EW Critical Mass: Doctor Strange movie reviews

Moviegoers have a lot to choose from this weekend, as four new major releases hit theaters, each of them registering a 76 percent (or higher) on Rotten Tomatoes as of Thursday, Nov. 3. From major blockbuster spectacles (Doctor Strange) to smaller prestige dramas (Loving), EW wants you to make the right decision when choosing which film to see this weekend. Use our handy Critical Mass guide below to see what the critics are saying about this week’s hottest new releases.

Doctor Strange

Opens Nov. 4.

EW’s Chris Nashawaty says:

When you strip away the Secrets of the East mumbo jumbo and psychedelic special effects, Doctor Strange is a formulaic Marvel origin story, but it’s done with high-IQ wit, all but name-checking the myth of Sisyphus and the kaleidoscopic architectural origami of M.C. Escher. (We’re a long way from the blunt-force shenanigans of HYDRA here.) Doctor Strange is thrilling in the way a lot of other Marvel movies are. But what makes it unique is that it’s also heady in a way most Marvel movies don’t dare to be. It’s eye candy and brain candy. B+

Read the full review here.

Rotten Tomatoes: 90%

Metacritic: 72

Trolls

Opens Nov. 4.

EW’s Leah Greenblatt says:

Chef’s surprise raid forces Poppy to enlist Branch (Justin Timberlake), the only naturally unjolly Troll she knows, to get her friends back — he’s been predicting the Bergens’ deadly return, and pessimism comes as naturally to him as not singing. (At least initially; three guesses how that plot twist turns out.) Their plan isn’t exactly Argo, but it does offer excellent showcases for supporting characters, including Zooey Deschanel’s dreamy, snaggletoothed scullery maid, Russell Brand’s droll Creek, and a high-fiving cumulus called Cloud Guy. Trolls doesn’t reach for the emotional resonance of DreamWorks’ more ambitious efforts; its lessons of loyalty and kindness are standard-issue, and tear ducts remain untapped. Still, the movie’s serotonin pumps like a fire hose. It’s almost impossible not to surrender to the bliss. B+

Read the full review here.

Rotten Tomatoes: 76%

Metacritic: 55

Hacksaw Ridge

Opens Nov. 4.

EW’s Leah Greenblatt says:

Comparisons are already being made to American Sniper, another treatise on the trade-off between a war hero’s glory and what it costs his soul. But despite its promise, Hacksaw never really delves into the moral grays; it’s just black and white and red all over. B

Read the full review here.

Rotten Tomatoes: 90%

Metacritic: 70

Loving

Opens Nov. 4 in limited release.

EW’s Chris Nashawaty says:

But Nichols (the whiz behind Take Shelter and Midnight Special) never gets beneath the surface of the Lovings’ relationship. What was their first date like? What drew them to each other? They exist more as symbols than three-dimensional characters. Their story is undeniably powerful, but their inner lives are a bit of a mystery. B

Read the full review here.

Rotten Tomatoes: 93%

Metacritic: 74

Inferno

Now playing.

PEOPLE’s Simon Perry says:

The always likable Hanks is still the perfect professor with the charming touch—and don’t expect a single bead of sweat to pollute his brow as he races through steamy southern Europe. But it is the early scenes with rising star Jones, playing the bright young doctor Brooks, that are the most intriguing. Bourne it is not, but the twists come with enough regularity to keep the squishier parts of the plot from mucking up the works. Inferno may not have the zeitgeisty draw of its predecessors, but for those who haven’t read the book, it’s a diverting caper with a familiar face. B

Read the full review here.

Rotten Tomatoes: 20%

Metacritic: 42

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Now playing.

EW’s Chris Nashawaty says:

The problem is, aside from Cruise and Smulders, nothing else about Never Go Back really works or matters. Granted, we’re now only two films deep into the Jack Reacher franchise, but that seems like a fair enough sample size to come to the conclusion that he’s no Ethan Hunt—and never will be. Not every middling box-office success needs to be spun off into a franchise. Especially when it results in sequels as aggressively mediocre as this. Tom Cruise deserves better. So does the audience. C

Read the full EW review here.

Rotten Tomatoes: 37%

Metacritic: 47

The Accountant

Now playing.

EW’s Leah Greenblatt says:

Director Gavin O’Connor (Warrior) seems to know at some level that it’s all camp, though it’s unclear where he picked up certain elements of his medical definition of autism, or why Wolff’s military-officer dad decides that the best response to his son’s diagnosis is to train him to be a sharpshooting, Muay Thai-kicking assassin — aside from the fact that it works out super well for the plot. The whole thing’s ludicrous, down to the last loony twist, but it’s also a lot more fun than Batman v Superman. C+

Read the full EW review here.

Rotten Tomatoes: 50%

Metacritic: 51

Ouija: Origin of Evil

Now playing.

EW’s Christian Holub says:

Ouija: Origin of Evil is an interesting exercise in watching filmmakers try to mint a franchise out of basically nothing. The movie shares some characters with the 2014 film it is a prequel to, but the connection adds hardly anything to either film. Effective horror relies on the actualization of some deep-seated cultural fear, but Ouija: Origin of Evil supplies only ineffective clichés and half-hearted attempts at franchise building.

Read the full EW review here.

Rotten Tomatoes: 82%

Metacritic: 65