Morbius (2022) SPOILER FREE Review: Snorebius, Borebius or We Want Morebius?
- Beanie White
- Apr 6, 2022
- 3 min read
Ahhhh Sony, Sony, Sony… I do feel for ya. You've managed to cling on to Spider-Man and that's swell, but in terms of the Marvel-style superhero universe you're lusting after, it's not quite happening for you and Morbius certainly isn't a step (or a bat flap) in the right direction.
Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) is a frail Nobel-prize-rejecting doctor working to find a cure for blood illnesses, much the same as the one he and childhood best friend Milo (Matt Smith) suffer from. When an attempt to splice the DNA of vampire bats with his own results in an unusual transformation, Morbius must navigate his new affliction, face his own darkness and learn to control his vampiric impulses or risk becoming a cold-blooded killer.
Now, I rarely give scathing reviews, out loud or on paper, however I can find few good things to say about Morbius. The plot is jumbled and darts about all over the place, never taking time to linger in places where it matters, like the friendship between Micheal and Milo or the relationship they both share with their doctor/mentor (Jared Harris). For me, the special effects were strange, almost too surreal for me to feel like they had any gravitas, the "vampire" transformation face harked back to the Buffy era but with added CGI and the result of this was not surprisingly unscary. If they had played around with shadow and practical effects, stalling our full perception of what exactly Morbius had changed into, the film would have danced more into the horror genre and it's here that I really think Sony missed a trick.
A true superhero horror movie is missing from the world of caped crusaders and American vigilantes, The New Mutants (2020) tried it to no avail and Morbius -as a vampire based story- has all the ingredients for a subversive little Sony superhero scary story. However it seemed instead to try and follow the formula of a quintessential hero movie but with none of the charm, wit or appeal. Even the fantastic Matt Smith (I'm a Whovian, okay?) couldn't drag this lifeless vampire of a movie from its coffin… In fact, the cast were wasted, whatever you might think of Mr Jesus, *ahem* I mean Jared, Leto, the truth remains that he usually puts in a solid performance and I really felt for him here because Morbius has a distinct lack of personality in his dialogue and I simply couldn't imagine him fitting into the Spider-Verse and holding his own against characters that are so loved and well developed. It was as if the movie rushed past in a sort of blur, there was a distinct lack of solidity and focus which is such a shame because I found the opening scene of Leto’s Morbius capturing the vampire bats to be quite compelling and sinister. I must also mention the confusing and woefully disappointing post-credits scenes which seemed to have no place other than to potentially set up the forthcoming Sinister Six movie.
With Sony struggling to keep hold of credibility in their failing hero universe, they must hope that upcoming releases like Kraven the Hunter (2023) and Madame Web manage to restore some hope to their waning audiences. Because this is one vampire movie that really did suck the life out of me…
Have you seen Morbius? Let us know in the comments below.
Editor's Picks:
Comments