![Image](http://dorkshelf.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Doctor-Strange-Featured-480x400-1478272694.jpg)
1.) The tale of a cocky, egotistical -- if admittedly brilliant -- surgeon (Benedict Cumberbatch) who has his talented hands shattered in a road accident and who travels to Nepal in hopes of a miraculous cure introduces actual "magic" into the MCU, although considering what we've seen in these films thus far, it's not that much of a leap.
2.) Why hire Cumberbatch -- who possesses one of the most mellifluous British accents since George Sanders -- and saddle him with a generic American Guy patois? After a period of adjustment, you can accept that he's delivering a typically fine performance, but it does rob him of a certain degree of his personal charisma.
3.) Rachel McAdams is given even less to do here that the usual Generic Love Interest you see in these MCU movies. She's a talented, vibrant actress, so it's weird she's even in the film, considering how little he has to contribute to it.
4.) Where the film really leaps to life is with its kaleidoscopic, dizzying visual effects, which possess the M.C. Escher, Mad Magazine fold-in disorientation of movies like Dark City and Inception and the druggy hypnotism of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Just as a cinematic screensaver, the movie offers up a bevy of visual wonderment.
5.) Hey, a good score in an MCU movie! Michael Giacchino's busy music is peppered with groovy, 60's-style instrumentation (sitars, harpsichord) that play well against the surreal imagery, even if the primary theme hews too closely to the one he penned for the Star Trek movies. But hey, by the anemic musical standards set by the MCU thus far, I'll take what I can get.
6.) Shame to see such a talented actor as Mads Mikkelsen wasted as a typically forgettable MCU antagonist. I can't even remember the character's name. Dude was Hannibal Lecter, and they couldn't have given him some more juicy dialogue to bite into?
7.) A bald Tilda Swinton is less eccentric than you'd expect as Cumberbatch's Yoda/Gandalf/Mr. Miyagi mentor figure.
8.) Steven Strange's cape kicks more ass than he does in the film in one of the funniest bits of business.
9.) Surprisingly few MCU Easter Eggs in this one.
10.) A sturdy, mystical adventure film that excels in its dazzling visual design and is less compelling on a narrative or character level, Doctor Strange is still solid fun.