Morbius Is A Soulless Spider-Man Spin-off That's Painfully Generic And Lacking In Depth

When looking at the current slate of superhero films, one of the more questionable decisions made is that of Sony pictures choosing to tell separate origin stories for numerous Spider-Man foes with Venom being a prime example. Whereas both Tom Hardy films were highly successful commercially, they relied heavily on the latters charismatic presence to make them watchable considering that their scripts weren't exactly strong. With Morbius, Sony continues that trend with them enlisting the talent of extreme method actor Jared Leto in the title role of vampire Spider-Man villain. Despite Leto giving his noblest effort to make it work, Morbius comes across as being a messy spin-off that's heavily generic and feels uninspired.

      Based on the Marvel comics character of the same name, Morbius has Dr. Morbius (Jared Leto) dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder whose determined to save others from the same fate. In developing a cure for himself and his best friend (Matt Smith), he pursues a risky gamble that unleashes something dark from within. Morbius plot is one that would be thrilling if it wasn't for the fact that it relies heavily on other plots of the same nature in order for it to function. There isn't anything presented in Morbius that feels like it takes genuine risks with its story with the film giving a strong impression that little effort was put into making it work. As an extension of the current Spider-Man universe, Morbius can be summed up as being a missed opportunity, as well as a depressing revelation that not all of Spider-Man's villains need or require their own separate origin story. 

      As hard as everyone tries, the casts efforts aren't enough to elevate the film to the status of being watchable. As a film designed to rely on the performance of its main star, Jared Leto demonstrates pure devotion with playing smart-minded and soft-spoken scientist Michael Morbius, who attempts to cure himself while being afflicted with a form of transgenic vampirism. Although the character is one-note, he does a strong job of showing his struggle with his disease, along with the consequences of having an overwhelming thirst for blood. Adria Arjona does well as scientist and Morbius's colleague Martine Bancroft with her  character portrayed as being smarter than others with her and Leto showcasing decent chemistry. Matt Smith chews up the scenery as Morbius's surrogate brother Milo, who suffers from the same rare blood disease as Michael yet wholeheartedly embraces his new vampire persona. The rest of the supporting cast try their best to make the most of what they're given including Jared Harris as both Morbius and Milo's mentor and father figure Dr. Emil Nicholas, Al Madrigal and Tyrese Gibson as FBI agents Alberto and Simon who pursue Morbius. Whereas mostly everything about the film feels ill-conceived, the cast stands as being one of the films few points of watchability despite them often feeling underdeveloped along with being cardboard cutouts from other films.

      When it comes to Morbius' directing, Daniel Espinosa's work appears lifeless with no real risks being taken here with the special effects feeling underwhelming and covered up by vaper trails following the characters as they leap or are thrown across buildings, alleys, and subways. While such a decision is meant to showcase the characters supernatural abilities, it also gives off the impression that it's being utilized to fill in for a lack of creativity directed towards the films visual appearance. The action scenes are presented with moments which deliver Matrix style slow-motion shots, that help to reveal some of whats being hidden by the vaper trails. The films score ranges as being utterly forgettable with the pacing moving the story too rapidly for its 104 minute length. As for Morbius's character design, the look and make up effects are impressively spot-on to his animated comic book appearance. Despite nailing the look of the character along with providing some intense monster fights which consist of the traditional biting and slashing with claws, Espinosa's efforts feel lazy as Morbius' world doesn't feel much like one that links up with the current Spider-Man universe.

      With its writing, Morbius often feels as if it relies heavily on generic elements to tell its story with its plot and characters feeling undercooked. Besides Leto and Smith, the rest of the cast have very little to work with to the point where their characters are instantly forgettable immediately after the film finishes. The motivations also make little to no sense with Morbius and Milo's characters being shown to be good friends yet later find themselves trying to kill each other with no valid reason shown for their switch up. The screenplay does very little when it comes to developing its side characters with both FBI agents feeling like copy and paste characters from other Marvel stories with them serving little to no purpose in the story. Not to mention that the romance between Morbius and Martine feels up forced and unconvincing. The script aims to deliver a message that says scientific advancements in the wrong hands can lead to improper application, but there's little effort put into delivering that message with themes revolving around life and death, good and evil, power and weakness being tossed around without much depth to them. With a character such as Morbius or someone like Milo, the audience never truly feels the moral implication of their actions. The film also lacks the traditional Marvel style of witty humor with it being humorless and dry along with possessing a dank feel to it.

      Overall, Morbius is a superhero vampire flick that feels painfully by-the-numbers along with its main character lacking a sympathetic character arc. With the effort that Leto puts in, the filmmakers do a disservice to the cast as well as the fans with presenting storytelling which feels sloppy. Hopefully Sony throws more effort towards any future spin-off stories compared to what's been given here. Morbius ranks as being the worst Marvel film thus far.

Final Verdict: For both Spider-Man and Marvel fans, Morbius is not worth the time and money to watch. 

Images Courtesy Of Sony Pictures