Morbius is a 2022 superhero film directed by Daniel Espinosa, and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. It is based on the Marvel Comics character Morbius, the living vampire. It is produced by Colombia Pictures in association with Marvel, and is intended to be the third film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe. After announcing plans for a new shared universe of films inspired by Spider-Man characters beginning with Venom (2018), Sony began developing a film based on Morbius.
Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others from the same fate, biochemist Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside of him is soon unleashed.
The cast includes Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, alongside Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson.
Morbius made its debut in theaters on April 1st, courtesy of Sony Pictures and Marvel.
THE GOOD
First things first, this movie is not nearly as bad as most critics would lead you to believe. I mean, currently sitting at a 16% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 35% on Metacritic, you’d think it would be more or less unwatchable. I guess if you want to compare it to Spider Man: No Way Home or The Batman, an argument could be made. But that is just silly in my mind. This is an origin story more or less from scratch, and more than anything else it is very unique in several ways. Morbius is a blood-sucking vampire, which hardly qualifies him as a superhero in any sense of the word. Super human, sure, but not a superhero. Okay so before I go down that rabbit hole, let’s get into what I thought of Morbius after going to see the movie with admittedly fairly low expectations.
Did I hate this movie? No, I did not. For my money Morbius is an entertaining sci-fi action film that includes a talented cast, and an overall backstory with decent depth as a character I was not familar with is introduced. The overall impact of the story falls a bit flat in my opinion, but I will touch on that a bit later in the review. Although I did enjoy the tug-of-war going on throughout the film related to the moral dilemma the characters faced. The acting is solid as expected from the main cast with a star like Jared Leto leading the way. The overall “world” created within the film feels authentic, and the Matrix style CGI and special effects made for some satisfying action sequences. The first real action scene where we are introduced to the “new and improved” Dr. Michael Morbius, I thought the slow-mo effects were pretty cool. Let’s just say some guys we care nothing about meet their demise rather quickly. The intriguing element of Morbius is the fact that even though he is a genius in the medical field, he suffers from a degenerative blood disease he has been trying to cure his entire life and is in very poor physical health because of it. Growing up as an outcast because he was not like the other kids, it is satisfying to see him finally match his mental acuity with his physical strength. I mean sure, he had to become a vampire who survives on blood to get there, but we all have to make compromises in life. Bottom line, people won’t be picking on this guy anytime soon.
The star of the show is of course Jared Leto who is an A-list actor in terms of his overall talent. The guy has played some pretty ridiculous roles, going all the way back to his transformative performance in the 2013 drama Dallas Buyers Club, and I very much enjoyed him in the recent drama based on true events, House of Gucci (our full review here). Although his version of DC’s Joker didn’t quite make the impression he was hoping for, I will give pretty much anything he is in a chance. Leto shows off his acting chops as expected, and shines during the Dr. Michael Morbius scenes, where his talents were most needed. The beautiful Adria Arjona lit up the screen during each and every scene she was in, and her chemistry with Leto felt genuine throughout the film which was important for the story. Matt Smith was solid as the films typical good guy turned bad antagonist, Milo, and I enjoyed his relationship with Leto’s character and the overall trajectory. Veteran actor Jared Harris is fantastic as per usual, taking on the role of father figure/mentor Dr. Emil Nicholas.
Before I make you think otherwise, I really like Tyrese Gibson as an actor. I enjoy his role in the Fast & Furious films, and I thought he was fantastic in Four Brothers. Baby Boy hasn’t quite stood the test of time, but all things considered he makes the most of the roles he is given. With that being said, I had a bit of a hard time buying into him as the hardened detective hot on the trail of Morbius. Maybe I am just always waiting for that trademark humor of his to make an appearance, but for me he didn’t quite fill that gritty role they seemed to be going for here. His acting in itself was fine, his character was just meh in my opinion and had little to know backstory at all.
The technical elements of the film are a bit of a mixed bag, and I will get more into that later. But for the sake of the “good” section of the review, I mostly enjoyed the CGI and special effects in the film. They felt very similar to what you would see in The Matrix, as far as the reliance on slow-motion technology, and what I can only refer to as a bit of a blurring/shadowing effect that is used when Morbius is moving quickly. That element of the special effects reminded me of a videogame, but I wouldn’t consider that to be a knock on the movie. Even though this is technically a superhero film, it without a doubt embraces the whole vampire thing as the special effects are a big part of the movie. I was fine with seeing something a little different and I felt like Morbius gives us that. I also enjoyed the soundtrack/score much more than I thought I would.
THE BAD
Morbius is not without it’s fair share of issues, big surprise right? As an origin story it does feel a little slow during the majority of the film as the writing was a bit dull and fairly linear for my taste. Plus the writing is outlandish in so many ways, often feeling like you are watching an episode of the Power Rangers as they take out bad guys. I love the Power Rangers for the record, and I am still waiting for a sequel to the 2017 film. One of my biggest issues with the screenplay is it never had that action sequence or finale that felt like a big exciting payoff. It just sort of resolved things to an extent and ended leaving viewers wanting more, assuming you enjoyed the movie in the first place of course. The majority of the film feels a bit isolated from the rest of the world, never quite feeling like Morbius is destined to extend his reach beyond the events taking place in the film. I also feel like the reluctance to take the leap and make this film R-rated was very limiting in terms of the overall feel they seemed to be going for. There is a fine line between intense and corny with a film like this, and unfortunately the PG-13 rating did far more harm than good in that sense. You can go down the lost of successful vampire films, and I promise you the majority that experienced the most success had an R-rating.
I touched on what I liked about the CGI and special effects above, but there was plenty that just didn’t fit. In general, the style of this film is not for everyone, it feels very much like a videogame in terms of how they decided to showcase the action. But that part of it I liked. What didn’t quite hit home with me was the CGI of the faces which just looked way too corny more often than not. I mean I get that they are supposed to be transforming into vampires, but it just looked silly and nowhere near what we have come to expect from a film with Marvel attached to it. I don’t know what they could have done differently, but maybe this is also why vampires belong in the horror genre. Just a thought. Also, getting back to why critics have been ripping this movie to shreds, they aren’t wrong. I mean from a “quality filmmaking” perspective, Morbius is riddled with holes. It doesn’t really do anything extremely well, and leaves plenty to be desired in most areas of the film. Most of the biggest Marvel films fall outside of awards consideration for reasons we understand, but this movie feels less like it belongs in the superhero genre while also not carving out a niche like 2019’s Joker.
THE VERDICT
Far from the gritty new addition to the MCU we were all hoping for but still better than most critics would lead you to believe, Morbius offers up some quality entertainment value while committing to more of a vampire movie or a video game adaptation feel thanks to the unique CGI and special effects. I personally enjoyed this movie all things considered, and felt like the Matrix-esque special effects were fun, and I do believe this could still become a solid franchise. I do however agree that an R-rated approach would have opened more doors for the films potential considering the subject matter. Origin stories can be tough in terms of setting the stage while still remaining action-packed, but thanks to a post-credit scene sure to excite fans of all things Spider-Man, Morbius is still worth a watch if you keep your expectations in check.
TED TAKES RATING - 6.1/10
Morbius is now playing only in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.