Morbius

The idea that each new superhero release must be a crucial component of some grand interconnected universe, is a bit wearying at this point. Morbius is indeed a meager slice of a larger pie that includes the Venom flicks. So far the three pictures are the cinematic manifestation of Sony’s rights to Spider-Man. Despite Morbius’ attempt at worldbuilding, its aspirations are low. The straightforward tale is just a monster movie at heart. Its undemanding nature is ironically a strength.

The story is extremely basic. Michael Morbius is a doctor who suffers from a rare blood disease. Michael’s colleague is Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona) and she predictably becomes his girlfriend. In his quest to cure his condition, he accidentally turns himself into a vampire who craves blood. Now Morbius is constantly torn between his human and monster states. He gets special powers whenever he transforms. Extra-sensory hearing is one ability. It bizarrely converts his ears into what looks like the gills of a mushroom. “Mad scientist cursed by a beastly alter ego” is a familiar trope. The same idea afflicted The Incredible Hulk and his alter ego Bruce Banner for example. There’s even a moment where Morbius utters the line “Don’t make me hungry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry.” Sometimes a joke is so eye-rollingly bad it ends up being good. Granted the chronicle is cobbled from the details of other better films. Morbius’ deep fascination with vampire bats even recalls Batman.

Morbius has idiosyncrasies that amuse, sometimes unintentionally. Coming off of his flamboyant but enjoyable achievement as Paolo in House of Gucci, Jared Leto surprisingly underplays the role with a quiet intensity. With his neatly trimmed beard and long locks parted in the center, he suggests a Jesus-like figure in his well-groomed appearance. He is an odd personality. He arrogantly refuses the Nobel prize because his groundbreaking work may have saved millions of lives, but it didn’t improve his own. Well, that’s a stupid decision. His incongruous reference to The Notebook when a character gets sentimental is also comic. Speaking of whom, Matt Smith does the scenery-chewing as Morbius’s surrogate brother. Milo suffers from the same illness. Smith invigorates the silly drama with a goofy performance. His little dance as he’s getting dressed is an amusing interlude.

Morbius is not great for a variety of reasons. The saga frequently relies on wonky computer special effects. It culminates in the type of generic battle that blights even the best superhero installments. An end-credits sequence renders the film we just watched as a prelude to a sequel. I’m not looking forward to more chapters. However, if you can disregard that annoyance, the film is an uncomplicated piece of entertainment. It demands so little. At 104 minutes it unfolds in a blip — an antidote to bloated epics marred by their distended runtimes. Comic book obsessives usually don’t uplift a shorter account as better. Perhaps my unfamiliarity with the material helped. While the narrative is derivative, it’s pleasant as a creature feature. Morbius is not an experience that requires you dash to the nearest theater, but it is fitfully diverting.

03-31-22