Mark Reviews Movies: MORBIUS

Morbius, Columbia Pictures

Follow on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Become a Patron

Review by Mark Dujsik | March 31, 2022

We don't need a clear establishment of a character's role as either a hero or a villain, even when it comes to comic book stories. What we do need for certain, though, is a character with a personality, a moral code, a driving philosophy, or any kind of distinguishing traits that go beyond some gimmick, some role in the plot, and, in the case of those comic book characters again, any kind of superhuman abilities. Morbius, which is based on a character from the comics, is a bit unclear about whether or not its eponymous character is a villain, a hero, or something in between, and that's fine. He's simply not particularly interesting, and neither is his origin story.

Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) is a doctor with a rare, unspecified genetic condition that requires him to have multiple blood transfusions per day. The movie's mysterious and strange opening scene has the doctor traveling to a jungle of Costa Rica, setting up a trap in front of a cave entrance, and cutting his hand, allowing a whole colony of bats to fly at him. This move by the team of screenwriters (Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway), which begins the story without any specific information but right at the key moment for its protagonist, is the last time the movie tries anything slightly different.

Indeed, the next scene undermines that initial strength. It's a flashback to 25 years prior, seeing a young Michael (played by Charlie Shotwell) being treated in a specialty hospital in Greece, meeting someone who will become his lifelong friend, and showing enough intelligence at a moment of crisis that puts him on the path toward becoming a world-famous researcher (He turns down a Nobel Prize, which makes him a front-page story in a paper that's not the only connection to another superhero). Back in the present day, those bats could be the key to a cure for his condition, shared by his best friend Milo (Matt Smith), who is under constant care from the doctor (played by Jared Harris) who treated the two men when they were boys.

Anyway, the treatment Michael develops, with a bit of help from colleague Martine (Adria Arjona), essentially turns him into a vampire, with an insatiable thirst for blood every few hours and possessing several superhuman abilities. Those include increased strength and agility, as well as the power of echolocation (or "bat radar," he notes "for the uninitiated," which is an odd thing to clarify in his personal, scientific notes). His face also changes to a bat-like appearance—an upturned nose, hollow cheeks, and very point teeth—whenever he gets angry or hungry, and whatever trickery of makeup, digital effects, or a combination thereof is employed here is unconvincing enough that we understand why director Daniel Espinosa uses it somewhat sparingly or obscures it until the climax.

Michael eventually learns to glide on drafts, too, which is somewhat unnecessary, given his ability to run with such speed and leap at such distance that he leaves behind cloudy trails of whatever color clothes he's wearing. Espinosa and the visual effects team either believe that the confusing effect looks neat or know that it's necessary to cover up for some additionally unconvincing effects.

There comes a point here at which we start to imagine the drab backdrops and visual clutter on screen are more than just maintaining the mood of a vampire tale. Everything is so intentionally dim and dreary, especially during a final showdown in a dark gray system of tunnels (obscured even more by thousands upon thousands of bats that later fill most of the screen), that hiding the effects is made incredibly easy. As for comprehending what's happening amidst all the distractions and obstructions, it's quite the opposite.

The plot is so routine that it almost doesn't need explaining. Michael keeps his hunger at bay with artificial blood, but he knows the time he'll want the real red stuff is fast approaching. That internal conflict and question of what he's willing to do in order to survive become irrelevant, because there's obviously a villain here, with the same powers as Michael but without the moral qualms about killing people and drinking their blood.

It's the formula of just about any given superhero/supervillain origin story of the modern era of movies, without any sense of humor, sincerity, or personality. Combined with this uncertain—and mostly dull—protagonist and those flimsy powers rendered with shaky visual effects, the whole of Morbius has nothing to offer except the usual—and even that's a bit of a struggle here.

Back to Home

Buy Related Products