‘Morbius’ movie review: A quick, insipid story with bland special effects

Jared Leto and Matt Smith seem to be having a blast, but there is something lazy about the movie, as if everyone was filling in time until a better one comes along

While Jared Leto as Dr Michael Morbius and Matt Smith as Milo are fun to watch, the same cannot be said about the rest of the movie. The film is an  origin story for Morbius, the Living Vampire, who first appeared in a 1971 issue of  The Amazing Spider-Man as the webslinger’s opponent. Though he started off as a villain, Morbius later became the kind of a flawed, Shakespearean vigilante, which seems to be the default setting for comic-book heroes. 

There is enough in Morbius’ story — the genius scientist attempting to cure a rare blood disorder and turning into a vampire in the process — to merit an interesting movie. Unfortunately, that is not this one. What we have is a confused mess that looks vaguely like a ‘90s movie, minus the fun and flying cows (remember  Twister?), of course. 

There is something lazy about the narrative, as if everyone was filling in time until a better one comes along. The movie starts in Costa Rica, and the sinister aspects of the place are underlined with the name ending with “de la muerte” which as we all know means “of death”. The big, beefy mercenaries accompanying Morbius are nervous and insist they should leave before dark. 

Morbius sends them on their way with a wad of cash and a bunch of vampire bats — nasty. Rewind to 25 years ago and a hospital in Greece. A 10-year-old Morbius greets his latest neighbour, who also suffers from a similar blood disorder. He, incidentally, calls all the boys assigned to the bed adjacent to his, Milo. Whether out of laziness or arrogance is never explained. A friendship forms between the boys. The kind and fatherly director of the hospital, Dr. Emil Nicholas (Jared Harris), arranges for Morbius to study medicine in New York. 

Working towards a cure for his illness, Morbius creates synthetic blood, which helps countless people, getting him a Nobel Prize in the bargain. He refuses the Prize because he believes he does not deserve recognition for what was a by-product of a failed experiment. He starts to experiment with the vampire bats, trying to harness their genes to cure his condition.

He succeeds beyond belief only with some side effects – fortunate ones like superhuman strength, reflexes and echolocation, and unfortunate ones like turning into a vampire with an insatiable desire for blood. Milo, who has grown up to be a billionaire funding all of Morbius’ projects, realises his friend has finally found a cure. Despite Morbius’ warnings, he tries out the cure and gleefully embraces his dark side. 

Adria Arjona plays Morbius’ colleague and girlfriend, Martine, while Al Madrigal and Tyrese Gibson are the two FBI agents on Morbius’ trail. Apart from Leto doing full-on acting (didn’t he know it is a superhero film and not the next Oscar bait — the two need not be mutually exclusive) and Smith having a blast, the other thing  Morbius has going for it is its length. At under two hours,  Morbius tells its rather insipid story quickly with bland special effects and sends us on our way. It is quite a happy departure from watching angsty superheroes skulk around or blow up worlds in kinetic bursts of energy over three hours.