Marvel’s “Morbius” will leave you wishing for morbidity

By Timmy Keil

Marvel’s villain origin “Morbius” is yet another multi-million dollar production film in the Sony Spider-Man universe. Milking every ounce of lackluster storytelling, Marvel uses their infinite power to cover up the slack with a thin coat of cheap CGI and a smidge of cinematography. 

Marvel movies are generally not created to leave an audience pondering an exceptionally profound thought. But, with budgets exceeding well beyond human comprehension, it should leave no room for dialogue as predictable and dehumanizing as what is shown in “Morbius.

Poor acting and disarrayed dialogue completely disconnect these characters from the real world. Yet the characters’ descent into absolute animalism somehow reintroduces a relatability that one would only know through reading the end credits beforehand. 

Photo of Morbius and bats taken by Timmy Keil

For example, Morbius’s home-run line, “You don’t want to see me when I’m hungry,” perfectly showcases the absolute eye-rolling dialogue as Jared Leto states the most laughable line in the most serious tone.

The triumphant peak of 21st-century cinematography is ultimately overthrown within minutes, as the film begins to digress into the oblivion of flashing lights and rolling images leaving the photosensitive to fend for themselves. In hopes of keeping the intriguing dark tone of the opening scene alive, the filmmakers stomp out any natural beauty of filmmaking to force their idea of ‘good production.’  From an ominous, aerial view of the jungle, the audience is flooded with millions of what one could only imagine being computer-generated bats screeching until there is nothing left but a void of black, overwhelming the audience to the point of begging for the scene to end.

The offensively spoon-fed plot is easily overlooked at the film’s halfway point as the action begins to finally shut out the characters’ verbal monotony. Combat always proves to be Marvel’s staple, as their expensive CGI inevitably consumes control of an otherwise sinking ship. Sound engineering and visual effects help the plot regain substance as two men indistinctly fly through the air, crashing into every possible surface in New York City. This movie has it all, talking, breathing, fighting, and even occasional acting!

Through the rubble of every Marvel plane crash, there is always a little enjoyment found in the fiery catastrophe. Unfortunately, with the plot's predictability, not even Marvel’s extravagant battle scenes or on-screen effects could save this movie from falling right out of the sky into the land of forgotten films.

I give this movie a 5 out of 10.