Morbius is the latest Marvel character to get his own movie and despite the fact that this one is not connected to the MCU, I’m sure it won’t be long before it is.
It stars Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, a doctor who has a blood disease that causes him not to be able to create new blood. As a kid, he befriends another boy with the same disease named Lucien whom he subsequently nicknames Milo.
When they grow up, Milo (Matt Smith) becomes a billionaire and Morbius receives the Nobel Prize for developing a new kind of blood that saves others with similar conditions.
However, this isn’t enough for Morbius as he continues to experiment with vampire bats that may completely cure him of his disease. Adria Arjona costars as his lab partner and girlfriend. She doesn’t approve. I guess this might set the relationship back a bit.
The experiments work, and Morbius now has the abilities of a vampire bat, but it also comes with some unintended consequences as his bloodlust grows more and more rapidly. This provides some sequences that showcase his powers, but they lack any real bite.
Tyrese Gibson plays a detective trying to track down Morbius and when he does, he’s left with more questions than answers. Gibson is good in his role. He doesn’t have to worry about fast cars or cars that turn into robots.
Of course, everything leads to a showdown between Morbius and Milo who’s gained similar powers. There are a lot of visual effects in the movie, but the story gets muddled and introduces a lot of elements that quickly run out of gas.
Leto seems perplexed by his role. He has a surprisingly muted level of energy when he’s not doing his vampire shtick and even then, his performance is brought down by bad CGI.
This is a very silly movie with a character that has the potential to spawn a franchise, but how many would want to see a vampire that’s neither scary nor creepy? Instead, Morbius is just a movie that blasts with kinetic action that doesn’t thrill or satiate and the other characters seem just as bafflingly dull.
With great comic book movies such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Batman, I’m sure audiences will be disappointed with such a misfire.
If Ed Wood ever directed a comic book movie, this would probably be the end result. Morbius is often like a vampire: It sucks.
Grade: C-
(Rated PG-13 for for intense sequences of violence, some frightening images, and brief strong language.)
