REVIEW: Morbius May Have Been Best Left On the Shelf

Sony Pictures is at it again with the next installment in it’s “Spider-Man Universe”, Morbius. However, this one may have been better off left on the shelf. Based on the Marvel Comics series, the movie follows Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto). Born with a terminal rare blood disease, Mobius has spent his entire life trying to find a cure for himself and his friend, Lucien (Matt Smith), or as Morbius calls him Milo, who is battling the same disease. When Morbius attempts to use vampire bat blood to cure his disease, it has a reverse reaction and instead gives him a form of vampirism. As Morbius tries to understand his new abilities, he finds himself facing even more danger when Milo to is affected by the “cure”. Now, Morbius must stop Milo before he hurts more people, including those closest to him.

For those who are unsure who Morbius is and how he plays into the Marvel world, the character was first introduced in 1971 as a villain in the Spider-Man comics. As the years went on and the character gained more popularity, Marvel Comics opted to create a series dedicated solely to the character. Portrayed as an anti-hero, Morbius has worked alongside several well-known Marvel characters including Doctor Strange. In director Daniel Espinosa’s movie, we skip the villain origin story entirely and jump right to the anti-hero story. Yes, the movie is still an origin story but Espinosa and writers, Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, opted to take the Venom direction and craft Morbius’ introduction into the Spider-Man universe as more of a morally challenged anti-hero. But this execution wasn’t all that great.

The movie comes in just under an hour and forty-five minutes, but it isn’t nearly enough time to tell the story. There is no character development for any of the characters, especially Smith’s Milo. He went from being Morbius’ best friend to his enemy in the span of two minutes. The switch in the character’s demeanor made no sense. The story was also did nothing to help with this issue. The movie is filled with several plot holes and scenes that could have been left out of the equation.

The acting in the movie was good, but it was nothing to write home about. I think if each of the characters had been given a little more depth and development, you could have really seen them shine. It’s a shame because with talent like Leto and Smith, I was expecting a really great movie.

There are two post credit scenes, but just like the rest of the story, they don’t make any sense. Each scene is introduced to help setup the continuation of the “Spider-Man Universe”, but they will leave you confused. I know a lot of people will head to the theaters this weekend to see the movie but for those on the fence, wait until it is released to On Demand or streaming. If you are looking to watch a Sony Pictures Marvel movie this weekend, check out a Spider-Man movie or Venom movie.

Grade: C