Morbius

The summer film season is not officially here, however Hollywood has a tendency to jump the gun. Understandably, I get the financial reason why they would, so why not kick the season off early with the release of "Morbius"? This is yet another one of Marvel's flicks they dole out perenially every year; sometimes multiple times. Of course, I keep forgetting than Marvel is owned by Disney, which is all about profit. Makes sense.

One of the most compelling and conflicted characters in Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters comes to the big screen as Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others suffering his same fate, biochemist Dr. Morbius and Dr. Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona) attempts a desperate gamble. While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed. Will good override evil--or will Morbius succumb to his mysterious new urges?

Others to round out the cast are Jared Harris as Emil Nikols, Matt Smith as Milo, Corey Johnson as Mr. Fox, Archie Renaux as Bobby, Tom Forbes as finance bro and Clara Rosager as Jean. 

This film was grittily directed by Daniel Espinosa ("Babylonsjukan" '04, "Outside Love" '07, "Snabba Cash" '10, "Safe House" '12, "Child 44" '15, "Life" '17) plus TV and a short. This director was certainly able to extract those effective emotions from his actors, and with Leto in the title role, between his expertise as an actor and Espinosa's ability to stage and pace his actors, it's no surprise that the characters came alive on the screen. It was effectively written by the writing team Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless ("Dracula Untold" '14, "The Last Witch Hunter" '15, "Gods of Egypt" '16, "Power Rangers" (story) '17) plus TV and a short, based on a screen story by Sazama and Sharpless, which is based on the Marvel comics by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. By observing the writers' resume, one can see that these guys are definitely working in their comfort zone. Interesting, considering this, there were still a bit of choppiness and secondly, there were a few places that clearly weren't explained. However, possibly in the next installment, and there will be one, possibly these places will have an explanation. Really the best thing about this film is Leto's characterization of Morbius, which isn't surprising considering his expertise, and secondly, the stunts by Gary Powell and the visual effects predominantly created by Weta Digital were amazing and truly ehanced the story. Really, once you get to the end of the film, you will definitely see that there we be a next installment, so this really isn't a spoiler alert. For instance, Michael Keaton (Adrian Toomes) only has about a couple of minutes of running time near the end, so undoubtedly he will have a much larger role in part 2. 

If you're a Marvel Studios aficionado, you'll love this, however, even if you're not, like me, just focus on Leto's performance and the visuals which are grandiose, and you can't go wrong. This is also presented in an IMAX format for that up, close and personal feeling as well. It''s quite the roller coaster ride, so break out the popcorn and enjoy. 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                              Rated: PG-13                                                  104mins.