Strange: Be the Empty Vessel
Dr. Strange, the newest Marvel superhero to hit the large screen is fabulous to look at. The acting is high quality, especially Tilda Swinton, and it's a departure from the standard shoot 'em up entertainment of the Avengers and other Marvel films. That said, it's a vacuous, trite, self- important piece, much like the character of Dr. Strange himself.
It's not overly sentimental; I will give it that. But its fantastical plot leaves the audience cold. If I had seen this film ten years ago, it would have been fabulous. Today, it bores me with its mysticism. And despite the attempt by the writers to get us to buy into the world through the character of "The Ancient One," I'm not buying.
Mads Mikkelsen is great as the villain Kaecilius, but still, I don't care. There are no fast and easy romances in the film, and that's another plus. However, I found no love for any of the characters. Cumberbatch embodies the character of Dr. Strange well, even his smarminess, which is annoying at times. And he looks just like what I imagine Dr. Strange would. His "cape of levitation" skirts the edge of being a mascot akin to R2D2. I think they held back on the cuteness, and that was a good choice.
However, Wong, played by Benedict Wong, is too much of a stereotype of the stoic Asian man. That WAS annoying. Chiwetel Ejiofor was excellent as Mordo, even with some of the understandably silly mystic lines. Swinton's ability to make the mystic talk credible was worth the price of entry.
In all, it's a decent origin story with a haphazard structure and chaotic action scenes. Rating: Matinée
The film looks great and has great acting. The mysticism and actual story were a great excuse for entertaining action. However, for all the talk of 'spirit' in the film, the movie contains little.
Peace, Tex Shelters