The movie “Doctor Strange” tells the story of Doctor Stephen Strange who, after a life-endangering car accident, is left unable to perform his work, leaving him depressed and unsatisfied in life. Looking for a solution, he travels to foreign lands in search of more “unorthodox” methods of healing his now broken hands. There he learns of an entirely new side of the reality he once knew. While at first he reacts aggressively he, along with the audience, soon learns that he is a natural in the mystic arts. He then finds himself in the center of a battle where the stakes are life and death on a planetary scale. Eventually, Strange comes out the victor, both over the evil threatening to destroy the world and over his negative traits.

“Doctor Strange” as a movie benefited from impeccable acting on multiple accounts. Benedict Cumberbatch acted within his typical niche of arrogant genius a la “Sherlock” and other projects. He provided a well acted performance during all moments of Dr. Stephen Strange’s character arc — from the moment he is involved in a car accident and is at his worst to the point where he is ready to save the world. His acting is great from start to finish.

The other star performance of the movie comes in the form of Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One,  Dr. Strange’s mentor and the renowned Sorcerer Supreme. She brought to the screen quite a bit of humor while also being a very graceful presence. She embodied everything such a character should; wisdom, power and kindness. Her character also turned out to be more interesting than I had perceived from the trailers, with her bending the rules to do what she feels is right.

Aside from the acting, the visuals in this movie were amazing, playing with some effects that I have never before seen on the big screen. Crystallized formations and reflections were sights to behold, giving me a feeling of awe. A downside to this, however, is that at some points I really could not tell where to look because everything seemed to want to grab my attention. While the movie was a spectacle at times, it was definitely too flashy.

The film’s music was very typical of a Marvel film with a variety of instrumentals, but none particularly sticking out. However, it is fairly forgivable as it is nothing new.

Something I disliked about the movie was the story. Nothing in it was particularly great other than the great performances by Swinton and Cumberbatch. The characters of Dr. Strange and The Sorcerer Supreme really carried this film for me as all other characters were very bland and forgettable. In truth I only really remember their names and Dormammu; the big bad of this film, and that’s just because it was an interesting name. He, as a villain, was not interesting at all — a typical force of nature type villain with no personality other than ‘I want to destroy’. His henchman played by Mads Mikkelsen isn’t any better. I blame that less on the acting, as the acting was good, and more on the bland writing for both villains. However, I will commend the movie for giving it a very unusual form of victory. While he does typically save the day, his method to defeat Dormammu is unique to say the least.

In truth, Doctor Strange was a set-up movie and, as such, the story lacked any real substance. Hopefully its connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and perhaps a sequel will pay off. Nonetheless, “Dr. Strange” provided an entertaining enough experience with fantastic visuals and great acting.