MOVIE REVIEW: Morbius

In a theater where I was the only person seated, I was excited to feast on Morbius like blood to the Living Vampire himself. The film stars Jared Leto as the titular character looking like he just stepped fresh off the set of “Blade Runner 2049”, in a role as a Doctor where he is fittingly wooden and surgical as ever as his rare disability forces him at an early age to become a recluse focused on selfish ambitions. Leto delivers portraying as a character who overall does not have the biggest recognition in Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, but still has garnered enough fanfare to have a few mini-series’ over the years and appearances around the Marvel Universe to whet the appetites of die-hards.

Playing off those appetites, “Morbius” is a classic tale of absolute power corrupting absolutely while the plot begs the audience to question themselves as to if they paid the price to have it all, would it be worth it? In this case “Morbius” is a modern day Monkey’s Paw, turning the good doctor into an Aladdin with a taste for the A-Positive. Matt Smith portrays a solid antagonist to test the laylines of Morbius’ small circle of confidants and Adria Arjona portrays a character who is both gorgeous and capable, but when the time comes for her to be the damsel in distress, she can scream with the best of them!

The visual effects are both memorable and top notch (even though the Jekkyl & Hyde face changes and speed sequences move in a blur) which is to be expected from a film distributed by Sony. And even though the film is co-distributed by Marvel and has it’s share of nods to the current crop of Spider-Man films, “Morbius” plays like the Marvel pictures of old before Disney acquired a majority of the rights – like if S. Goyer’s Blade had a love child with Steven Johnson’s Daredevil. From growing up holding films like that dear to my heart, then it is no secret why I hold this film with such high regard.

Far from an epic, the runtime is like any common action film, which can be sure to entice moviegoers with a weak bladder and a short attention span. As for those who want their comic book films dark with a touch of light humor, then “Morbius” is tailor made for that crowd; an astonishing feat given that this is brought to screen by the same company that turned The Lethal Protector into a laughing stock for two films in a row.

Score : 4/5