4/1/2022 – PG-13 – 1h 44m – Sony Pictures

Alan: ⭐⭐✩✩✩
Michelle: ⭐⭐✩✩✩

Dr. Micheal Morbius develops superpowers and a biological imperative to drink blood after performing an experiment with bats meant to cure his own congenital genetic disease.

Alan: I love Marvel. This movie, like Venom, is not directly a part of the Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’m open to Marvel movies outside of that soap opera, but it was clear that the same amount of care was not put into Morbius as most MC

Michelle: Vampires and Marvel — what an opportunity to tell a fun story. However, many things went wrong and opportunities for a good movie were lost. The movie is too much of an origin story without other elements to make it interesting. Too often the movie expects the viewer to suspend disbelief and ignore logic with no payoff or reason that improves the story.

Alan: Vampires are a big part of Marvel lore. Dracula is one of the most powerful villains in the comics. And of course, we have already seen a series of movies about Blade — the vampire who walks in daylight and hunts other vampires. It isn’t clear that Dr. Morbius is actually a vampire even though his powers are similar.

Michelle: Morbius is supposed to be a genius scientist who wants to help cure diseases and help people. He doesn’t plan ahead and properly warn the people who help him find the bat leading to deaths and destruction at the start.

Later, in the film, the actors feel like they are in a camp production mocking the subject of superheroes and the audience. Then actors are not taking the story seriously, undermining the feel of the movie. Matt Smith theatrically limps like a 4th grader miming leg injuries in a summer camp play. Jared Leto pedantically explains science topics at the elementary school level to his colleague Dr. Martine Bancroft. I don’t know if these problems come from the script, the directing or the acting, but the result is a bad movie.

Alan: I was bothered early on when a mercenary, hired by one of the heroes, harasses that hero for no good reason while mugging it up for the camera. It didn’t feel well motivated. I kept questioning his actions. That attitude continued for the rest of the film. I kept asking, “Why don’t they just do <x>?” It made it hard to suspend my disbelief.

Michelle: Yes! That whole boat sequence was not well motivated. It had action, but the causes of the action fighting were weak and silly making the fight feel like the movie wanted a fight scene and they forced a fight scene.

Alan: Near the end, there is suddenly a romantic connection between Morbius and his female colleague. The kiss with her sensually licking a drop of blood off her lips as she lay mortally wounded was just weird. Of course she becomes a vampire. We needed that to happen for the story they wanted, but it wasn’t motivated at all.

Michelle: Super ridiculous that she suddenly kisses him after having no chemistry or romantic interactions earlier. Then the 1980-something era licking of the drop of blood off her lips to add to the camp aesthetic the film seems to strive toward

Alan: I was really excited for this movie and very disappointed. It was fun enough, but I didn’t walk out of the theater wanting more. Two stars.

Michelle: I was also hoping the movie would be better than early reviews were claiming and went in with high hopes. Too bad it was what it was. Two stars.