When “Morbius” was first announced to release in 2017 with a budget of $75 million, I was excited about it. After I watched the trailer, I expected an interesting plot, well-done special effects and characters, and an imaginative take on what a Marvel vampire would look like. Sadly, “Morbius” did not live up to my hopes and left me feeling like I had wasted nearly two hours of my life.
Here’s a brief introduction. Essentially, Dr. Michael Morbius makes it his life goal to find a cure for the rare and terminal blood disorder that he and his best friend, Milo, are suffering from. He finally realizes that mixing vampire bat and human DNA may be the only way to save himself and countless others but at great risk. Still, he continues with the experiment but little does he know that in doing so, he would change into something entirely new altogether.
Now before getting into the disappointing parts of the movie, it should be pointed out that the special effects of the movie when it came to the fight and power scenes should be appreciated. When the main character, Michael Morbius, played by Jared Leto, gets his powers for the first time, the massacre that follows was certainly something fun to watch.
The special effects used to show his increased speed gave off the impression of distorted space and were used to portray sound waves around him when he moved. When he ran and fell while activating his vampire-like powers, it seemed like he was almost teleporting, and it caught my eye whenever it happened.
Now when it comes to his actual vampire face, it is grotesque yet intriguing, especially with the blood-red eyes, decayed skin and sunken cheekbones.
One thing that detracted from Michel’s character was the choice to give him long hair which was fine when he was still human, but the moment he turns, the hair looks greasy and unnatural.
For every great movie, there needs to be a well-executed plot and fleshed-out characters. If a movie lacks either or both, viewers will find the movie forgettable or even downright boring. This is exactly what happened to “Morbius.”
“Morbius” is confusing with the time skips from the past to the future and any backstory we get on Michael is too short to understand.
The movie also tries to use framing devices to connect events from the past to the present, but they lack meaning and feel forced when they do.
Also, the plot moves too fast and this leads to a drop in content quality. Every time there was an impactful scene or a major turning point—and there were many—the movie rushed past it and did not allow enough time for the event to sink in.
Then there are the poorly planned characters like the female lead, Martine, who is played by Adria Arjona, and Michael’s childhood friend, Milo, who is played by Matt Smith. Now, the acting itself isn’t bad, the problem is that both actors have little to work with. Both characters lack motivation for their actions and Martine has no backstory and is purely there as the stereotypical female doctor and damsel in distress to distract them from the terrible plot.
Another problem is that Milo’s actions later in the movie are confusing since the viewer never fully understands his reasoning for doing the things he does and the flashbacks serve as no help in the matter.
Lastly, the way they expanded on the vampire genre — or didn’t expand it — was frustrating. While Morbius’ vampire look is cool, it’s a bit lackluster in the imagination department. The whole bat-like face and colored eyes are something that has been used in many pieces of media, with “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” as a more noticeable example. While the sound waves and echolocation were refreshing, the vampire jokes that were thrown in along the way were completely unoriginal and boring.
My final thought is that “Morbius” isn’t really worth watching. Maybe if you are an avid Marvel fan or want to see cool vampire special effects, you should watch it, but other than that, it’s a waste of time. But hey, with AP exams, maybe you could use this as an excuse not to study? I know that’s what I did.
— By Emily Cook
