LET'S HOPE LETO DOESN'T READ THE REVIEWS

Is Jared Leto's Introduction Into Sony's Spider-Man Universe Any Good Or Should He Stop Acting? Here's What The Reviews Say

Is Jared Leto's Introduction Into Sony's Spider-Man Universe Any Good Or Should He Stop Acting? Here's What The Reviews Say
Here's what critics think about Jared Leto's performance as "Morbius," a living vampire who is tasked with a choice to save the world or let it dive into chaos.
· 1k reads ·
· ·

Jared Leto plays Dr. Michael Morbius, a Nobel prize winner who has a rare blood disease. Things take a turn for the worst in his search for a cure and he's left with choices to make. His newfound powers will either lead him down a righteous path or a murderous one. Just how bad is Jared Leto in this one? Here's what the reviews say.


The Story Gets Off To A Shakey Start

At the start, that's the basic idea of "Morbius" and, after an at first interesting but ultimately confusing opening scene that never comes back into the narrative, the film begins on that trajectory. We see Morbius as a young child, he meets another boy he nicknames Milo who shares the same rare disease, and eventually, the two grow up to be rich and successful. Morbius wins a Nobel Prize for creating synthetic blood and Milo... also grows up to do something of note. We don't know what exactly, but we know it's good because older Milo is played by Matt Smith and he lives in a nice apartment.

[Gizmodo]


It's Bad, But Not That Bad

A film that's been delayed and delayed again, "Morbius" belatedly arrives with a lot of curiosity and perhaps a fair degree of schadenfreude. But truth be told it's not any worse than last year's audience darling: the wretched "Venom: Let There Be Carnage." Both movies are produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, and both feel like relics from the archaic days when mediocrity was treated as "good enough" by the fanboy community. Think "Ghost Rider" (2007) or "Elektra" (2005). And honestly, "Morbius" might be marginally better than that lot, including "Venom 2," if only for not being quite so visually garish.

[Den Of The Geek]


It Could've Been More Sinister

Besides ignoring the fun that might be had with exploring the tropes of vampire horror, "Morbius" also fails to be remotely scary. This is in part because its titular bloodsucker is dedicated to not being a bad guy, so there's no chilling moral grey area to play in. Further vexing the issue, the PG-13 rating (which is generally demanded for studio superhero movies to make their money back from the widest audience range possible) means that like "The Batman," the supposed hard-hitting violence is ludicrously light on blood. "Artificial blood" dyed bright blue, offscreen violence, and lots of biting scenes shrouded in shadow keep scenes squeaky clean and woefully un-scary.

[Mashable]


Behind the camera, Daniel Espinosa's direction does little to lift the clumsiness of the narrative, as extra scenes and poor edits add to its confusing tone. Even the action scenes are a mess, as colourful waves during super-fast brawls with choice moments of excessive slow-motion come across as outdated and do little to add to the impact of Morbius' abilities. Instead, the special effects just look flashy for the sake of it, rather than to entertain and thrill audiences.

[Movie Marker]


The action sequences are similarly lacking. This is where "Morbius" could deliver a crumb of genuine imagination, but instead the audience has to make do with the gruel of muddy CGI in dimly lit locales. The conclusion to the climactic fight scene is so underwhelming that it's easy to mistake it for a fake-out before a real finale to come.

[Time Out]


TL;DR

The character of Morbius is being set up as one of Spider-Man's antagonists, which the film establishes with a late-in-the-game appearance by Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes. Of course, this isn't Leto's first fling with comic-book villainy, but his Joker, in "Suicide Squad," displayed the actor's talent as well as his genuine attraction to preening dark-side souls. "Morbius" is more like a paycheck movie: time for Leto to punch the clock and get on the comic-book train. But this reluctant vampire has so little flavor that he's closer to the invisible man.

[Variety]


Watch the trailer below:


Oops!

Comments


Cut Through The Chaos With Digg Edition

Sign up for Digg's daily morning newsletter to get the most interesting stories. Sent every morning.