‘Morbius’ review: Dir. Daniel Espinosa (2022)

After what has felt like an eternity in marketing years (even longer if you include the alternate ending to 1998’s Blade) comic book fans can finally greet the good Dr. Michael Morbius – the living Vampire from the pages of Marvel. Initially introduced as an antagonist to Spider-Man in the 1970s, Morbius went on to form an identity as more of a cursed antihero, as all good vampires naturally do.

Buoyed by the success of Tom Hardy’s Venom, Sony’s pocket of the Spider-Man universe is expanding by finally bringing the fanged physician to the screen in the form of Jared Leto. Having suffered from a rare blood disease since birth, Dr. Morbius is keen on finding a cure by any means necessary for both him and his childhood friend Milo (Matt Smith). The good doctor thinks he might have found it in the genes of vampiric bats native to South America. But when he uses his newly concocted serum on himself, he soon discovers that his new found strength, speed and agility comes with a blood thirsty price.

One of the many victims of Covid delays, Morbius was never meant to arrive after the multiversal antics of No Way Home. It is by its nature a much more contained affair, akin to the kind of comic-book adaptations that coloured the early to mid 00’s offerings in the genre, where studios were keen to see what they could do with whatever characters they happened to have in the catalogue at their disposal. But, following on the heels of Sony Pictures most successful film of all time, there has clearly been some attempt to rework Morbius into something more than its original design. As a result, it is a film that rarely commits to a tone, and is often at odds with itself as it attempts to find a place for Morbius in the crowded comic-book blockbuster landscape. 

To say that though would seem to suggest there was once the makings of a solid blockbuster here, but it is hard to find the traces of it in the final product. The fact that the film shares screenwriters with 2014’s Dracula Untold hardly comes as no surprise, as the approach to this new superhero is very similar both in story features, tone and even visual style. The script is often driven by corner cutting exposition, while the action is all a CGI hodgepodge, often nigh on incomprehensible when it comes to determining exactly what is happening. 

The potential for a tragic horror story with superhero dressing is certainly a welcome one, but the film never particularly gives in to the horror genre potential that it often flirts with. Moments that could be mined for horror, or at least some fun are often rolled out in a very pedestrian fashion. Take the discovery of his powers for instance. Morbius simply figures them out sitting in his lab, and the audience is told what they are via a voiceover. Even when he uses them out on the streets of New York , there’s little to excite as it often falls back on the incoherent visual design that accompanies the vampiric abilities. The script itself doesn’t help, with leaden dialogue doing the bare minimum to establish who he is, the people in his life, what they mean to him and what he can do. It leaves Leto himself feeing somewhat miscast, a little lost in the character, unsure whether he wants to make him a bit of a goofy weirdo or a tortured soul. Ultimately, he doesn’t commit to either and the title character ends up feeling like a blank slate in his own movie. 

Smith has more luck in the role of Milo, who finds the allure of Michael’s newfound powers too hard to resist for himself. There’s the sense he took a look at the more sombre tone being taken by others in the cast and decided the whole joint could use a little more ham, and the film is all the better for it, with his performances injecting a much needed sense of fun to the proceedings. It is a shame that his performance, like Leto’s, is often then taken over by a rubber vampire design (that is admittedly comic book accurate) and visually dull CGI wisps and smoke. 

Where Venom – and particularly its sequel – shined was when it laid into the absurdity supplied by the committed turn from its leading man. Morbius doesn’t have that to lean into, with the character himself far less intriguing and entertaining to spend time with. There’s little blood running through the veins of this big screen outing for Morbius, with the whole enterprise feeling like more of a dead weight, especially as it rolls into the shoe-horned post-credit sequences. It is a muddy puddle of a blockbuster; aimless, dull and lacking in a pulse – which are simply the worst traits a movie of this kind can display. 

Morbius is released in cinemas on 31st March.