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.

Suicide Squad

   Spiraling out of the events of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Central Intelligence adviser Amanda Waller seeks approval from the Department of Defense to held up a special group of meta-humans called Task Force X. Unofficially known as the Suicide Squad, Task Force X is made up of the worst of the worst villains and top notch commandos the DC Universe has to offer and it's their mission to do the tasks that the American government can't do without serious repercussions. 

     When a supernatural threat begins to lay waste to Midway City, the Suicide Squad are activated and must learn to work as a group or they'll die in a bloodbath of Biblical proportions. Meanwhile, the villainous Joker, upset over losing his girlfriend Harley Quinn to the prison system, works in the background to steal her back in the midst of the Suicide Squad's deadly mission. 

     I don't know what Rotten Tomatoes was thinking- this movie wasn't bad. I went to see it with my wife and she even liked it and she has very little background knowledge of most of the characters. Plus, she said it kept her attention and she would recommend it for people to go and see. For a violent movie such as this, that's high praise from a non-comics reader.

     The film has been slammed for being chaotic. But, there's a ton of back story to go through and spending the first 15-minutes trying to provide dossiers on the members is vital background information that needs to be presented for both the causal viewer like my wife and expert collectors such as me. Now, the opening credits, as well as the closing ones, are a bit of a mess, but really who judges a film on credits?

     Of course, Harley Quinn, played by the Wolf of Wall Street's Margot Robbie stole the show but it wasn't Jared Leto's Joker, who dominates the trailers but has maybe 15 minutes screen-time as best, that interested me as much as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Yes, Will Smith as the ultimate assassin Deadshot was amazing. So what if his eye piece was on the wrong eye. If Harley was the heart of the Suicide Squad, Smith's character was the soul.

 
     Another character that just literally kills in Suicide Squad was El Diablo played by Jay Hernandez (Friday Night Lights.) His troubled gang banger who refuses to use his pyrotechnic super powers as penance because of a tragedy in his mysterious past was intriguing and I felt like his performance could be Oscar worthy.

     The one character I really felt coming into this picture that was miscast was Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. To me, CCH Pounder, who provided the voice of the anti-hero bureaucrat in the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series, was Amanda Waller. But Davis did a pretty good job and I wouldn't mind seeing her back in the role for the inevitable sequel. 

     If you've been on the fence about seeing Suicide Squad, I urge you don't listen to the haters. I had every intention of seeing it last week, but I was too exhausted from a 6 day work week and spend most of last Sunday asleep. This movie was a lot better than certain internet sites would have you believe. I really enjoyed it and I would love to see a director's cut. (Just please don't release it only on Blu-ray!!!) 

     A great comic book based film but a little too mature for those under 13. This is NOT Batman V Superman, people! 

     I give it a solid 8.

     Worth Consuming

    Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.