Remember when vampires were the thing in Hollywood? Superheroes are the current ‘thing’ in Hollywood but Morbius was looking to be a little bit of both. For the uninitiated, Morbius is a popular character from the Spiderman universe. This movie served as an introduction and original story for the character.
Morbius (Jared Leto) introduces us to the story of Michael Morbius, an orphan with the brain of a genius, as we come to learn of the debilitating health condition he and his best friend endure. Morbius grows up to be a world-renowned doctor and researcher… in hot pursuit of a cure for his and his best friend’s severe health conditions. Morbius has a mad science vibe as the doctor attempts to fuse bat and human DNA. Nothing could go wrong, right? Per usual mad science fashion, we learn of the haunting side effects of his research as he gains superhuman abilities at the cost of blood-thirsty appetites.
The movie takes a more serious tone than some of the other superhero-type moves we have come to know with the Marvel cinematic universe. Morbius has some horror movie-type moments and scares but definitely keeps to an action-type genre. The characters are forced to face a variety of moral choices throughout the film and some allegiances come into question.
The visuals for the vampire segments are interesting but I found myself a bit distracted by the use of a shaky-cam effect throughout the film. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of the use of shaky cams in any film as I find it makes it tough to follow the action, this was no different.
As far as the story goes, the focus of the film was pretty straightforward. The movie really looks to play into the misunderstood monster trope… a bit of a vampire antihero. The main sell of this movie is definitely the action of the film and seeing the introduction of this character for use in a bigger picture within the Marvel cinematic universe.
With all the action aside, I found a few low-key one-liners thrown in with callbacks to other Marvel movies… a reference to Venom and a witty reference to Hulk can be found. I always appreciate the easter eggs and interesting references superhero movies tuck into their films. This film was also no stranger to credit teasers… make sure to stay in to catch two clips revealing a possible future connection to other popular characters in the web of possibilities.
All in all, the movie was ok but leaves a lot of room for improvement if any sequels get greenlit. I’m curious to see how this character gets integrated into other films. This film serves as a good introduction to the character and his abilities.
