Near perfect interpretation but with minor problems

Rating: 9/10 (29 October 2016)

This is as near to being a match to how I imagined the film should be as it's ever going to get. It isn't perfect but then nothing ever is, given that it's someone's interpretation of a work of art from a different medium. In the canon of Marvel films I rank this as number one but it's probably because Doctor Strange was always my favourite Marvel comic back in the sixties and the film captures the psychedelic aspects of the original perfectly even down to using Interstellar Overdrive on the soundtrack.
My first minor dislike is that the Ancient One is played by a white woman. Actually I think that changing the Ancient One's gender is inspired and Tilda Swinton is brilliant in the role. But it's hard to see why an Asian actor wasn't chosen for the role. My other dislike was the opening sequence. It seems all films have to start with some big action sequence these days but when you don't yet know its connection to the main story it has little impact except to impress you with the CGI. I would far rather this opening sequence was left on the cutting room floor and the film started with the next scene with Stephen Strange in the hospital.
Opening sequence apart, I felt that for once the CGI earned its place in Doctor Strange and was perfectly integrated into the story. The visuals often reflected Steve Ditko's style, further adding to my enjoyment of the film. I hope Marvel make some more standalone Doctor Strange movies because I can't help but feel he will be ill-served as a mere team member in one of their ensemble efforts.