There’s a pungency to the corporate desperation with which Sony continue to seek a means to exist in the world of IP universes. An existence outwit their family friendly frolics with the Marvel machine. Surprise success with Venom might have hinted at a code cracked but Morbius brings things back to square one. Or, rather, Daniel Espinosa’s infeasibly bland entry into the ‘Sony Spider-Man Universe’ exposes a studio still stuck in an tiresome past. Put simply, the big players in this game have long since abandoned so rote an approach to origins story tentpoles. Venom had the same faults but found salvation in the sheer force of its comic character. Morbius offers neither comic relief nor character.
Only Spider-Man rivals DC’s caped crusader when it comes to the sheer quantity of screen adaptations in recent years. Go back to the last century, however, and even the web slinger is dwarfed. The arrival of Robert Pattinson on the scene appears to officially call time on the reign of Ben Affleck. Before Aflleck, there was Christian Bale. Prior to he: George Clooney, Val Kilmer and Michael Keaton. We are, of course, talking Batman.
Can you really get away with ‘selling out’ simply by revolving the opening third of your cash-in sequel around a wry mockery of studio pressure? Not likely. Certainly, this fourth entry to The Matrix franchise hardly serves as conclusive evidence for the defence. Lana Wachowski directs, for the first time without the input of her sister, and is co-writer to novelists Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell. The result is an overlong feature that’s deftly bonkers starting stretch slowly – painfully – gives way to something more familiar. Something generic. When asked after her absence, Lily Wachowski lamented a lack of interest in retreading old territory. Lana had no such qualms and does just that, largely failing to justifying why in the process.
The Film Blog 