It might be safe to say not many people waited for this film, and even less were satisfied with it.
The fight sequences are poorly-choreographed, chaotic and just plain awful. The horror-esque mood is completely ruined by the unnecessarily dramatic score and bad editing. Instead of giving the viewer a fright and raising the heart rate, they are awkward and simply boring.
While Jared Leto is not a bad choice for playing The Living Vampire, his portrayal of Dr. Michael Morbius is a bit lacking. Although, that might have little to do with Leto’s talent (which was once acknowledged with by the Academy itself) and more to do with the film’s inner chaos. The character of Morbius is poorly written, similarly to the whole script. Leto certainly did his best, but that is not enough to save this vampire suffering from horrid writing.
The jokes fall flat, the Easter eggs are too obvious to make a fun search, and the references are too forced and completely unfunny. Sony clearly tries to repeat Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s success with incorporating memes into the script, yet the result is so atrocious you’ll cringe at both the awkwardness of the line, and its delivery as well.
Even the film’s designated comic relief doesn’t bring any comedy into the mix. Agent Rodriguez’s (Al Madrigal) jokes are untimely, making the mood uncomfortable rather than lifting the scene’s spirit and adding humour. While an attempt is there, a failure is its outcome.
The CGI, scenography and cinematography all also fall under the “terrible” category. Even the costume department did not shine, seemingly unable to decide on Dr. Morbius’ wardrobe. He goes from wearing a suit, to a hoodie, to a black Dracula-style coat. These choices would make more sense if they reflected the vampire’s character development, but that development isn’t even there. So they don’t.
It is truly challenging to say anything even remotely approbatory when the only good part of the film is Jared Leto’s man bun.
In case you’re interested, yes, there are two post-credits scenes in Morbius. Those scenes themselves are better than the whole picture, alas just like the film, suffer from bad writing while making absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Morbius is now playing exclusively in cinemas.
Featured Image Credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment
she/they
Film, media & journalism student
