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Morbius
(Columbia Pictures/Marvel Entertainment)
By Lucas Allen
Celebrating the centennial anniversary of the original “Nosferatu,” which gave birth to the vampire movie genre, we have Marvel Comics’ take on the horror legend ready to take theaters by storm. “Morbius” is the latest film in the Sony Spider-Man Universe, residing alongside “Venom,” but also seems to be aligned with the Spidey-Verse of the MCU after the record-breaking “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” One may wonder if the re-shoots and release delays have something to do with it.
Suffering from a rare blood disease affecting his mobility, Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) spent his life trying to find a cure for himself and others who have it, including his long-time childhood friend Milo (Matt Smith). After an expedition in Costa Rica, he and Dr. Bancroft (Adria Arjona) experiment with DNA of a vampire bat hoping to find a key to what he has been looking for. But when Morbius attempts a deadly experiment on himself, his new formula change s him entirely. He soon develops vampiric powers like advanced hearing, radar scope, and fast-flight, as well ass a growing appetite for blood.
Soon enough, his sudden terror attracts the attention of two homicide detectives (Tyrese Gibson and Al Madrigal) determined to put him away in prison. When Milo gets his hands on the formula, it triggers a battle between two monsters of the night. Ultimately, Morbius will have to unleash his true monster form to save the world.
Much like “Venom,”this film’s title character walks a fine line between villain and anti-hero. However, it’s more or less a vampire story set within a superhero universe. It sets up his character pretty well, but it seems to be missing some connective tissue to make the audience care for him like his full transformation and a better understanding of his newfound powers. Whatever was written originally must’ve been completely overhauled in its final edit during post-production.
You can also tell from the questionable editing that character motivations and story arcs were either missing or dropped. It seems Sony may have had cold feet about the original version before putting out notes to re-edit the whole monster. Given the final cut is rated PG-13 and pretty bloodless, a full R-rated cut would’ve been more than suffice.
On the plus side, if you can get past the story alterations, the action is very solid especially with the heavy CGI. There are cool moments when the vampires go into bullet time while they’re fighting in-flight. Though both films share similar issues, the action here is actually a bit of an improvement over “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.”
Compared to his more recent parts, Leto gives his most normal performance yet as the doctor-turned-vampire. He doesn’t go over the top or use a goofy accent, but he still has enough decent charisma to help carry his role. Smith is the one going all the way as the crazed villain with average motive you’ve already seen in other superhero movies. Both Arjona and Gibson are basically standard character fodder to be overshadowed by the main character. Jared Harris from TV’s “Mad Men” plays Morbius’ mentor, but does very little to move the plot and could’ve been cut out.
Movie audiences will likely enjoy it more than its comic book fanbase, but “Morbius” could’ve gone a little further to make it stand out from the bunch. If only the script wasn’t heavily modified by the studio, it would’ve been a much more entertaining film. Lastly, the two mid-credit scenes include a special guest appearance in a way to tie it into the MCU. Some will be either confused or weirded out by those extra scenes though they’re not too hard to wrap your head around.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence, some frightening images, and brief strong language)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 2.75 Stars (Out of Four)
