Morbius is an underwhelming digital effects-heavy film. Even if you can overlook Jared Leto’s annoying habit of leaving behind painterly brushstrokes whenever he lunges or flies, Morbius fails to deliver visual spectacle.
The film’s premise seems promising enough, yet it fails to meet expectations in practice. Amid Marvel fatigue and studio cynicism, it feels more like an empty exercise of sci-fi demon eye candy than anything else.
The Good
Morbius may have many flaws, yet some aspects stand out positively as well. The film moves quickly without many tedious scenes; its story is engaging with some good jokes; there are even some parts not fully explained or some gaps that have yet to be filled in its narrative; nevertheless, overall this movie remains worth seeing.
Jared Leto does an outstanding job as Morbius in this film, bringing his character to life through humor and wit. There are some creepy scenes with great body horror elements in it as well as some interesting visual effects that add dimension.
The film is also an effective action movie with well-directed fight scenes and exciting sequences, along with some noteworthy action sequences. While not an masterpiece, this is certainly a fun action flick!
There may be a few scenes and dialogue in this film that drag, yet overall the experience was enjoyable. Much like its predecessor, Venom II introduces its main villain with his background story and sets him up nicely for success.
Another thing I liked about the film was its violent and gory tone. While some may find this offensive, there were some truly disturbing moments within. Overall it made for an excellent gory movie experience!
One aspect of the movie that stands out as peculiar is the ending: Morbius suddenly changes his mind about killing himself and Milo and opts not to do so after all – though no explanation was ever provided as to his motivations behind this decision. It can be somewhat disorienting.
The movie is an admirable entry in Marvel’s universe and should be well received by fans of its series. I just wish that it were better; not saying it must be perfect but more creativity should have gone into creating the story and characters than was shown here.
The Bad
Morbius had great potential to be entertaining and funny, yet instead falls flat as an action film starring such an outrageous character with such an eye-catching name. Unfortunately, though, its plot remains predictable and lacks surprises; neither do any characters create interesting dialogue arcs; action scenes lack excitement or suspense; while even its impressive cast can’t elevate what lies below them.
The script attempts to inject some humor into proceedings with subtle references to other films, like when Morbius boards the ship Murnau as an homage to Nosferatu director F.W. Murnau; there are other humorous moments here and there; unfortunately they’re not enough to save this movie; much of the time it just feels like its running on autopilot, ticking off plot points.
Though Adria Arjona and Jared Harris’ efforts in crafting an entertaining film may be commendable, its overall quality falls far short of expectations. Even its special effects fall flat: from animated bats that look silly to trippy visualization sequences of vampire powers which don’t add anything other than pretentious appeal. Perhaps its only saving grace is being short in length; otherwise it remains an unnecessary waste of your time.
Although the movie attempts to make Morbius an appealing antagonist, it fails to create tension or excitement. It’s difficult to root for someone seeking to end his bloodlust purely out of selfish motives rather than any morally ambiguous decision. Furthermore, no opportunity is taken by the film to explore any deeper ramifications of this story – such as whether its cure will come at any cost or whether it really is beneficial.
This film marks a disappointing and forgettable entry into the Spider-Man universe and will likely soon fade from our collective memory. Such an iconic franchise deserves better films that demonstrate more imagination than what was on display here.
The Ugly
Morbius is one of those films that seems manufactured out of a superhero factory. There is nothing special or intriguing about its narrative or characters – even great performances by Jared Leto and Adria Arjona cannot save this dull movie from becoming duller.
Jared Leto is a talented actor, but in this film he seems uninterested and under-utilized. Adria Arjona makes for an attractive screen presence but only gets limited screen time as Dr. Morbius’ love interest; though she does provide some decent moments.
Storywise, this film doesn’t offer much to hold onto either in terms of originality or intrigue; it essentially tells an origin tale for a super villain and its narrative never really determines its focus or style.
If this film was intended as some convoluted metaphor for bioethics or the cost of playing with science, then it fails miserably. There’s no clear moral message here like there is in Spider-Man movies or even some trashier vampire flicks from the 2000s.
Another issue with the film is that it is very monotonous and lacks any real energy or excitement, thanks to flat acting and lack of suspense or tension; uninspired action sequences; cheap special effects and lack of any real climax or resolution in its final moments; as well as anticlimactic ending that leaves audiences wanting more from this tale than what they receive at its conclusion. Had this movie taken an alternate approach and tone, then perhaps its outcome might have been much different.
The Final Words
Sony’s expanded Spider-Man universe seems to be going from strength to strength, with Venom and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse both being huge hits. Morbius may not be one of their top titles among supervillain spinoffs but is nonetheless an enjoyable monster movie thanks to spirited performances and Daniel Espinosa’s expert handling of familiar comic-book material.
Dr Michael Morbius (Jared Leto), a paraplegic Nobel Prize-winning biologist, becomes an undead vampire to treat his rare blood disease. To do this, he creates a serum from human and bat DNA that causes his transformation not entirely smoothly – though when eating comes around he becomes increasingly insane; sometimes remaining quite capable as an intellectual but increasingly vulnerable when hunger calls; becoming one with its creature within him when hungry urges emerge or devolving into an aggressively hungry monster when feedings come in the nighttime hours when food becomes available…
While the story itself may not be particularly original, it does offer some novel concepts to work with. For instance, it’s certainly captivating that a hero cursed with monstrosities still manages to control them sometimes despite cravings driving it all the time – however unfortunately this film never takes these ideas further than surface level.
What really kills this film is its overall lack of tension and momentum, apart from the initial scene. Aside from this initial scene, most scenes could have been set anytime over the last 20 years due to an abundance of unnecessary dialogue that goes nowhere; additionally, genre promises aren’t delivered with generic CGI action sequences and an overly predictable ending climax that ultimately falls flat on its face.
The major failing of this film lies in its failure to create an intimate bond between its hero and audience. Even though Leto has played comic book villains before, his performance as Forlorn Vampire doesn’t reach us emotionally enough. While Leto may be talented as an actor, he needs more than mere grimness to excel in this role.