Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

TheLittleSongbird Having been severely underwhelmed by The Invincible Iron Man I sat down to watch Doctor Strange as these were the two that I saw recommended when reviewing one of the Justice League animated movies. I was worried that Doctor Strange would be the same, but while it does suffer from a rushed and anti-climatic ending and from trying to cram too much in it is actually a huge improvement. The animation is wonderful, the backgrounds and colours are very detailed and bold and the character designs are more fluid. The music score is both rousing and with a haunting under-current, the writing is intelligent and the story is both coherent and compelling, even though it does have a feeling of cramming too much in occasionally. The origin story of Dr Strange before he became Dr Strange is just fascinating. The characters are identifiable and engaging, somewhat standard(true of a lot of superhero movies though) but there is a clear sense of conflict. The titular character is one of those tormented characters who has a huge change in psyche between when he is himself or Doctor Strange, it is fascinating to watch. And Mordo and Dormammu are great villains. The voice acting is simply great, Bryce Johnson and Kevin Michael Richardson are the standouts. Overall, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Alec W I've recently begun watching Marvel Comics' line of straight-to-DVD animation films partly because I was bored and had only just discovered them and needed some variation in my uneventful life and partly because I really love animation films. Animation is one of those mediums I treasure because it grants escape from the trappings of reality, gravity and the laws of physics, enabling it to show you sights that couldn't possibly exist in real life, like the Hulk latching onto the throat of a 60 foot man and choking the life out of him. That said, I was put off by the previous 'installments', if you can call these Marvel animations a series. The Ultimate Avengers movies of 2006 had a plot thinner than Christian Bale during the shooting of The Machinist, and was for all intents and purposes like a dead Christmas tree; covered in glittering action sequences but barren inside. Not that I expect much depth from a dozen vaguely related comic book franchises blended together into the big pile of paperbacks and money that is Ultimate avengers. I'm sure every one of these superheroes had their own story, with their own issues to work out, but there simply isn't time for all that if at least half of the movie has to consist of rampant action sequences. This is all fine, you know. These are movies for comic book fans who would like to see their favorite superhero jump out of the comic book panels and kick ass in animation, but some characterization would be nice. This movie is very much made for religious comic book readers and seems to assume awareness of the characters' back stories which in that case you are because you accompanied them through every page of their comic book series, and as such this movie doesn't really need to characterize them and therefore does so only vaguely. The only character I ended up empathizing with was Bruce Banner who, depressed and troubled by the Hulk, is desperate to find a way to control it. Maybe it was because I can unconsciously relate to an unattractive, bespectacled nerd who just likes to throw down and go Hulk Smash on all the bullies that took his lunch money in high school, or maybe because he was the only character whose flaws were more than informed and whose portrayal left me wanting to see more. Anyway I was supposed to be talking about another movie. Doctor Strange was an interesting premise for me from the get-go because I knew absolutely nothing about Doctor Strange, and I was looking forward to have this movie inform me about who he was and what drove him to become who he is today. I was surprised by the depth of this movie, which immediately immersed me its darker, more realistic tone. The doctor is a complex character, once kindhearted, driven and confident, now disillusioned, angry and full of unresolved grief. When first we see the good doctor - voiced in smooth baritones by Bryce Johnson - in the hospital he is refusing a patient who in a masterful dig at US medical policy was neither rich nor sick enough to warrant his interest, satire. It made it immediately clear that this guy had issues. Here is a hero who is also a flawed human being who isn't built like a vending machine with legs and to its credit the movie never glosses over things. This is truly not a movie for kids anymore, and Doctor Strange never divorces itself from reality too far; no super serums or gamma rays granting super powers here, but a spiritual journey that forces the good doctor to reconcile with his past. Even the magic shown seems to have its roots in eastern philosophies and martial arts, both of which are plausibly and satisfyingly portrayed. The movie is well-paced, interrupting the plot with occasional flashes of action exactly when needed, and giving time to let the story reach its logical conclusion. When the movie was over, I was left in its wake, wanting more, and not just because it was so good. It was too short.At just over 70 minutes, this movie, like the Marvel animes that preceded it, is short. But Doctor Strange is the only one of those movies that actually feels short. The reason why this movie feels too short is because I feel that there are two stories here, woven together less than seamlessly, leaving insufficient time to make the most of either of them, although only people that have read the comics will be able to determine whether I'm right about that or not. There is the origin story of Doctor Strange in which he finds his true calling as the sorcerer supreme that people know from the books, and then there's the other story about an evil entity of pure magical energy that wants to take over the world. Which of these you find the more interesting probably depends on your prior understanding of the Doctor Strange mythos (for a Marvel-novice like me, the origin story definitely won that one), but there was the potential for true excellence here that went sadly untapped. 20 to 30 minutes of additional runtime would have probably been enough to bring out the true heart in both stories, but as it stands the movie left me slightly unfulfilled. I was left wanting to know more of Doctor Strange's rise to Sorcerer Supreme; it went by too fast, like important tidbits that would have greatly enriched the setting had been omitted for the sake of brevity, and that's a shame I think. Kind of like if Batman Begins was only 73 minutes long. 3 stars.

