Morbius - Movie Review

Starring Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Al Madrigal and Zaris-Angel Hator.

Written by Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless.

Directed by Daniel Espinoza.

★½ 

Sony just isn't as good as Disney when it comes to the MCU, and Morbius is Exhibit A. Take, for example, the writing team. Yes, Sazama & Sharpless know how to write special-effects movies, like Dracula: Untold and The Last Witch Hunter and Gods of Egypt. But there's nothing on their resume that suggests they can deliver anything better than a thumbs-sideways flick you're better off renting rather than seeing in a theater. I mean, did anyone even see their Power Rangers movie?

The script never really breaks through from its origin-story beats. Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) has a rare blood disorder he's trying to cure; the cure gives him vampire-like powers but also a taste for human blood; his surrogate brother Milo (Matt Smith) takes the cure too, and while Morbius feels bad about his powers and doesn't want to kill, Milo has no problem feasting on humans and enjoying his new lease on life. And so on.

Leto is uninteresting as Morbius. This film reminded me of Venom a lot, if Venom had no charismatic star and no attempts at humor. I could liken it to the Miles Teller/Kate Mara version of The Fantastic Four, where the body horror isn't engaging and the movie forgets to give us a reason to care about these characters. The imminently watchable Jared Harris is here in the father-figure role but they give him nothing to DO. 

Most good action or sci-fi movies have scenes that elevate the story to the next level, or have that memorable chase sequence. Something. Not this.

Side note: The first trailer for this movie made sure to have a scene showing Michael Keaton, reprising his role as Vulture. But he doesn't actually show up until the middle of the closing credits.