Morbius

Sony should not make any more villain-verse flicks until they can firmly tell its audience which Spider-Man these dudes are arming themselves against.  Without that bit of FOR SURE knowledge, these entries - in a rather fragile partnership with Marvel - will definitely share a similar fate . . . and be damned forgettable thanks to a formula which sees them flatlining all too soon. 

"It’s hard to say what direction Sony was going for with this flick"


Venom might have been the exception - and it took me twice seeing that entry to get on board with its vision - Morbius is definitely not one to escape that fate.  Yes, it is as lifeless as you'd expect.

Sony’s often delayed flick is a big ol’ mess thanks to a story which is all too familiar, really choppy editing, effects which make little sense, and a cast who has little to do when the two main stars - Jared Leto and Matt Smith - are going after each other’s throats.  No matter what talent the duo brings to the screen, it isn’t enough to keep this one from running out of gas about 30-minutes in, after a bloodbath occurs on a ship conducting secret experiments upon international waters. 

Even my son was begging to go home.

With inconsequential references to the aforementioned Venom and the Daily Bugle, it seems everything else inserted into the trailer was just bait from Sony to guarantee ticket sales.  It might just backfire as this movie is getting critically hammered and its word of mouth is mostly "it's alright".  

And rightly so as a vanilla vampire anti-hero is born to, let's see, glide short distances and do little else. 

Thanks to a rare blood disorder, Dr. Michael Morbius (Leto) finds himself hanging out with vampire bats in Costa Rica for a serum which will restore his vitality.  He can barely walk and looks all sorts of emaciated and, for that matter, so does his orphan “brother”. Milo (Smith), who met when they were younger, both suffering from the same affliction.

MorbiusMorbius believes it is his mission to save them both.  What he discovers brings about both their doom . . . or is it their destiny?  Being a vampire in Hollywood is so confusing sometimes.  Just what exactly are the rules again?  Thankfully, no one sparkles and, yes, Sony amps up the horror aspect here (which is a plus) as Leto goes for broke chugging down his victim’s blood, whether it be on international waters or not.

Unfortunately, the horror genre is not enough to save this film from itself.

It’s hard to say what direction Sony was going for with this flick.  Director Daniel Espinosa doesn’t seem to be in charge here, so maybe the production was taken over by studio executives  or - thanks to the pandemic - maybe the film was edited and edited again until it resembled this mess.  

If Espinosa was in charge then he fell asleep in the director’s chair because this jumbled mess is all over the place with failed lab experiments, two dumb cops (Tyrese Gibson and Al Madrigal), a fairly useless girlfriend (Adria Arjona) who is costumed to look like Sade in 1987, and two shoehorned cut scenes featuring Spider-Man: Homecoming’s Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), who seems to be yet another villain at odds with the fissured multi-verse.

True Believers, the bite is bland with this one.

2/5 stars

Film Details

Morbius

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, some frightening images, and brief strong language.
Runtime:
104 mins
Director
: Daniel Espinosa
Writer:
Matt Sazama; Burk Sharpless
Cast:
Jared Leto; Matt Smith; Adria Arjona
Genre
: Action | Horror
Tagline:
The line between hero and villain will be broken.
Memorable Movie Quote: "How far are we allowed to fix something that's broken?"
Theatrical Distributor:
Marvel | Columbia Pictures
Official Site: http://www.morbius.movie/
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:

Synopsis: Biochemist Michael Morbius tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but he inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead.

Art

Morbius