Doctor Strange is the latest film to come from the Marvel Comic Universe. It tells the origin story of one of the more colorful heroes.

Dr. Steven Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is the world’s most brilliant neurosurgeon, especially if you ask him. His ego is huge, but he has the talent to back it up. While on the way to a speaking engagement, he gets into an accident that effectively ruins his ability to operate, ruining his life.

Desperate, he is looking for a solution. When Western medical science can’t cure him, he turns elsewhere, and looks for a solution in Nepal. He finds it, but not the way he wants to. Strange is a man of science, and the solution he seeks is based in the supernatural, which he cannot accept. The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) attempts to convince him of the possibility, and she is able. He becomes a student of the mystic arts.

This opens up new worlds to him, ones that he could never conceive of. He dives in, using his eidetic memory to devour any book he can lay his hands on, and he is a quick study.

Unfortunately, it’s not all fun and games. There are those who stand opposed to The Ancient One’s teachings and beliefs, and they seek to overturn the order which our world is based.

It is a well-told story, and you do not need to have any previous comic-book knowledge to understand and enjoy this film. It is visually stunning, and they are given enough time to properly develop the plot, as far as it can go.

This movie really pushes some perceptions of reality. The trailers made it seem like there’d be sequences much like the world-building scenes in Inception, but Doctor Strange goes far beyond what you saw there. This is one of the rare few times I would recommend you see the film in 3D, because they make strong and purposeful use of it, throughout the movie. It really made several scenes pop, but I don’t want to spoil anything further.

I’m recommending this one, if you hadn’t guessed. There is violence in the film, of the hand-to-hand variety. It’s not overly graphic, but it is there.

There is a mid-credits scene, as well as a post-credits one.