Morbius

I'm not sure why 2022's Morbius got so much hate. The film isn't very long, clocking in at about 1 hour and 40 minutes. An origin story, it doesn't drag things out too badly. The plot is pretty cut and dry.  Jared Leto's acting is way better than his Joker from Suicide Squad. Matt Smith is fantastic. The visual effects are pretty good. With exception of just 1 fight scene, the dreaded slo-mo effects are virtually non-existent in the movie. In fact, it's a pretty fast paced action horror movie that seems more on par to star Wesley Snipe's hybrid vampire hunter, Blade than being a Sony Pictures film set in the Spidey-verse. 

So why am I not singing it's praises? Mainly, because I was so bored with this movie.

I DVR'd Morbius last Thanksgiving. I had passed on going to see it in theaters because of how much hate the movie was getting in the reviews as well as my social media feeds. Going to the movies has gotten so expensive, if it's not something I'm thrilled to watch, I'm not going to suggest my godson and I go out to see it. I tried watching it during the holiday break. Then again at Christmas until finally finishing it yesterday. I just couldn't get into it.

The story of Morbius is fairly simple. Guy with a rare and crippling blood disorder becomes a doctor in hopes of curing himself. Using vampire bat DNA, Dr. Michael Morbius develops a cure. Only, it turns him into a living vampire. One who must consume blood in order to live; with all of the powers and none of the weaknesses of the traditional vampire. 

It all sounds a lot like the story of the Batman nemesis Man-Bat. It also sounds very similar to the origin story of another Spider-Man villain, the Lizard, who's work with iguana DNA in hopes of restoring his missing arm instead transforms the scientist into a rampaging reptile! While all 3 of these characters are certainly tragic figures, what separates Morbius from the others is that as far as I know, he's never been cured of his secondary affliction. To this day, Morbius struggles with the endless blood lust that boils inside of him, preventing him from becoming full vampire. 

If I had my choice to be able to affordably own the first comic book appearance of the Lizard, Man-Bat or Morbius, I'd choose Morbius every time. His role in the Legion of Monsters and Midnight Sons has made him such a bad ass character. Plus, he's got such a freaking awesome appearance and super cool looking costume design by legendary Gil Kane. For some reason, that level of excitement just didn't transfer very well onto the screen for me.

There's 2 extra scenes. I had to search for them on YouTube as the channel I recorded the movie from omitted them. Those 2 scenes piqued my interest into the potential of a Secret Six movie finally coming to fruition. However, I'm starting to think that if you can't use your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in the film, there's really no point for these movies. A good villain can sell tickets. But if he doesn't have a greater hero to battle, it won't be entertaining. 

In other words, despite being a fan favorite character, not every Marvel based friend or foe deserves their own movie. Maybe it's time for Sony to let Spider-Man remain at the House of Mouse along with all his amazing friends...

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.