MMT Quick Review of MORBIUS

Anyone who listened to last Sunday’s Banana Meter podcast, or knows me personally, knows how much I was anticipating the release of MORBIUS – the latest Sony superhero offering and expansion of the ever so popular Spider-man universe. But as I type this, I’m so let down by my screening yesterday that I refuse to spend a lot of time on a quick review. So please bear with my thoughts below and I’ll try not to spoil – which is hard not to do completely with this material and my disgust with much of it.

The movie starts with Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) as an adult on an expedition to obtain test subjects – from a specific species of vampiric bats – but quickly jumps back to his hospital admittance as a child and introduction to his lifelong friend Milo – who also suffers from the same grueling blood disorder that Dr. Morbius will attempt to cure as an adult.

The film doesn’t spend much time on their childhood but informs the audience enough to know they became best friends, Milo becomes extremely wealthy (I’m not one of the comic readers, so I don’t know exactly how) and Michael makes the ultimate promise to procure an antidote for them before it’s too late.

But with significant plot holes and poor editing, “Morbius” progresses from an interesting and more scary than normal Marvel-based romp (the ship scenes are probably the best and most graphic) to a film that focuses more on unimpressive CGI, needless destruction and setting up sequels – that I wouldn’t rush to see based on what’s been presented. At about the 45-minute mark, I felt I was watching more camp than superhero origin story and honestly became bored with it all.

For his part, a fragile looking Leto really commits to the role as Dr. Morbius but with lack of a strong narrative his take on the struggling doctor vs vampiric powered superhuman just isn’t as convincing or intriguing. Even his discovery and analyzation of his superpowers were rushed and not given enough development and diminished the storytelling.

And the ultimate riff that arises between Milo (Matt Smith) and Morbius isn’t given enough attention or time to progress to really make an impact – with me not caring enough about either of them and feeling like it was a Peter Parker and Harry Osborn rip-off.

I will say that I was able to suspend disbelief and enjoy approximately 30 to 40 minutes of the 1 hour and 44-minute offering, but I wish that the characters were better flushed out and the creators weren’t in such a rush. I guess I’ll have to wait for the upcoming “Blade” and his intro to the MCU to get, prayerfully, my vampiric superhero jollies.

Sadly, I rate this film 2 out of 5 on the MMTrometer.

MORBIUS opens in theaters today, March 31.

FYI, there are two post-credit scenes in this film, so be mindful.

Until next thought, Thomasena