Morbius is a complete mess from start to finish. There is so much wrong with this movie that even a great performance from Matt Smith cannot save it.
It breaks my heart into a million pieces to admit that I was wrong in having any hope for Morbius, but alas, I was dead wrong. This movie was somehow much worse than I anticipated, and I was going in very cautiously optimistic. Jared Leto tries, he really does, but unfortunately the newest Marvel movie from the Sonyverse is a hot mess from start to finish. The story itself is disjointed, the editing is jarring, the CGI is some of the worst I have EVER seen, and the mid-credit scene makes absolutely no sense at all. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
In Morbius, Doctor Michael Morbius is dedicated to curing the blood disease that he has been suffering his entire life with. He gets the brilliant idea to use blood from vampire bats and things do not go according to plan. The side effects include him thirsting for blood — human blood. Lucky for him (and those around him) he created “the blue stuff” — fake human blood that fends off his urges for a little bit.
The rest of the main plot is hard to talk about without using spoilers, but let’s just say he might not be the only blood thirsty creature in town. So is he good, evil, or in the middle somewhere? The movie never really figures that out. Not completely anyways. There are many plot holes and moments that I can only describe as weird. Some bizarre choices were made when creating this movie and I can’t tell if this was always an issue, or the delays forced the team to go back and change things because of movies that were supposed to come out after it, have now come out before it. It is extremely disjointed and confusing at times. I wish I could say there is a good story in there somewhere, but there really isn’t.
The plot and storyline aren’t the only issues here though. In fact, they are the easiest to swallow. The editing and CGI are so jarring, and so choppy, that it caused me to leave the theater with a massive headache. When I first saw the Morbius reveal in the trailer I was thrilled — and thought he looked amazing. That is probably the only good vampire shot in the entire movie. What you can see, because yes this movie is quite literally way too dark, is just not good.
There are flashes of the vampire faces that are laughable — like 90s Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes but maybe even worse. When Morbius is flying through the air fighting, he just looks like swirling colors. This was a huge misfire. The bats look ridiculous at times, and quite honestly, nothing that was CGI works. Not one thing except perhaps that one shot.
It seems like Jared Leto tried really hard with this character, but it just didn’t work out. This is not his fault, as a lot of the problem is the dialogue that is surely from the script. I feel a bit bad for Leto as he really is a good actor, he has just had a bad string of roles lately. There is a lot of humor that falls flat, and just doesn’t work – this is coming from someone who quite enjoyed the silly humor of Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Matt Smith is the little bit of saving grace here, as his character is not only interesting, but entertaining. Again with the weird choices though, as there is one scene in the Subway that I cannot imagine what they had to do to get him to agree to do it. Because he looks ridiculous. I was embarrassed for him. Overall though, his character has the best arc, and most complete storyline out of them all.
In the trailers there were a lot of Marvel Easter Eggs which had fans wondering which universe this movie was going to exist in. Don’t worry though, you don’t have to think too hard because they have all been pulled out of this movie, solidifying that Morbius is in the Sonyverse. Then the mid and end credit scenes come along and further confuse things because what they are trying to do is cool, but they do it all wrong. Fans already know this is not how things work, so it becomes yet another weird and bizarre decision.
Morbius is disjointed, rushed, poorly edited, and then it ends abruptly with viewers just kind of staring at their screen wondering what just happened. The mid and end credit scenes certainly do not help, or even make the film worth the effort of watching. It’s sad and disappointing because there could have been a good story in there. Morbius is an interesting character from the comic books, and coupled with Blade, who we know to be hitting the MCU soon, this should have been a home run.
Rating: 1 out of 5
NEXT: Morbius End Credit Scenes Explained
About Morbius
One of the most compelling and conflicted characters in Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters comes to the big screen as Oscar® winner Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius 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?
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.