Morbius / ** (PG-13)

 

Dr. Michael Morbius: Jared Leto

Milo: Matt Smith

Martine Bancroft: Adria Arjona

Dr. Emil Nicholas: Jared Harris

Agent Simon Stroud: Tyrese Gibson

Agent Rodriguez: Al Madrigal

Columbia Pictures and Marvel Entertainment present a film directed by Daniel Espinosa. Written by Matt Sazama & Burt Sharples. Based on the Marvel Comics character. Running time: 104 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence, some frightening images, and brief strong language).

Sony finally gets around to expanding its Marvel Comics based universe of characters following its long running Spider-Man franchise and the more recent Venom pair of movies. Thanks, Covid! Like Venom, Morbius concentrates on more of an anti-hero than the wholesome character of Peter Parker in the Spider suit. Morbius, in plain pop culture speak, is a vampire. Like all vampire films, Morbius is often a dank, dark exercise in straining to see what is happening in the blackness. Like most superhero movies, it is also an origin story filled with CGI creativeness and excess, and all too often sloppiness that adds to the dank, dark, difficult to see action. 

We are introduced to Dr. Michael Morbius, played by Jared Leto, as an adult in an under-explained opening sequence in which he is taken to a remote cave in Costa Rica to trap a rare species of bat. His treatment of the crew of men he’s paid to bring him here is reckless to say the least. Then we are flashed back to his childhood to discover that he was born with a rare blood disease that requires him to “get an oil change” three times a day. We also meet another boy with the same disease whom Michael befriends and renames Milo. The explanation for this renaming is thin and obviously designed to divert the audience’s attention from the true identity of Milo. Considering this would only be understood by the few movie goers that are fans of the comic book character along with the fact that Milo’s real name is used when he’s introduced, this seems like a magician trying to convince you this isn’t a trick even though the cards already fell out of his sleeve. We also meet Michael’s mentor Dr. Emil Nicholas, played by Jared Harris in a bit of casting misdirection.

Back in the present, Dr. Morbius’s partner, Martine Bancroft, discovers that Michael is illegally experimenting with the bats in developing a cure for his blood disorder. Rather than firmly questioning the morality of his actions as she first suggests, Martine is quite supportive of Michael’s experiments. She joins him on a cargo ship in international waters to administer the potential cure to him. The credits fail to respect Martine with a doctor title despite the fact that she insists upon it when challenged by men with guns. Although Martine is underwritten as a love interest, Adria Arjorna is a competent and compelling choice for the role. 

Needless to say, the cure doesn’t work quite as intended. Although it does appear to at least temporarily cure the disease, its side effects are vampirism. Most of the side effects seem beneficial to our hero–increased strength and agility, augmented echolocation hearing, and even a form of flight. It’s just that pesky need to feed on human blood that is problematic. Luckily, Morbius’s previous scientific contribution to humanity was a synthetic blood that is a milky blue color for some reason. Unfortunately, this blue blood provides diminishing returns for the good doctor. Also unfortunate for the doctor is how a shipful of dead mercenaries washed up on the city shore draws the attention of two FBI agents. Also, Milo’s desire for a cure is so strong that he ignores Mobius’s warning that the cure is also a curse. Soon people are being exsanguinated all over the city. Look it up. The writers did.

Now, if it seems I’m being hard on the movie, it isn’t all bad. Most of my issues are aesthetically based, rather than structural. Unlike what so many jokesters on the internet have suggested, Jared Leto’s presence in the leading role is anchoring rather than disruptive. He carries the weight of the role properly, even when the screenwriters insist on putting out-of-character one-liners in his mouth. The plot and design of the characters and production are also sound, providing an intriguing origin to a complicated character without over-complicating it. 

Matt Smith, as Milo, can be a bit much at times. Unfortunately, Smith seems a little more willing to give into some of the writers’ and director’s worst instincts, especially in a scene where he dances while dressing for an evening out with his newfound muscles and powers. It’s the action sequences that are the most problematic, however. The editing is too quick and the scenes are so dimly lit that their murkiness is indecipherable to human eyes. Vampires might be able to see in the dark, but I can’t.

I’d hardly call this the worst comic book adaptation I’d ever seen, but it doesn’t live up to the more nuanced standards that Marvel has built an interlocked universe out of over at Disney. I welcome some of the simplicity of storytelling here that has all but been expelled from superhero movies these days. The movie does dip its toes into the Disney formula in its final moments, however. Thanks primarily to a surprise cameo, these are the best scenes of the movie. I wonder, though, if the MCU has spoiled us on the more straightforward storytelling of classic action/fantasy movies. Morbius isn’t the best of what comic book filmmaking has become and perhaps the old ways just can’t succeed anymore. It’d be nice if they could.

Critic’s Note: Actually, the less complex style of plotting that once served all of our spectacle needs is successfully on display in the second Venom movie, Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021). In it the filmmakers embrace Tom Hardy’s unique characterization from the first movie and throw out most of the newer tricks of universe referencing and twist endings that make you reevaluate all you’ve seen. Well, if you don’t count the credit cookies, it does.