Morbius is a lackluster vampire movie which fails to capitalize on Jared Leto’s star power and simply punches the clock while riding comic-book train.
This movie seems to have come straight out of a studio machine and left your mouth feeling sick with disappointment. Even worse is its value to your viewing experience: no spitting required here!
Plot
After the success of Venom and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Sony seems determined to establish an entire cinematic universe centered on its new interpretation of an old Spider-Man villain – Morbius being an example of one such movie which seeks too hard to be different while ultimately failing to add anything new or innovative to genre.
Michael Morbius is a brilliant medical genius suffering from an incurable blood disease that is slowly taking his life. To find relief, he injects himself with vampire bat DNA, giving him superhuman strength and speed but creating insatiable cravings for blood. Unfortunately, when his experiment goes awry it threatens the lives of his friends, family, and medical team members as well.
Jared Leto proves to be an exceptional fit in his portrayal of Morbius; making the character relatable even when acting like a bloodthirsty mutant. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast falls far short: Adria Arjona and Matt Smith are underutilized, while Tyrese Gibson and Al Madrigal contribute nothing beyond some comic relief; plus Morbius rushes toward its climax without fulfilling any meaningful resolution.
Director Daniel Espinosa attempts to craft an immersive, dark atmosphere in his film. Visual effects work is superb; however, its lack of focus and pacing hampers its effectiveness. Espinosa explores some fascinating ideas – such as how long it takes vampires to consume human blood before losing control over their thirst – but doesn’t give these concepts enough room to develop into fully realized plot points.
Although the film doesn’t add much to the existing universe, it’s still worth seeing if you are a fan of Morbius and may eventually see his universe combine with that led by Tom Holland for something truly exciting and different from superhero films today.
Characters
Director Daniel Espinosa has created an incomprehensible film in The Dark Tower, making it impossible to care about any of its characters or the action sequences they are thrust into. There’s simply no chance of becoming invested when every uninspired action scene feels repetitive – particularly the movie’s finale where every CGI fight seen before appears all at once with ridiculous vampire faces that look silly while making no tension felt by watching these characters throw punches back and forth.
Jared Leto is an impressive actor, but here he’s given no material to work with. Here he plays Morbius, a brilliant haematologist suffering from debilitating blood disease he’s dedicated himself to curing. Working at Horizon Labs in New York City alongside Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona), Morbius hypothesizes that mixing vampire bat DNA with his own may provide the cure he seeks – injecting himself with this serum and experiencing superhuman strength, speed and an unquenchable desire for human blood.
Morbius is supposed to be the protagonist in this film, yet is more of an anti-hero. While he does good things for some causes, he also engages in bad deeds at times. Morbius could easily have become the hero he portrays here but this wasn’t meant to happen.
The film does offer some compelling visuals, especially through its use of slow-mo. Watching Morbius move around a subway station with incredible speed and echo-location powers is quite impressive, while creating a sense of menace as Morbius flies into a room filled with security guards is accomplished satisfactorily by this technique.
Morbius should have been better. Unfortunately, this mediocre superhero flick seems designed only to cash in on Sony’s shared universe of Spider-Man characters. While not an awful film in itself, Morbius should definitely be avoided at all costs unless you are an ardent follower of Morbius himself or an avid comic book reader; otherwise this movie will become quickly forgotten.
Performances
Morbius adds its own distinct spin to the Spider-Man villain formula. Oscar winner Jared Leto plays Morbius, an exceptional scientist suffering from blood disorders himself who creates an antidote serum to treat him and wealthy friend Lucien (Matt Smith). However, once they begin testing this treatment on other patients the unexpected outcomes cause his transformation into a full-fledged vampire!
There are some decent action sequences, but they’re not enough to save this film from becoming an absolute disaster. There is much running and jumping, as well as slow-mo moments which add visual interest during its hectic set pieces. A few unique effects are present such as Morbius leaving his vapor trails when lunging or flying and his echolocation powers ricocheting off walls across cities streets and subway stations.
Unfortunately, Morbius lacks energy and urgency as a movie; several plot points remain unexplained while characters make stupid decisions for no other purpose than moving along the narrative. Furthermore, Morbius lacks any strong moral compass – instead relying solely on quick fixes as its solution to problems.
Leto gives an impressive performance as Morbius, with no trace of sleepwalking and providing some heft to his role as a decent vampire who becomes bad one, yet it remains hard to care about him or any of the supporting cast – including Al Madrigal’s menacing menace and uninspired female FBI agent characters; unfortunately when Morbius needs an energy boost the movie simply lets us see him fly or fight!
Morbius contains some references to Venom and other Marvel characters, but they seem forced. Furthermore, Morbius attempts to create an expansive universe through post-credit scenes but ultimately falls flat on its face. Morbius may not be great cinema but doesn’t deserve the death sentence it could receive at box offices nationwide.
Final Words
With both Venom and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse being box office successes, Sony Spider-Man Universe seems on track. Unfortunately, Morbius, their third entry into franchise failed miserably due to an uninspired plot with no scares and awkward editing that prevented it from standing out among its MCU competitors.
Michael Morbius, a biochemist trying to cure a disease that turns people into blood-sucking monsters, becomes accidentally infected with an alien symbiote that grants strength and speed but also craves blood during an experiment. With help from Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona), Michael attempts to fight his urges with help from Martine’s girlfriend Martine Bancroft; unfortunately the movie lacks sufficient character development to develop any meaningful relationships or backstories for its characters – instead focusing on action sequences and fight scenes instead.
Morbius suffers from cliches and logic flaws that make it hard to engage with its characters or their story, as well as failing to provide any thrills or suspense. Instead, its endless battle scenes and slow-motion effects become tiresome rather than thrilling or suspenseful despite great performances by Jared Leto and Matt Smith who appear throughout. Overall, it feels as if this production was created out of some superhero factory.
One major flaw of the film was its use of references to other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters that felt like product placement. There were multiple mentions of Venom and even an incidental scene similar to what occurred post-credits scene of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; all these attempts at connecting this movie with its wider universe felt inauthentic and forced.
Overall, this movie was an underwhelming entry into Sony Spider-Man universe. Although all actors gave good performances, its predictable plot and lack of tension made this an ineffective use of time and it is best to wait for better offerings from MCU-adjacent series instead.