Good things come to those who wait? Hmm…that might not always be the case.
Morbius wrapped up filming about three years ago and its release was then delayed multiple times due to the pandemic. From the trailers that were released to the final output, you can’t help but feel that there was a lot that went on inside the editing room.
A lot of the problems seem to come from really bad editing.
Doctor (and Biochemist?) and I wasn’t sure if he did receive a Nobel award-Michael Morbius (Jared Leto at his second attempt at a comic book role) has a rare form of blood disorder. He’s had it since he was a kid, and was sent to a some-sort of children’s hospital / orphanage? (I’m not really sure, turns out, I wasn’t really sure about a lot of details in the film). He grows up with children that suffer the same blood disorder.
I would have liked for the disorder to have some sort of name and an overview of how it works, more than just “We need an oil change three times a day.”
As a child, Morbius displays a bit of talent by doing a MacGyver on a machine, saving his childhood friend’s life-saving machine. He is then sent to New York to study. Childhood friend AKA ‘Milo’ (Matt Smith) grows up as a rich donor to Morbius’ studies.
Determined to find a cure to their nameless illness, Morbius mixes bat DNA to human DNA and poof! He become Koko Krunch~ errr…a living vampire with super powers. Morbius is healed of his disease, he is free of the crutches that have imprisoned him all his life but he now has an insatiable thirst for blood.
The film tries (and fails) to inject horror elements to the story but it just doesn’t work. All they could do was a not so scary hallway scene. There’s no tension, there’s no suspense. The stakes aren’t even high.
Morbius suffers from a narrative that doesn’t feel cohesive or tied down. There are many plot holes throughout the film, with many of the details of the story left for the viewer to ponder on (What was the name of their illness? How does the illness work? How did Milo make his money? Is he flying on sound waves? Air waves? After transforming from sickly to buff, the people in the hospital weren’t wondering what happened? Are just among the questions left unanswered.)
I did have a few things that I liked in the movie, such as Matt Smith’s Loxias Crown/Milo. He has a scene where he dances it up, all buffed and confident and I think it’s my favorite scene from the movie. Jared Leto does his best with the material given to him. I couldn’t help but notice that he looked like white Jesus.
The fight scenes with their vibrant colors and the visceral motions were beautiful to look at, and impressive to admire which might make it worth it seeing on the big screen. If you’ve been following the MCU/Sony verse of heroes, then seeing Morbius is pretty much a no-brainer. Post credit scenes seem to be pointing to a bigger Sony-verse. Although, I would have to admit that they were the least exciting after credits scene ever and just made me more confused and have even more questions.