Sony Pictures’ Morbius is a fun but flawed experience exploring the origins of the Marvel anti-hero. The film follows Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto), who suffers from a rare life-threatening blood disease. He’s spent his whole life searching for a cure, and when he finally has breakthrough, he finds himself unleashing something much more monstrous than he ever imagined.
This is a spoiler-free review of Morbius.
The Living Vampire
Though I was initially intrigued with the trailers by what Sony Pictures has to offer with their big-screen interpretation of the Marvel Comics tragic anti-hero Morbius the Living Vampire, the final result falls a bit flat in almost every aspect.
The film’s narrative structure and character development moments feel like something ripped straight from a Chris Nolan Batman flick. I wish I meant that as a compliment. Rather, it appears more derivative and played-out than a subtle homage. There are also some horror elements that work, and some comedy sprinkled in that doesn’t. With some pacing issues and fairly bland characters, Morbius bites off more than it can chew (pun intended) through its ambitious ideas that ultimately result in a jumbled, plotless mess. A lot of it felt pointless, and I was left wondering why this movie needed to be made.
One of the most disappointing aspects of Morbius is the main villain. Matt Smith plays Milo, a version of the Marvel Comics villain Hunger, who shares the same blood disease as Dr. Morbius. They are best friends, but when a cure for their condition is discovered by the good doctor, the two arrive at polar opposite ideas about how to utilize their newfound health. This leads to a generally predictable conflict and resolution between the two that, by the time the movie was over, felt as if not enough time was given to their backstory.
Performances were just “OK” across the board, with the entire main cast giving acceptable portrayals of their characters; not explicitly awful, but not incredibly amazing either. I had high hopes for the acting, but despite the reputations of Leto, Smith, and Jared Harris, I was met with overall disappointment.
Having said all of this, one of Morbius‘s saving graces is actually the special effects. The transitions between Leto’s face and his vampire side were smooth and well-orchestrated. The sonar effects were super cool as well and were one of the more visually appealing things in the whole movie.
Verdict
Overall, Morbius was a fun, although flawed, experience adding to Marvel’s big-screen lineup. If you go into this with high expectations due to the casting choices, temper them. There are, however, a handful of neat call-backs and Easter Eggs to past Sony Marvel films like Venom, and fans of Spider-Man: No Way Home are in for a treat (be sure to stick around for two after-credits scenes). So, if anything, watch this for the world-building, and I hope you have a more memorable experience than I did.
Morbius opens in theaters everywhere April 1, 2022.
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