Morbius is the new film in the ‘spider-adjacent’ universe (as Mark Kermode described it), with Venom. It stars Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, a brilliant Doctor who has a debilitating illness which he looks to find a cure for using bats, which ends up having unintended consequences. It is directed by Daniel Espinosa, who previously made Life (2017).
So, if you’ve seen anything about this online you will have seen that it hasn’t had a great critical reception or a great audience reception for that matter. And honestly, yes its completely deserved, this film is not good.
The first problem is Jared Leto, who is bad in the opposite way to the Joker or Paolo Gucci, where he is massively overacting to the point of feeling like a cartoon character rather than a real person. In Morbius, he is so understated that he is one of the most boring protagonists I’ve seen in a long time. He’s described as an antihero, but honestly he doesn’t do anything bad in the whole film, he kills a few people, but does nothing but feel bad about it and try to help his friends.
The story is also really nonsensical and feels simultaneously rushed and like it drags. There are also a lot of scenes filmed at night or in the dark where it is difficult to tell whats going on, likely to disguise questionable CGI.
The only positive is that Matt Smith was clearly having fun as the villain and the parts where he is in are at least entertaining, but otherwise this is just a slog to get through and not even really enjoyable in a so bad its good way. The post credits scenes are also so bad, probably some of the worst ones I’ve seen.
So, I really can’t recommend Morbius even in a so bad its good way. It’s just boring and the only redeeming feature is Matt Smith. Don’t bother. 1.5 Stars.
Movie Night 