Morbius – Disappointing Origin
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Writer: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless (Screenplay) Roy Thomas, Gil Kane (Comics)
Starring: Jared Leto, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Matt Smith, Tyrese Gibson, Bentley Kalu
Plot: Biochemist Michael Morbius tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but he inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead.
Tagline – The line between hero and villain will be broken.
Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Morbius starts when Michael Morbius (Leto) has devoted his life to biochemistry as he searches for answers for a rare blood disease, with his latest idea leading to deadly consequences, as he infects himself with a form of vampirism.
His oldest friend Mile (Smith) has seen the change in Michael, leading to him infecting himself with the same vampirism, only he will go on a rampage of drinking human blood, forcing Michael to face his oldest friend, as he continues to battle the urge himself.
Thoughts on Morbius
Characters & Performances – Michael Morbius is a genius that has dedicated his life to finding a cure for the rare blood disease he suffers from, with his inventions helping people around the world, with his artificial blood creation. He finds a new potential cure, which he infects himself with, seeing the change, while knowing the consequences it causes, learning he made a big mistake, with his time running out, he looks to clear up any loose ends he created. Milo is the best friend of Michael, he has the same disease as he finances the research until he learns of the cure he has created, he sees the changes and uses it as a chance to finally live his life without being held back, only showing a much darker side in the blood lust. The two have been friends for a lifetime supporting each other during the battle with the illness, which has led to a different effect on the two’s lives. Martine is the doctor helping Michael with his research, she knows he is doing questionable things, but knows it is a chance to make his own life better. We do get a couple of detectives who have zero chemistry and miss every laugh along the way. The performances all around are not the strongest, this isn’t help with what the actions offer either, with Matt Smith enjoying the ability to be let loose.
Story – The story will show the origin of Michael Morbius, a man with a rare blood disease who goes in search of a cure, which will see him getting infected with vampirism, needing to learn how to control his blood lust, until he needs to fight to prove he is innocent of any crimes. For an origin story this is a strange one, because it doesn’t show enough of what Michael has done before, we could easily have had more of spotlight on his work to help people before the latest idea goes wrong, as well as given us more of a look into the deeper side of what he is going through, leading to a series of pointless difficult to watch fights. The saddest part of this story is that it gets more interesting in the end credits scenes offering much more.
Themes – Morbius is an action comic book movie that wants to dive into a darker universe movie, much like Venom did, only to lack any comedy, as every single attempt at a one-liner falls extremely short. The action involved is a mess, with effects that only making harder to watch. This does feel like a movie that didn’t get a chance to use the modern special effects that should have been at offer.
Final Thoughts – Morbius is a messy of a comic book movie, not getting anything right along the way.
