Watching Doctor Strange is a strange experience indeed, as all the pieces plugged in to tell the story feel borrowed by some Marvel scripting AI from other Marvel movies but are never quite brought to life in their own right. It's an origin story void of joy and not emotionally moving in the least, as Cumberbatch's conceited surgeon gets knocked off his high horse, only to be hoisted right back onto it for little discernible reason other than a forgettable side character sputtering that "he's special." The character growth is not believable or engrossing in the least. I was literally able to predict dialogue before it came out of the characters' mouths.

The Big Baddie is about as generic as they come, and Rachel McAdams and Michael Stuhlbarg are wasted as two other characters with no inner life of their own. Instead they exist solely to prop up a protagonist while still somehow managing not to add value to his "hero's journey" in the least.

I saw this film nearly two years into the pandemic and long after its release. Maybe hype around its release weekend buoyed its reception? Hard to tell. It does not stand up well.