04 Apr Morbius Review

MORBIUS

dir. Daniel Espinosa, starring Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adira Arjona, Jared Harris, et. al

Morbius, Sony’s latest offering in their universe of Spider-related content, finally hits theaters after a number of delays, which one would think would be used to help fine tune the film. Penned by duo Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, known for box office grenades like Dracula Untold, The Last Witch Hunter, and Gods of Egypt, Morbius proves yet again that Sony either has zero grasp on storytelling or saw just how well received the schlocky Venom was and has decided to fully lean into nonsense. At the center of the film is the incredibly popular and largely beloved Spider-Man villain Michael Morbius, gifted scientist hell bent on finding a cure for his blood illness. This recklessness leads to increasingly dangerous experiments, the latest of which splices the genes of humans with vampire bats. The disastrous result (it’s comics, after all, it wouldn’t be comics if science didn’t go hilariously wrong) transforms Morbius into a living vampire, giving him abilities beyond his wildest dreams.

Morbius isn’t good. It’s outright bad. The plotting, the acting, the directing, the visual effects, and the bland score all fail on almost every conceivable level. Outside of Spiderverse, Sony’s inability to grasp the concepts behind the characters that inhabit Spider-Man’s world is embarrassingly baffling to witness. A decent first act, followed by a sluggish second act to a rushed third act and abrupt ending make watching the movie a jerky ride, to say the least. The end credit scenes, which were scenes from the actual movie (badly) recontextualized to hint at something bigger, don’t work within the universe they’ve set up, within the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, or even within its own story. Character decisions just as confusing as the directing decisions lead to a movie that Sony seemed content with slapping its name on and letting it ride under the guise of being Spider and MCU-adjacent.

Starring Academy Award winning actor Jared Leto, Morbius is one of the most uninteresting, apathetic, languid performances of his career. When compared to the gusto he put into Paolo Gucci in The House of Gucci, here Leto seems drained of all spirit or interest. To be his first major tentpole movie that he leads himself, the decision to underplay Morbius as a character who gets from A to B simply because the plot demands so is baffling. All of the drowsiness of Leto’s performance is overcorrected by Matt Smith. Smith, ready to dial it up to 150 in each scene, steals the attention every time he’s on the screen, and not always the best ways. After the second act turn, the somewhat subdued performance cranks into high gear as Smith is unleashed to run circles around a sleepy Leto. Standing in between them attempting to keep the peace is Jared Harris, who, after a 25 year gap from the beginning scenes seems to have not aged a day himself (almost like a vaaaaaaaampiiiiire). Harris does his best with the paltry material he’s given as the wisest head in the room that serves to galvanize Leto later in the film.

Also starring Adira Arjona as Marine Bancroft, poor Arjona is saddled with the baggage of Leto’s lackadasical performance. Try as she might, there’s not much she can contend with, leading to an awful and forced chemistry between the two. Placed sporadiacally throughout the film, whether due to suspect editing or shabby writing, Arjona’s Bancroft deserves to be in a much better movie than this. A smart and capable scientist in her own right, one wonders why she joins Morbius in his less than above board plans. It’s possible ‘love makes a person do funny things‘ but with the chemistry we see between these two, I find it highly unlikely. Tyrese, winding down his time on the Fast & Furious franchise and ready to hop into another, plays it straight down the middle as FBI Agent Stroud. Stroud’s no-nonsense approach makes him distinguishable enough to ensure that he’ll return for the inevitable sequel. The only person who seems to be having a ball is comedian Al Madrigal as Stroud’s partner Rodriguez. Madrigal comedic delivery and quippy nature bring a fresh air to the otherwise bleakness happening around him.

Directed by Daniel Espinosa, Morbius has put on full display all of the flaws of his craft and technique. Scenes that could have had an inkling of potential, such as any confrontation between Morbius and Milo in the third act, are devoid of any passion between the actors or stakes set for the audience. The pacing, which is applaudable for hitting all the familiar beats and plot points of an origin story, takes a nose dive in the third act as the film’s abrupt ending left me confused and baffled as to the decisions made to end the film how it does. Tonally speaking, it seems as if there’s time FBI agents Straud and Rodriguez are in a completely different movie than everybody else, and the removal of those two characters seems to do little to change the story presented. Possibly the most frustrating aspect of the endeavor is the amount of subpar visual effects in the film. For a movie that’s been pushed back a countless number of times, one would think that would afford the vfx supervisors time to tinker, tighten up, or smooth out any issues, yet thanks largely in part to the CGI, Morbius feels like a movie that was removed from 2003 and reinserted into our current timeline.

But, credit must be given where it’s due. The end of the first act action scene on board the tanker Morbius is conducting his experiments is an entertaining watch; a turn from standard comic book fare to a more darker, creepier horror vibe. The freshly turned Morbius ripping through the security guards on the boat makes for a fun watch as Espinosa finds different ways to tease Morbius without fully revealing him as he lurks in the shadows and stalks his prey from multiple angles. A true standout amongst the rest of the haphazardly composed scenes, the tanker sequence is by far the standout piece of the movie, lead by some genuinely good directing and editing.

Overall, when it comes to Morbius, there’s little to compliment or turn a hopeful eye to. An incredibly weak story, further hampered by bad writing, hammy acting, shoddy CGI, and milquetoast directing makes the film a rather dull affair. While not the worst superhero movie we’ve gotten since in the early 2000s boom, it’s certainly the worst of Sony’s handling of the material and there’s little to boast of or prop up in a positive light. Anchored by a lethargic performance from lead Jared Leto, the film lacks any substance that makes its 104-minute runtime worth a trip to go see. Morbius is currently in theaters.

Review by Darryl Mansel