Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this latest Marvel film – but does it please the critics? 

The Guardian: **** “It’s a tremendously engaging and likable superhero ride.”

NME: **** “if you’re looking for an antidote to comic book movie fatigue, Doctor Strange could be the one.”

Variety:  “while we might yawn at yet another threat to all mankind, “Doctor Strange” has been presented in such a way that this higher calling restores his ability to help the world entire. We understand that this calling matters to him, even if his motives remain a mystery.”

The Independent: *** “True to its title, Doctor Strange turns out to be wondrously bizarre.”

Indie Wire: “for the first time since “The Avengers,” the action scenes are special. Derrickson doesn’t create any sequences that are fluid and symphonic as that film’s Manhattan fight, but he compensates for that lack of grace with a surplus of wonder.”

Financial Times: *** “Whenever we return to the dialogue, interest burns up on re-entry. It’s a fretting, frustrating alternation for audiences.”

The Telegraph: **** “For Cumberbatch, above all, this foray into the Marvel universe is a huge and expensive roll of the dice. Thankfully, amid all the film’s wacky-trippy bending of space and time, he manages to steer an ideal path – taking the role seriously but allowing himself to be flummoxed by it, wittily traumatised and taken off-guard.”

Den of Geek: *** “what holds the film back is that the boundless imagination it applies to its visuals doesn’t quite extend to its story as well. But there’s still a lot to enjoy here.”

Hollywood Reporter: “Cumberbatch emphatically stresses the title character’s arrogance, impatience and sense of superiority, which makes him a piece of work for The Ancient One and anyone else who tries to guide him.”