“Doctor Strange” is the 14 movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and by my count, the seventh comic book movie this year. Four of the six comic movies that had already come out this year were unenjoyable, cynical messes that felt like they were made by committee rather than a director, and the trailers made me worried that “Doctor Strange” would make a fifth. However, I don’t think I have ever been so happy to be so wrong.

The main thing I enjoyed about “Doctor Strange” was its uniqueness. In a time where a new comic book movie comes out every few months, it was really nice to see one that really wasn’t afraid to get weird and make something different. “Doctor Strange” is a very strange (no pun intended) concept, with magic, mirror dimensions, immortal time demons and the weirdness of the property really helped elevate it from a generic origin story to something much better.

The MCU has always been good at finding good actors to play their leading roles, and “Doctor Strange” is no different. Bennedict Cumberbatch is amazing as Stephen Strange and much like Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark, he does a great job at making a snarky jerk transition into a likable protagonist. As a supporting character, Tilda Swinton really stole the show in parts as The Ancient One and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s role as Mordo makes me very excited to see where he takes the character.

I was also very impressed with the film visually. There were several scenes that took place in a mirror dimension, where certain magic users are able to bend the world to their will, folding buildings and streets on top of eachother. Without overhyping this, these might have been some of the most visually stunning scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie. They made for such complex, imaginative action sequences that I honestly never thought possible.

One of my favorite aspects of “Doctor Strange” was how clever it was. The movie had several scenes that chose deep character moments over loud action, and it really heightened my enjoyment. Rather than Strange going around killing people without lament like most heroes would, Strange really questions if what he is doing right as a doctor, vowing to save people rather than harm them. My favorite part of the movie might have been the conclusion, where, rather than using a big action set piece, they use a clever solution to the problem that I would have never seen coming.

As I expected, there were a few MCU-specific issues with “Doctor Strange.” The MCU has never been good at making villains, and this movie is no exception. Although Mads Mikkelsen is a good actor as Kaecilius, I probably won’t even remember his name in a week. There is absolutely nothing memorable about the character, and I’d be fine with never seeing him again. Outside of that, my only real issue is that the movie can at times be a paint by numbers origin story, swapping and Iron Man suit or a super-soldier serum for magic.

All in all, I was very surprised at how much I found myself enjoying “Doctor Strange.” With so many comic book movies coming out right now, it was really great for the MCU to keep it fresh and try a new and interesting concept. It’s always nice to leave a movie pleasantly surprised, and that’s exactly what this did for me. Between “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Ant-Man,” and now “Doctor Strange,” it doesn’t look like the MCU is going to lose by going with a strange concept any time soon.