brando647 Marvel Animated's fourth film has improved over their previous efforts to bring us the origin tale of Doctor Stephen Strange and how he became the Sorceror Supreme. Since I have not followed the Dr. Strange comic series, I can't vouch for how well the studio followed the actual comic stories but the movie was entertaining regardless. Stephen Strange is a neurosurgeon who is haunted by a moment in his past and, as a result, has become an uncaring, self-centered individual. A car accident robs him the use of his hands, robbing him of his career, and he embarks on a mission to Tibet where he meets the Ancient One, who trains him in the art of sorcery. Strange soon learns where his fate is leading him as he is called upon to stop the evil entity Dormammu from entering our realm.As far as the story goes, I felt this was the best yet from Marvel's Animated series. It still has a watered-down feel to it but it manages to go into detailed history of Strange's training with Wong and the Ancient One (since it spends the majority of the movie focusing on it). Since the training is the center-point of the film, we are only given a short time to witness Dr. Strange after reaching his full potential and his battle with Dormammu's forces. The are a few other battles with Dormammu's forces scattered throughout to keep the story flowing, as well as introduce the Baron Mordo's disillusionment with the Ancient One. While I had wished they had given us more time post-training to enjoy, the film was still more enjoyable than the Iron Man origin (which bored me).The movie continues to show some of the same flaws as the first three from Marvel Animated. Though battle scenes look incredible (for the most part), any scene that is more subdued or dialogue-driven feels sort of shoddy with voice/visual inconsistencies. I have to admit, the animators have gotten better at showing emotion through the character's facial features (another complaint I've had of the first three films) and they seem more fluid. As has been the case in the past, the pros outweigh the cons and this is a major improvement over Iron Man's animated run. As long as Marvel Animated continues to improve with each effort as they have here, I think they can put out some quality films in the future.

Jon P. I don't know who Marvel is making their movies for. This is a step up from the ULTIMATE AVENGERS series, mostly because it at least seems somewhat interested in the character of Dr. Strange.Bad voice acting, a plot so generic & thin I'd bet it was written on the John, and an inordinate amount of time and action devoted to secondary characters. I mean, the movie isn't even up to the standards of monthly superhero comics, that bastion of great literature. If they couldn't come up with something cool on their own, why not just adapt one of the many popular stories from the last 40 years? At least Strange squares off against Mordo and Dormammu (kinda) in this one, instead of generic aliens like in AVENGERS (twice). Still, you never get the impression that the people behind this really like the source material or understand what gives Dr. Strange his appeal. It's a movie devoid of creativity, smarts and fun.I don't mean to give the impression that I'm only critiquing this because it was unlike the comics. I'm mostly critiquing it because it's shallow and dumb. But even if shallow and dumb was a goal, rather than the result of incompetence, tapping into some of the coolness of the character or the Marvel U shouldn't get in the way of that, right? Even those who are satisfied by a movie this banal would likely be satisfied by a mature, intelligent treatment of Strange that also appealed to adult fans, or by a fun kicky movie that spoke to kids (of all ages). A movie like this really satisfies nobody but the very easily satisfied.What a waste of resources and opportunity.