The MCU films are the only franchise that can reliably draw me to the cinemas and Doctor Strange is only proving that my faith is well founded. Bringing this to the screen was always going to be problematic as this is a character that was difficult to portray even in the pages of comic books. As many writers have noted, magic in theory can do anything, so how you do define meaningful constraints on what Strange can do in a way that the audience can understand? This film chooses to solve this in an interesting way: magic is visually spectacular but in the end magicians seem to mostly fight in melee like the rest of the MCU characters.

The origin story is a surprisingly straight retelling of the one from the comics. Stephen Strange is a brilliant but arrogant surgeon who loses the use of his hands in a car accident. After exhausting the possibilities of science, he turns to mysticism instead. He travels to Nepal and studies under the mysterious Ancient One. He also befriends fellow student Mordo and makes the acquaintance of Wong, who is reimagined as the librarian in this version of the story. He also learns that a splinter group of former students have stolen a ritual which they intend to use to summon the powerful Dormammu from the Dark Dimension, believing that the timelessness of this otherworldly dimension is the key to eternal life. Like all such hero callings, Strange is persuaded to sacrifice his personal ambitions in order to help to protect the Earth.

Reading around the net, the general consensus is that its story is ho-hum but the visuals are mind-blowing and well worth the cost of a movie ticket alone. The latter is certainly true as director Scott Derrickson seems determined to out-do Inception in every possible way while also being inspired on the LSD-induced trippy visions drawn by the character’s original artist and co-creator Steve Ditko. One of the most important challenges in action movies in my opinion is to come up with new ways to excite jaded audiences who have seen everything. Between the warping of physical space, the astral combat sequences and the magical constructs, Doctor Strange easily brings enough shininess to the table to please action fans. It would have been better if magic were allowed to be more versatile in combat but that’s a restriction that I’m prepared to accept to make it more comprehensible and relatable to the audience.

What surprised me is that the plot as a whole isn’t half bad, with the characters being given arcs that are more interesting than I would expect. I liked that Strange doesn’t get what he wanted originally and accepted that he has to follow a different calling in life, as exemplified by his handing over the scalpel to a fellow doctor he looked down on. I liked that the Ancient One isn’t a koan-spouting fount of mysteriousness but was instead perfectly willing to answer questions in a clear and timely manner, even if she does keep secrets of her own. Mordo’s origin story is drastically different from that of the comics but this version is infinitely superior. Best of all is the fact that the final boss battle isn’t a physical confrontation. Instead, Strange more or less beats Dormammu on a metaphysical level by understanding the nature of the Dark Dimension. That’s very much in line with the best portrayals of the character in the comics.

Of course, there are also lots of flaws to quibble about. I found myself being okay with Tilda Swinton being the Ancient One, but I was annoyed that the street thugs in Kathmandu don’t look or sound anything like Nepalese. I was also unhappy with how weak the Ancient Ones seems to be and how ineffectual the defense of the Sanctums are. They show a large number of students being trained and yet where are they when a small number of Zealots attack a Sanctum? I also found that while Derrickson tries his best to imitate the lightheartedness of the other MCU films, his attempts at humor mostly fall flat. Having Strange and Kaecilius banter over Strange’s name is mildly amusing, but the timing and mood are all off for me. Since Benedict Cumberbatch has proven himself to be fantastic as a straight man in the Sherlock series, I would assume that his comedic talents aren’t to blame for this.

One observation I have is that Doctor Strange is in some ways a throwback to the more traditional superhero story. It’s not one of those cleverer MCU films which puts on a superhero veneer onto another genre of film and as such can come close to being campy at times. That, plus Derrickson’s less than sure hand at directing, keeps this from being a top tier film in my book but it’s a worthy addition to the ever growing canon and a fantastically entertaining watch.