‘Morbius’ delivers visually great action

In 2018, Sony Pictures started its own shared universe of Spider-Man characters with ‘Venom.’ Despite receiving heavily mixed reviews from critics, fans really enjoyed the 2018 movie and ‘Venom’ became a big hit, along with its 2021 sequel, ‘Let There Be Carnage.’

Now, Sony’s Spider-Man Universe continues on with the long-delayed ‘Morbius.’

In the recent Sony/Columbia release of ‘Morbius,’ dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others from the same fate, Dr. Michael Morbius makes a desperate attempt.

While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside of him is soon unleashed with terrible consequences. ‘Morbius’ is the latest spin-off of Sony’s franchise and can be quite entertaining. The anti-hero feature delivers some great action-packed moments and also has some awesome visual effects.

The action in the movie is great. There are quite a few action-packed sequences scattered throughout the movie. The stand-out action sequence has to be towards the beginning when we are getting a full glimpse of what Michael Morbius is becoming after he has taken his “cure.” There is also a little bit of humor in the movie, especially from the FBI agents.

Just like most Marvel-related movies, ‘Morbius’ has some great special effects, especially during his transformation sequence. But, in this one, the filmmakers did rely a little too much on CGI. There are also a few moments that can be a little dark, but not too much. If you pay attention closely, you will see a couple of subtle references to ‘Venom.’ And, surprisingly, not a lot of Spider-Man references.

Overall, ‘Morbius’ is a fun, entertaining movie. It has some great action, a good performance from Jared Leto and is really fast-paced. And, as usual, stick around for a couple mid-credit scenes that may give you a glimpse of what’s coming up for the Sony Spider-Man Universe (that is separate from the MCU). The scenes are both entertaining and kind of confusing (if you follow the one character’s story-line). And, hopefully you didn’t look at much of the social media involving the movie since they actually did spoil the mid-credit scenes.

The cast: Jared Leto (House of Gucci) as Dr. Michael Morbius; Matt Smith (Last Night in Soho) as Milo; Adria Arjona (Netflix’s Sweet Girl) as Martine Bancroft; Jared Harris (Apple TVs Foundation) as Dr. Emil Nicholas; Tyrese Gibson (F9: The Fast Saga) as Agent Simon Stroud; Al Madrigal (The Way Back) as Agent Rodriguez; Zaris-Angel Hator as Anna and Michael Keaton (Hulu’s Dopesick) as Adrian Toomes. Keaton’s involvement in the movie was revealed in the previous trailers. ‘Morbius’ is written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (both writers worked on Netflix’s ‘Lost in Space,’ ‘Power Rangers,’ and ‘Gods of Egypt’) and directed by Daniel Espinosa (Life; Child 44; Safe House).

A ‘Morbius’ movie has been in development for several years, but momentum for the project didn’t pick up until after ‘Venom’ became a hit. Sony’s Shared Universe of Spider-Man Characters began in 2017 with the development of ‘Venom’ and its sequel. There are numerous other movies that are currently in development for this universe, including ‘Kraven the Bounty Hunter’ and ‘Venom 3.’

Principal photography for ‘Morbius’ began at the end of February 2019 in London and finished later that year. Due to numerous re-shoots and the pandemic, the movie was infamously delayed a total of six times.

‘Morbius’ is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, some frightening images and brief strong language and has a running time of 104 minutes.