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Movie Review: Morbius

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LM23 Rating: Wait and rent it, but it’s not so terrible as everyone says.


Is it strange to watch a movie waiting for it to suck?


The good news is, the really sucky part of the movie never really materialized. Instead, Morbius is another one of those movies that has a lot of good parts to it, but it never really takes off. You keep waiting for something to HAPPEN, but nothing ever really does.


Jared Leto is charismatic and effective as the titular character, Dr. Michael Morbius. Despite being 50, you don’t cringe when you see that the timeline of the movie sets his character at about mid to late 30’s. Jared Leto is like Sandra Bullock or Tom Cruise in that they really are eternally youthful. It’s not just their looks but their voice, their clothes, and the way they move doesn’t scream older person. It’s like they’re frozen in that perfect time in your life in that you’re in your late 30’s or early 40’s and you got everything in you need and you’re still relatively young. Strangely, Matt Smith who plays Milo aka Lucien, is actually in his late 30’s, but he looks older than Leto.44


The movie’s plot is very predictable. Perhaps this was part of the reason why Morbius has been receiving so many bad reviews. But the set up in how the doctor becomes Morbius was quite compelling and original. Dr. Morbius is a gifted scientist who researches blood and even went so far as winning a Nobel prize for his research. He’s determined to find a cure for himself and his fellow patient/friend who he named Milo. The joke is that the kid who ended up being in the bed next to him in the children’s hospital was named Milo, but they rotated so often that he never bothered to learn their real names, so he just stuck with Milo. Michael made a promise that he would find a cure for the both of them and that he would be back for him even after he left the facility.


And so a grown up Morbius of course very quickly find a cure for their disease, but it unfortunately turns him into a vampire. Morbius’ transformation into a vampire is a werewolf-like creature that means business. There is no sign of a human in his transformation. It’s like Venom turning into Venom. And maybe that’s why for me anyway that these Marvel/DC movies don’t really work. When they turn into a CGI creature, it kind of loses its appeal as a movie with superheroes and instead it’s like a fantasy movie like a video game. I like that the superhero movies have been largely realistic or as realistic as possible. They’re not complete androids or mythical beings, but closer to human. Whenever Morbius turns into the creature, it kind of becomes farcical because of the bad CGI. It’s not like the vampire creature in Bram’s Stoker Dracula in that it’s more of a realistic monster. This monster is more like a video game or cartoony one.


As there aren’t many characters in the film, it’s easy to predict that Milo will be the bad guy. Milo doesn’t care about hurting others as he just wants to be “normal.” And of course Milo steals the drug that cures him of his disease, but turns him into a beast. And the film like many films, turns into a movie about the guy saving the girl. In this case, Dr. Morbius has to save his doctor partner, Dr. Martine Bancroft. The scene in which Morbius realizes this betrayal was a very intense and serious one. It’s this level of intensity and seriousness that I think if it was consistent, would’ve made the film better. Instead, the film kind of hovers at lukewarm. It’s like trying not to be too serious but how can you not if it’s a film about a vampire?


Another part of the movie that I think is why there have been bad reviews is the addition of the two FBI agents. One is played by Tyrese Gibson and the other is played by a forgettable face who you think would be a minor background character. However, this guy for some reason gets more of the laughs than Tyrese. The problem with these characters is that they are forgettable. And, if they’re going to be investigating the murders around New York City, then they need to act more serious and tough like real FBI field agents in NYC. Instead, they just kind of show up at the scenes of crimes and they don’t really do much. This movie doesn’t really dwell on the investigation. And because of that, they should have not even introduced the police element into the plotline. It’s not like The Batman in that the police is an integral part of the ensemble.


Perhaps the biggest downfall of Morbius is the lack of action. You never quite understand what is Morbius’ special powers beyond his super hearing abilities. That won’t cut it for a movie like this. There aren’t any real fight scenes and it’s very odd the way Morbius can take flight only when there’s a gust of wind. That I never really understood. The final showdown between Morbius and Milo wasn’t much to talk about. The brief fight scene they had in the subway was probably the best fight scene, but even that is stretching it.


The movie ends with Martine coming back to life, no doubt as a vampire and Morbius flying away. When the movie ended, it was like it ended and you didn’t know why because nothing really happened. So I can see why so many people thought the movie was bad. It’s not technically bad. It’s just it could’ve been so much better if it had fixed some of the elements I brought up here. Maybe the Morbius character may be better off for now as a supporting character in Spiderman or another Marvel film, but I don’t think it’s worth, yet, its own franchise.





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