"Strange" is not exceptional, but owes its overall success to striking visuals and solid characters.

Rating: 8/10 (13 November 2016)

Doctor Strange is a visually appealing "superhero birth" film that introduces another wise-cracking hero and a new universe to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ultimately, the film owes its strengths to dazzling special effects, interesting characters, and well written dialogue. The overall story is pretty good, but clearly follows the ingredients and chronology of Marvel's origin story recipe. In other words, if you're familiar with many of Marvel's recent films, the Doctor Strange narrative won't present many surprises.
The main character, Stephen Strange, comes across very similar to Tony Stark. And Strange's arc is very comparable to Stark's in 2008's Iron Man. Both are selfish, egotistical, and wealthy at the start of their stories and encounter debilitating tragedies as a result of their overconfidence. After a period of struggle, both attain great power. However, it is not the power that causes their character growth toward selflessness, but the realization that their actions have adversely affected people they care about. It's a strong character arc for sure, and Doctor Strange takes its story into some different directions However, it is worth noting that this film is largely a repetition. As Bon Jovi once said, "It's all the same. Only the names that change." If you liked all of those Marvel origin movies and still want more, then you'll probably love Doctor Strange.
Benedict Cumberbatch gave a good turn as Strange and I imagine his portrayal will become a favorite for many among the Marvel Superheros. Rachel McAdams did a good job as his love interest and helped bring out the humanistic side to Strange, but the effort to make her character remain present throughout the film by having Strange return to her for medical assistance several times didn't completely work for me. With all of the fantastical achievements characters were performing with magic in this film it seemed a little silly that McAdams and other hospital staffers were sought to save the day several times with medical science.
That little gripe aside, it was a pretty good movie. The side characters and villains were compelling enough (I particularly liked the humorous relationship between Strange and the librarian Wong). It was entertaining throughout, interjected with humor that didn't overstep itself (like with many modern Disney films), and featured a final battle between the hero and shadowy villain that was both silly and seemingly clever. I recommend it.