Morbius (2022) - SPOILER-FREE Review
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© Sony Pictures
Directed by: Daniel Espinosa
Written by: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless
Starring: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, Tyrese Gibson
Runtime: 104 min
Synopsis: Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others suffering the same fate, Dr. Morbius (Jared Leto) attempts a desperate gamble. While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed. Will good override evil - or will Morbius succumb to his mysterious new urges?
© Sony Pictures
Since the pandemic started, movies have suffered numerous delays. Changing release dates constantly inevitably affects the hype surrounding each work, especially from major studios. However, while this particular moment raised more problems than solutions, it also provided film companies with a way to deal with their "disposable flicks". The COVID excuse to justify bad decisions by executives has been used here and there, so I find it surprising that Morbius has gone through so many delays instead of Sony just dumping it in January as usual. Unfortunately, Daniel Espinosa's (Life) movie kept moving through the calendar due to its own problems and not because of any external factor.
When Jared Leto (The Little Things) is genuinely one of the few positive aspects of a film, something must have gone very, very wrong with its production. The actor is known for his extreme dedication to his roles, but his off-screen "method acting" generated unbelievable stories that his peers, filmmakers, and cinephiles either disapprove of or applaud. That said, despite being an admittedly controversial actor, Leto possesses immense talent and demonstrates it in this third installment of the Sony-Marvel cinematic universe - officially named Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU).
Both Leto and Matt Smith (Last Night in Soho) try to carry the first half of Morbius, mainly while their characters focus on finding the cure for their rare diseases. The two actors have excellent chemistry, and their interactions before the whole uncontrolled action are interesting enough. The action itself contains pleasing visual elements created by VFX artists and cinematographer Oliver Wood (The Equalizer 2), including three sequences with more suspense and tension than anticipated. However, from the somewhat old-fashioned mix of slow-motion with a faster pace to the dreadful third act with an incomprehensible CGI blend filling the screen, it's still one of the most inconsistent components of the movie.
© Sony Pictures
From here, it won't be easy to find praise, with the screenplay by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (Gods of Egypt) being the biggest negative factor. A narrative heavy on cheap, unnecessary exposition with a main plot so generic that Morbius could very well have been released in 2005. There's no surprise factor in a story incredibly predictable from the first few minutes, where the lack of character development not only raises mind-boggling logical questions but also keeps viewers from empathizing with any hero, villain, or other "bodies present".
Adria Arjona (Sweet Girl) plays the "pretty scientist" stereotype, Jared Harris (Allied) the cliche role of "fake dad", Milo (Smith) goes from being a child with nothing to a millionaire adult - who knows how and what job he has - and Michael Morbius, the alleged anti-villain with complex motivations, is, after all, developed as a head-to-toe "good guy"... which wouldn't be a problem if the most confusing post-credits scenes of Sony-Marvel's history didn't completely contradict the preceding 104 minutes, in addition to breaking several storylines explained in previous MCU and SSU films. The credits teaser addiction is so powerful that it's already beginning to impact the movie viewers have just seen.
On the technical side, Pietro Scalia's (Ambulance) editing ruins pretty much the entire film, making quite an impactful contribution to the overall mess. Scalia may not have been the only culprit, but the editing of the various narrative points and the action sequences can make a viewer dizzy due to so many sudden shifts in location and characters. Jon Ekstrand's score (Child 44) should be a plus since it actually elevates some moments in Morbius. It's just a shame that it's a pretty blatant copy of the music that accompanies Batman in The Dark Knight.
Marvel and Sony have a tremendous opportunity to transform Hollywood again. If cinematic universes are the popular type of franchise every studio wants these days, cinematic multiverses could be "the next big thing". Unfortunately, this MCU-SSU combination will be analyzed as "the example to not be followed". Not only has the SSU still not delivered a single movie acclaimed by both critics and audience, but the merger comes at the cost of destroying the entire narrative logic built in the last Spider-Man flicks.
© Sony Pictures
Final Thoughts
Morbius is yet another disaster from the Sony-Marvel shared universe. Despite good performances from Jared Leto and Matt Smith and even a couple of visually captivating action sequences, the formulaic screenplay that seems to originate from the beginning of the century ruins everything in its path. From the predictability and zero creativity of the main plot to the heavy reliance on uninteresting, unnecessary exposition, Daniel Espinosa finds his most significant problem in the blatant lack of care in the treatment of the characters. The narrative logical lapses are too many to ignore and even amplified by extremely messy editing, a third act wrapped in an unfathomable blend of CGI, and a plagiarized score. One of the most embarrassing productions by a major studio in recent years.
