Doctor Strange, 7.5/10

[Arce]

Benedict Cumberbatch (Alan Turing from The Imitation Game, or Sherlock Holmes from Sherlock) plays doctor strange, a neurosurgeon who loses the ability to operate when his hands become damaged in an accident. In an attempt to mitigate his loses, he seeks spiritual healers on the remote end of the globe. But he finds more than he was expecting; the healers are in fact trained magicians who can channel interdimensional energy. He begs to be trained and eventually becomes a great magician himself. His training is interrupted, however, when an attack is launched from a being in a timeless dimension attempting to subjugate the world and its inhabitants. He must decide if he goes back to his old life as surgeon, or continues the path of a magician defending Earth.

* Plot 6/10
Although a little cliche to those accustomed to superhero movies, the development of the storyline does hook you early and hold interest. Yes, it is formulaic, but the cast choices and situational revelations keep things moving in a way typically expected from an action film. The story does play to some interesting allegorical musings about the cosmos, envisioning what cannot be seen, and the human method for knowledge acquisition. But although I personally have great things to say in this regard, this is still the weak point of the film.

* Characters 7/10
Benedict Cumberbatch adds much value to the story and is an excellent cast choice. Additionally, other characters appear suited for their screenspace and develop in a natural way. Some mechanics were left to be desired between the protagonist and the nurse female he holds a relationship with.. But the antagonist is well done as is the supporting crew.

* Visual Effects 9/10
Although this may very well not scale into the future, many of the after-effects are rich in symmetry, visual disparity, and the viewer is able to suspend his disbelief in this regard. Some of the environmental effects seen for the first time in Inception are used to great affect, and even have an added layer of complexity as fractals become involved. Additionally, the introduction to the cosmos and other dimensions is quite cool visually and is right up there with the openers in the bond films.

* Sound and music ??
I have a feeling the soundtrack was actually pretty good, but I honestly cannot recall ;p Latenight viewing ftw

* Fight Scenes 8/10
When the movie opens you almost wonder if you accidentally went to see Assassin's Creed instead. Much martial arts, artifact wielding, and even a memorable bossfight won using recursion..! Add a wicked beheading, amulet shoes/flying cape/timechannling/ice-like death sabers and Captian America styled rune shields, and there's really much to evaluate. It would probably need to be re-watched before I can be confident in having given it an 8, but that was my first impression so there.