I really wanted to like this movie. I’ve been enjoying the steady stream of superhero movies, and the antihero movies (Venom especially) have been fun. This one, though…
The dialog’s okay and the pacing is bad, but the actors are giving it their all. Jared Leto is sufficiently passionate, Matt Smith is obviously having fun being bad, and Adria Arjorna is trying hard to make us believe she’s in love. Unfortunately, that’s just not enough.
***Spoilers follow***
We’ve seen all this before, and there’s nothing to make this one unique. It religiously adheres to the Hero’s Journey: the hero is given a gift but won’t accept it; he experiences a road of trials and fails several times; he experiences true love (the devoted girlfriend); and he is forced to confront his greatest weakness, a friend he refuses to kill. Sound familiar?
If that’s not enough, the girlfriend is sidelined the moment Morbius gains his powers - she falls, bonks her head, and winds up in a coma because…I don’t know, because women are that fragile? Sure, why not. Upon recovering, though, she dutifully stands by her man (vampire?) as he seeks a cure. But (shock!) the villain kidnaps and kills her to force the final confrontation. Does all of that sound too familiar?
***End spoilers***
Overall, this is probably not even worth a rental. Sloppy writing leads to a yawn-inducing story that treads absolutely no new ground. Regarding Bechdels, it fails immediately: 1) There is only one woman in a major role, and she gets fridged TWICE (Was that really necessary???) in the film’s 90-minute runtime.