Morbius (2022)

Movie Info

I’m still that angsty teen you loved in My So Called Life…now I just drink blood too

Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) has had a lifelong battle with a blood disease and with his friend Milo (Matt Smith), he has vowed to defeat it.  When Michael and his nurse Martine (Adria Arjona) experiment with a serum manufactured with vampire bat DNA, Morbius finds himself battling a new demon…a hunger for blood!  Someone is killing in the city, and Morbius questions if he could be it…or if there is something more dangerous lurking in the shadows.

Directed by Daniel Espinosa, Morbius is a Sony and Marvel Comics action-adventure fantasy horror superhero movie.  It is third film in the Sony Spider-Man Universe following Venom:  Let There Be Carnage in 2021.  The film was delayed due to COVID-19 and was released on April 1, 2022 to a poor box-office return and reviews.  A second release was spawned by online promotion, but it also failed.  It received Razzie nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Leto), Worst Supporting Actress (Arjona), Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay.

Marvel leaned hard into Morbius in the 1990s and made him a superhero instead of an anti-villain of Spider-Man.  This movie has the same anti-hero vibe and less of the tragic victim of an experiment.  Morbius the character generally does the right thing, but the movie is the wrong thing.

I’m going to kick-ass at handball…if I don’t kill all my opponents

The movie pretty much plays the Incredible Hulk card and largely follows The Incredible Hulk TV series plotline.  Morbius is a tortured victim who has made a mistake by experimenting on himself.  Unlike Hulk, Morbius did it for his own good and the good of friend…but despite this, Morbius isn’t as sympathetic because the movie just isn’t very well written.  It is a predictable antihero movie that takes no joy in being a superhero movie…it could be fun, but it is too formulaic to be fun.

Jared Leto has never been a favorite.  He is a good actor, but his antics and techniques are irritating.  There were rumors of his method acting and bad behavior on set as a result, but Morbius doesn’t deserve everything he threw at it…it isn’t a good movie.  I wasn’t as big of a fan of Matt Smith’s Doctor as many, but he was a decent Doctor…but he doesn’t work as a leading villain here.  Martine is a weak character, and Adria Arjona is left with nothing.  Tyrese Gibson as Simon Stroud isn’t very interesting either…just the typical “cop who think he knows the bad guy but realizes he might be wrong”.  There are also appearances by Jared Harris and Michael Keaton (reprising his Vulture role).

People call me…the Vampire!

The movie frequently switches to “Morbius-Vision” with Morbius’s sonar kicking into effect.  It works to some extent but it is overused.  It feels like the character is a bit of a one-trick pony and like many Marvel films, he’s battling someone with his same powers…so little variety in the visuals.

Morbius became a joke when Morbius was released…it isn’t good, but it is average (which is almost worse).  If the movie was campy and fun, it could have been something more, but instead it takes itself too seriously.  It also shows a desperation by Sony to make their own franchise with what meager pickings they have from Marvel’s catalogue.  We can probably expect more mediocre movies unless Sony can find a groove like it did with Spider-Man:  Into the Spider-Verse.  Morbius is followed by Kraven the Hunter in 2023.

Related Links:

Morbius Epic Collection—Volume 1:  The Living Vampire

Morbius Epic Collection—Volume 2:  The End of a Living Vampire