RELEASED

Doctor Strange (Cert 12, 110 mins, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Action/Romance, available from February 28 on Amazon Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, available from March 6 on DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £21.99/3D Blu-ray £25.99)

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen.

Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a brilliant and arrogant neurosurgeon, with a minimalist Manhattan apartment and an off-limits romance with fellow medic, Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams). Years of meticulous study are jeopardised when Strange foolishly takes a telephone call in his speeding silver Lamborghini. Medical colleagues save his life, but not his career, surgically refashioning his trembling hands with 11 metal pins. Cast adrift from the world of science, Strange heads to Kathmandu in search of spiritual enlightenment in the company of an enigmatic Celtic shaman called The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), who harnesses energy to shape reality. Two of her Masters, Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Wong (Benedict Wong), take Strange under their wing and spearhead his training. As his confidence grows, Strange learns about a former Master, Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), who strayed from the path of righteousness and uses his powers for evil. Doctor Strange is the latest tumble down the rabbit hole of the Marvel Comics universe - a hallucinogenic, kaleidoscopic trip of mind-bending special effects that will either dazzle you or induce a pounding headache. City streets and landmarks fold in on themselves, rotate and collapse on multiple axes, rather like Christopher Nolan's Inception or one of MC Escher's disorienting illustrations. Cumberbatch digs deep beneath the bruised skin of his character's overinflated ego, verbalizing the inner turmoil of a self-anointed god, who learns he is flawed and not entirely the master of his own destiny. McAdams is squandered in an undernourished role as the token love interest, but Swinton imposes herself on scenes so there is at least one strong female presence to undercut the raging testosterone.

Rating: ***