This had potential to be a good film but sadly the dull storyline, shoddy cgi and lack of effort acting makes this film seem a lot longer than its 90 minutes running time.
The MCU cinematic universe adds another rather pointless and at times dumb down antihero in a fairly uninspiring film. Maybe MCU fans all rave about this but it doesn't add anything very original nor has any particular entertainment value. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) has a genetic blood disorder along with his best childhood buddy Milo (Matt Smith). Michael dedicates his life to finding a cure before early death strikes and ambitiously mixes the DNA of vampire bats with his own resulting in his developing vampiric superpowers and the inevitable bloodlust. Trying to control his new body and urges he ends up having to battle with Milo who also tries the new 'cure' and loves the power and ability to kill a little too much. It's all very silly and it is very similar to Venom (2018) and, of course, we've already had a vampire superhero in Blade (1998) and there are hints of Underworld (2003) here too. It's a film strictly for fans of the comic books, all a little hackneyed and taken far too seriously.
Watching this is it never felt as bad as it had been made out to be.
Its generally a harmless, formulaic comic book flic. However, the very first second you think about it you realise this is one empty, dull, bland and utterly pointless movie.
As some point out, modern movies from big studios or streamers are very much there for consumption. You consume, move onto the next. Consume, move on. etc etc. Its all about volume, the more they push out, the more there is for us to consume. Low quality, high volume.
On the bright side this film doesnt really push any messaging to aggravate the viewer which is a nice change. But by the same token it fails to push any sort of a plot or meaningful experience either.
Where exactly does Morbius fall on the timeline of Marvel movies? Well, it apparently exists within the same universe as Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The timeframe is certainly some time after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home based on the mid-credit citation of the multiverse briefly splintering. There’s also some relation to Spider-Man: Homecoming based on the cameo of another villain. None of this is important to understanding the story of Morbius. None of it would fix it either.
Morbius is posed as a mad scientist story about a doctor who is seeking a cure for his rare blood disease. The doctor is Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) and his life is incredibly boring despite being so noble. This could be mostly due to Leto’s performance which is far too detached and dead, even for a character who is playing a vampire. So, he fuses bat DNA with human blood, tests it on himself hoping for a cure, and finds a way to make himself a vampire. Well, not a proper vampire; he doesn’t burn in the sun and isn’t affected by holy water. He just sorta craves blood and is agile enough to soar through the skies.
Here’s how boring Morbius turns out to be. He goes from being a skinny and weak man not long for this world and suddenly transforms into a muscular dude with vampire powers, able to scale walls and fly. What is his reaction? “Hmm, that’s neat, I guess.” Now, one would think this would make Michael’s recluse childhood friend Milo (Matt Smith), affected with the same disease and then vampire cure, the more interesting character. He almost is. Milo takes more glee in his new abilities but can do little more than do a little dance and munch on a little flesh. The two will fight, of course, in a fight that is quite similar to the first Venom movie. What I mean by that is that there’s a lot of CGI and a lot of slow-motion shots when the completely CGI characters aren’t zooming about the screen in a literal blur of effects.
Providing little backup is Morbius’s lab assistant Martine (Adria Arjona). She tries to be the voice of reason but her words rarely go with heed. She also exists more like a damsel in distress around action scenes and a love interest when no action is happening. Even less of a compelling character is Jared Harris as both the father of Morbius and the doctor of Milo. Harris is such a great actor and here he is in a film where he feels like the most passive player, providing some small bits of morality that are slathered in pathetic pathos.
Nothing about Morbius works. The character is a snooze, the special effects are a mess, the horror is lacking, and the fights are just a tiring retread of a dozen other mundane superhero films that evaporated from most people’s memory (Remember Bloodshot? No?). All of it just feels so limp, to the point where I found myself fantasizing about better films where this movie rips from. There’s a scene where Leto lavishes in a swarm of bats and all I could think of was, “man, I loved that scene in Batman Begins where young Bruce Wayne is surrounded by bats.” I watched the fight scene between Morbius and Milo and all I could think of was how much more I should give the first Venom movie another shot. Maybe I was too hard on Venom? I certainly feel that way after watching Morbius.
This is one Marvel movie you can skip, even if you’re only watching it for the promise of other Marvel movies. Trust me, the short running time is not worth that 30 second commercial at the end.