Morbius

Sometimes it's exciting when Morbius dedicates himself to practical choreography. By alternating between slow-motion and hyper-speed, the movie uses speed-ramping techniques to provide visually unique moments that set it apart from other superhero movies. The train altercation offers hints of what may have been, and the hand-to-hand fighting has visceral weight. These moments, though, are lost in a sea of visual jumble. The last battle turns into an unintelligible jumble of "wavy, sketchy CGI trails" that resemble "a combination of psychedelic tracers and the soot creatures from My Neighbor Totoro" that follow Morbius' wake. The camera shakes wildly during close-ups, and fight sequences become "a bizarre medley of slowed-down bullet-time-esque moves and dizzying, confusing, poorly lit skirmishes". Director Daniel Espinosa pauses for mid-air slow-motion shots in nearly every sequence, but rather than clarifying the action, these moments reveal "how obviously phony they are".

The film exhibits a perplexing command of atmosphere, ranging from genuine dread to utterly toothless at different points in time. The only real gasp in the movie occurs during a scene in which a nurse goes by herself down a spooky hospital hallway, setting off motion-activated sensors as a gigantic hand emerges from the bottom of the frame. Morbius fulfills its promise of gothic dread for these fleeting moments. However, this atmosphere vanishes right away. The film's potential is stifled by the PG-13 rating, which restricts blood to "sanguine juice boxes" and "occasional rusty stains". Despite prosthetic artists' credited work, their contributions remain invisible beneath heavy-handed CGI. The result is a film that "is an honest-to-goodness horror film. But only for a few seconds". The gothic potential of a living vampire story gives way to generic superhero aesthetics, leaving the atmosphere feeling like an unfulfilled promise.

Lifelong friends bonded by mutual pain and ripped apart by power, Michael Morbius and Milo (played by Matt Smith) should have a tragically intense friendship. Rather, "Jared Leto and Matt Smith have no friend chemistry as their characters," according to one critic. The script rushes through their past to reach conflict, making their interactions appear staged rather than lived in. Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona) and Morbius' romance fall flat completely; their bond feels "as if they'd been dragged out of bed right before shooting." The FBI agents played by Tyrese Gibson and Al Madrigal suggest a potentially compelling dynamic but vanish from relevance, their arc "essentially amounting to nothing". Only occasionally do the actors find genuine connection, usually in moments of silence rather than dialogue.

Given rumors of method-acting shenanigans that caused production to be delayed, Jared Leto's physical commitment to the character may be excessive. The visual effects crew does a good job of maintaining his performance behind the creature makeup, and his change into the gaunt, pre-vampire Michael demonstrates dedication. But something is still lacking. Leto creates a "bland hero" whose most notable feature is not the outcome but rather the rigorous preparation. Although the character's one-dimensional goals waste his energy, Matt Smith performs better as Milo, providing flashy menace and obviously enjoying his nasty portrayal. Adria Arjona and Jared Harris do what they can with underwritten roles, while the ensemble generally operates in a "tired tone" that suggests collective exhaustion with the material. The performances aren't explicitly awful—merely "acceptable portrayals... not incredibly amazing either".

Character development is treated as an afterthought in the screenplay. A bright scientist with a rare blood ailment at the start, Michael Morbius ends up as a vampire with the same disease, but with superpowers and a bloodlust. Though "you wouldn't know it from this film, which takes any intriguing elements of its title character's story and flattens them into clichéd grandstanding," the movie has references to topics such as vampires as sickness, addiction, and privilege. The antagonist's motivations are still limited to "power and money," and there is no psychological nuance to support his heel shift. As one reviewer summarized: "No actual character development, no memorable hero moments". The film tells us Morbius struggles with his bloodlust without showing meaningful progression, while supporting characters exist merely to trigger plot points rather than to breathe.

There is no obvious visual identity or thematic coherence in Daniel Espinosa's work. Sequences that "play with speed ramping and slow motion like a Zack Snyder film, but with no real precision or artistic motivation" give the impression that the movie was put together rather than directed. Espinosa appears to understand that action is hard to follow, but his solution—slowing down for "obviously phony" moments—just makes the issue worse. Instead of creating a controlled mood, the scary elements that work feel like happy accidents of lighting and performance. The director "seems to know that it's difficult to make out what's happening" but lacks the technical skill or editorial control to fix it. The result is a film that "feels like it was shot from a draft that was in the middle of a substantial revision".

Morbius has a temporal dilemma of its own, feeling both too lengthy and too short at the same time. The duration of 104 minutes "is too long for what the storyline trying to tell, with that being said, weirdly some moments still felt rushed". In an apparent attempt to "make up for the lack of verve of the cast," the movie is "so quick paced that it's dizzying" as it rushes over plot lines. However, this speed causes bewilderment rather than excitement. The narrative jumps from Costa Rica to New York to international waters without establishing spatial or temporal logic. The ending arrives abruptly, "before subjecting us to some bonkers credits scenes" that make "no sense" whatsoever. The pacing suggests either panic or indifference, as if the filmmakers wanted to reach the finish line before audiences could question the journey.

Sony's Spider-Man Universe reaches a low point with Morbius, a film that wastes its promise with rambling action, nonexistent character development, and a direction that confuses motion with momentum. A project that feels hurried, rewritten, and fundamentally misinterpreted by its authors cannot be saved by the occasional atmospheric flourish and dedicated (if wrong) performances. It's not "so bad it's good"; it's just bad, leaving viewers feeling neither excited nor frightened—just worn out.

Staff:

Directed by: Daniel Espinosa

Written by: Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless

Based on: Marvel Comics

Produced by: Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Lucas Foster

Starring: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson.

Cinematography: Oliver Wood

Edited by: Pietro Scalia

Music by: Jon Ekstrand

Production companies: Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Arad Productions, and Matt Tolmach Productions

Distributed by: Sony Pictures Releasing

Release date: April 1, 2022

Running time: 104 minutes