'Morbius' Movie Review

In Sony's latest non-MCU Marvel villain origin movie, Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) attempts to cure his unspecified blood disease, as well as that of his childhood friend Milo (Matt Smith), by mixing his DNA with bat DNA. The serum he creates succeeds in restoring his strength, but it also turns Morbius into a real-life vampire, and he must continue to consume blood in order to maintain his newly regained strength. But FBI agents Stroud (Tyrese Gibson) and Rodriguez (Al Madrigal) are hunting him down, and his only true ally is his associate, Dr. Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona).

After Sony's two solo Venom films (neither of which I cared for), it was made pretty obvious that they are attempting to put together their own cinematic universe using the Spider-Man villains that they won't give Marvel Studios access to, eventually leading up to a Sinister Six movie. A lot of people were really expecting Morbius to absolutely suck (vampire pun), especially since the last time Jared Leto did a comic book movie, it didn't go particularly well. And... Morbius definitely isn't good, but it's not completely terrible (again, much like the Venom movies). Sony just doesn't seem to have the ability to make a good live-action comic book movie (hell, they haven't made one since Spider-Man 2 in 2004). They seemingly have no idea how to avoid the oldest clichés, let alone subvert them. The villain is literally just an evil (well, more evil) version of the protagonist; same powers, same look, etc. It's not that a good superhero movie can't do this (look at Black Panther, for example), but the only real contrast between Morbius and Milo is that Morbius recognizes how dangerous his condition is, and Milo enjoys it. That's it.

As much as people were so ready to pile on Leto, given how badly he botched his last comic book-inspired role, he’s actually great. He’s fairly understated, as opposed to the aforementioned previous fiasco of a performance, and I found the character reasonably compelling. The acting is actually one of the most consistently solid things in the film. Matt Smith is going balls-out and having the time of his life chewing the scenery. There is a scene in it that might have been a little too wacky, but I certainly can't fault Smith for it, because he completely commits. Adria Arjona isn't really given anything to work with, other than tired love interest tropes, but she's hardly bad. Tyrese Gibson is also doing a good job, given the lack of substance he's given, as does comedian Al Madrigal as his partner. I'm guessing that Madrigal improvised some of his wisecracks, and he's easily one of the more likable characters. Jared Harris also has a featured supporting role, but he's not in the movie as much as the trailers might have you believe. I get the feeling he had more scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor, but he's great in the few scenes he has.

The effects are fine. They aren't great, they aren't bad, they're just fine. Whenever Morbius is jumping around, there's a smoky aura that follows him, and this is a little distracting sometimes. In fact, the action sequences aren't edited particularly well in the first place. The editing is easily one of the worst things about the film, and a lot of times, it makes things kinda confusing. I will say that I really liked his monster form's look. It's pretty accurate to the comic books, but it doesn't look too cartoonish. It's actually pretty freaky. In fact, the film works best when it's being a horror movie, rather than a bland superhero movie. It's got some decently suspenseful sequences, and again, the title character has a good look. This is, however, slightly undercut by the fact that the villain looks way too similar. Their different clothing offers a certain degree of contrast, but I wish that Milo had looked a little more unique. I also have to point out that the way they get around keeping the film relatively tame, given that it is about a bloodthirsty monster, is a bit silly and forced.

But here's what really tanks the film: the two mid-credits scenes. Not only was the first one spoiled in the trailers (although the specific moments we saw in the trailer were all cut), the director spoiled both of them in a Twitter Q&A. As dumb as this was, it wouldn't have been too much of an issue if said scenes didn't suck. Not only were they dumb, but they also potentially hinder the future of MCU, and if you see the film, you'll understand why. I'm not going to spoil it here (I'll leave that to the director), but I left the theater pretty frustrated by this move.

Sony's Morbius might not be as awful as some have made it out to be, but it certainly isn't good. Despite some good performances, neat creature design, and genuinely spooky moments, the script, editing, and complete lack of originality ultimately cause the film to crash and burn, and the epilogue is sure to leave audiences with a bitter taste in their mouths. Sony would be better off just handing over the keys to Marvel Studios.

SCORE: 2.5/5

TRIGGER WARNING: The film contains multiple instances of flashing lights and colors.