Doctor Strange

Top-notch, innovative and visually dazzling fantasy in a Marvel zone all its own, director Scott Derrickson opens up the comic-book cosmos with a witty, trippy origin story freak-out. Benedict Cumberbatch owns the title role of the arrogant neurosurgeon who after losing the use of his hands in a car crash heads to Kathmandu to seek a cure. There he trains with ancient oracle Tilda Swinton to develop his mystical and magical powers and become Earth's Sorcerer Supreme ready to stop evil disciple Mads Mikkelsen in his quest for eternal life. An impeccable cast mine the supernatural drama for emotional nuance while Derrickson brings his genre savvy to the absorbing narrative. But it's the extraordinarily eye-popping special effects that take this thrilling multiversal adventure to the next level of excitement, with mind-bending, cityscape-folding, reverse-timing and reality-alternating voyages through the Mirror, Astral and Dark Dimensions. Absolutely terrific.