Morbius Movie Review: Jared Leto’s Anti-Hero Origin Film Makes Up For Bad Storytelling With Great VFX

Available
In
Theatres

Duration:
106
minutes

Language:
English

Plot:
Morbius
follows
biochemist
Michael
Morbius,
a
famous
dangerously
ill
scientist
who
tries
to
cure
himself
of
a
rare
blood
disease.
However,
while
experimenting
on
vampire
bats,
he
inadvertently
infects
himself
with
a
form
of
vampirism.

Review:
Directed
by
Daniel
Espinosa
and
written
by
Matt
Sazama
and
Burk
Sharpless,

Morbius
is
the
origin
story
of
Spiderman’s
villain
and
anti-hero
Morbius,
a
living
vampire.
The
script
is
the
most
plot
convenient
story
ever,
leaving
no
space
for
the
characters
to
be
themselves.

In
the
opening
scene,
the
film
introduces
biochemist
Michael
Morbius
as
the
sick
scientist
with
great
funding
stepping
out
of
a
helicopter
in
the
depths
of
Costa
Rica,
to
capture
a
species
of
vampire
bats.
Michael
who
has
a
rare
blood
disease
plans
on
using
the
vampire
bats
to
create
a
serum
and
inject
it
in
his
own
veins
to
repair
his
DNA.

The
unethical
experiment
takes
place
in
international
waters
with
nothing
more
than
two
doctors
and
a
few
hired
guns.
The
emptiness
in
the
scene
on
the
major
carrier
ship
itself
is
enough
to
describe
the
story,
and
how
the
makers
made
little
effort
to
indulge
in
the
character’s
life
and
work.
Every
detail,
every
shot
in
the
film
is
nothing
more
than
what
the
plot
needs
to
push
the
runtime
forward.

Moon
Knight
Episode
1
Review:
Oscar
Isaac’s
Marvel
Debut
Begins
With
Jaw
Dropping
Moments

In
a
flashback
scene,
specifically
intended
as
an
info
dump
and
to
introduce
the
villain
and
nothing
else,
the
audience
gets
to
meet
young
and
brilliant
Michael
who
saves
his
friend
Milo’s
life
with
a
ballpoint
pen,
when
the
dialysis
machine
breaks
down.
On
leaving
to
get
a
better
education,
Michael
promises
Milo
to
achieve
a
cure
so
they
can
both
grow
old
together.
However,
when
Michael
does
get
his
cure,
he
refuses
to
share
it
with
Milo
telling
him
it’s
a
curse.

The
film
initially
set
to
release
in
2020,
has
been
postponed
for
two
years
due
to
the
pandemic.
But
while
it
lay
on
the
editing
floor,
Morbius
turned
into
its
vampire,
as
it
sucked
the
life
out
of
the
story.
The
overly
edited
film
leaves
no
space
for
the
audience
to
get
to
know
or
bond
with
Morbius
to
root
for
him
or
his
relationships
with
others
in
the
second
half
of
the
film.

Morbius
was
intended
as
Sony’s
big
release
after

Venom,
but
given
that
every
good
shot
of
the
majority
of
the
film
was
already
in
the
trailer,
the
makers
had
given
up
on
it
too.

Jared
Leto
is
exceptional
in
all
three
stages
of
the
film,
as
the
sickly
doctor
who
finds
it
hard
to
walk
but
his
brain
is
the
biggest
muscle
he
needs,
the
new
living
vampire
with
perfect
abs
shiny
long
hair
as
well
as
the
gargoyle
looking
creature
of
the
night
that
flies.
But
the
script
spends
such
little
time
on
each
stage
that
they
end
up
blurring
into
one.
Most
of
the
dialogues
have
been
used
to
just
describe
the
plot
than
move
the
story
forward.

Matt
Smith
as
Milo
is
probably
the
unexpected
best
part
of
the
movie.
He
really
embraces
‘the
villains
have
ugly
faces’ trope
and
goes
for
it,
enjoying
himself.
However,
since
the
script
has
no
time
for
developing
his
character,
Matt’s
efforts
make
little
impact.
Adria
Arjona’s
character
Dr
Martine
is
the
supporting
character/love
interest
who
is
supposed
to
have
the
biggest
impact,
but
ends
up
being
treated
like
a
second
citizen.
She
only
gets
one
scene
by
herself,
but
for
half
of
it,
she
is
unconscious
on
the
floor.

We
do
get
a
few
fan
service
moments
as
Morbius
calls
himself
Venom,
the
post-credit
scenes
introducing
the
plot
to
Sinister
Six,
however,
it
isn’t
nearly
enough
to
make
up
for
the
lack
of
emotional
vulnerability
in
the
script.
While
Jared
Leto
fans
will
enjoy
the
movie,
and
his
acting
is
worth
going
to
the
theatre,
it
is
the
VFX
that
will
keep
you
waiting
for
the
next
action
sequence.
Morbius
in
every
other
shot
turns
into

Harry
Potter
meets
the

Underworld
franchise
vibe.

Fantastic
Beasts:
The
Secrets
of
Dumbledore
Early
Reaction:
Fans
Call
It
The
Best
Of
The
Prequel
Franchise

As
much
interest
and
passion
the
makers
have
shown
in
developing
Morbius’
traits
on
screen,
if
the
script
would
have
shown
half
of
that
into
developing
his
human
traits,
the
anti-hero
origin
story
could
have
been
almost
as
good
as

Venom.
With
a
longer
screen
time
and
more
defined
script,
Morbius
would
be
a
great
addition
to
Sony
Superheroes.

Overall,

Morbius
is
easy
on
the
eyes
but
turns
out
to
be
a
filler
that
everyone
will
forget
about
unless
the
character
is
redeemed
in
a
better
Spider-verse
movie.