Morbius is Undead but Desperately Desires Life

Movie: Morbius
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Screenplay by: Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless
Where to watch: Theaters

This review contains no significant spoilers for the film in question.

Morbius can be summed up in a single word: Unearned.

A few interesting visuals and some fine acting aren’t enough to save a screenplay that feels like it was written in the early aughts for fans of movies like Daredevil and Ghost Rider. The movie jumps from scene to scene with little to no connective tissue and feels hollow as a result.

The Good

Jared Leto gives a believable performance as Michael Morbius and it’s unfortunate that he was boxed in by the script as written. Likewise, Matt Smith’s Milo is well-acted, but incredibly unevenly written. The movie wants desperately to be about the bond between the two of them and that’s would have been compelling—if the script had justified their relationship.

There were some promising visual effects that made for something interesting to watch on screen. That said, they weren’t enough by themself to make this movie intriguing.

The Bad

This movie died by its screenplay. It’s uninspired, joyless, and boring. Characters do things without motivation and the writers amaze with their ability to make the least interesting possible choice in any given moment.

I don’t know where to lay the blame. Sazama and Sharpless are listed as the writers for the film, but this type of writing is commonplace in Sony’s Spiderverse. I can’t help but wonder if the studio is responsible for churning out these incredibly underwhelming films because of its need to have tight control of its IP—despite a proven track record of mishandling it.

Morbius feels like half a movie. There are a half dozen or so scenes just missing from the movie that would have served to help the audience believe it. There are so many unmotivated choices and face heel turns that I found myself utterly confused by and completely disconnected from the characters. Leto’s Morbius would have been better served by greater internal struggle instead of the choice to split the struggle out to his adoptive brother.

There were a number of scenes built to feel more like a horror film than an action movie and I respect the idea behind it, but the execution was very flawed. Executing the horror poorly made those scenes not only feel out of place, but also cheap and predictable.

The ending has no stakes, features an empty and boring fight, and relies on what amounts to a Deus Ex Machina. It didn’t work.

The Ugly

This section may contain minor spoilers for Sony’s Spiderverse.

Morbius has an end credits scene because of course it does. In fact, it has 2 and both of them do the same thing: Sony brought Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) over from the MCU to be the Vulture in what is being heavily teased to be a Sinister 6 film—or series of films, if Sony can pull it off.

It’s all so. . . Unfortunate. Sony is churning out these lackluster movies and holding their rights to Spider-man in a death grip that is sure to kill the franchise again. They haven’t learned their lesson. The MCU has put out some fantastic Spider-man films. That Sony seems so deadset on cashing in on this IP is understandable from a business point of view—or it would be if they were doing good business. The mishandling of the Sony Spiderverse is a tragedy and will likely spell another reboot of a beloved character in far too short order.

My Rating: ★★