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Blu-ray Review: MORBIUS

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Jun 15, 2022 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Michael Morbius (Jared Leto, WeCrashed) was born with a rare, debilitating disease requiring blood transfusions three times a day due to a defect in his DNA causing him to be devoid of anticoagulants. His doctor (Jared Harris, Chernobyl) noticed early on that young Morbius was a genius, and made sure that he got a proper education. By the time Morbius was 19, he had already received his doctorate, and was considered the world’s foremost expert on bloodborne diseases, even winning a Nobel Prize. Over the past 25 years, Morbius has devoted his life towards finding a cure for his rare disease, which also afflicts his best friend Milo (Matt Smith, Doctor Who), whom he first met in the hospital decades easier. Milo comes from a wealthy family, and is funding Morbius’ research.

Morbius has made many advances over the years, such as inventing an artificial blood that has saved countless lives, but he still hasn’t cracked the code on fixing his defective DNA. With the help of his assistant, Dr. Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona, Good Omens), Morbius has been experimenting with splicing vampire bat DNA with human DNA, but the process is highly experimental, questionably ethical, and not very legal. When it comes time to test the serum out on himself, he must do so in international waters. While Morbius’ formula appears to cure him of the disease, and even gives him super strength and speed, its effects are only temporary, and leaves him with a much greater side effect—his new vampire DNA has left Morbius with an overwhelming thirst for human blood, turning him into a deadly bloodthirsty monster. While Morbius can satiate the beast inside with his artificial blood, the window of effectiveness shrinks with each dose. It’s only a matter of time until Morbius will need to choose between unleashing the beast and feasting on human blood, or letting his illness return with a vengeance.

Meanwhile, another bloodthirsty creature has started terrorizing New York City, leaving a trail of blood and bodies in his wake. As FBI Agents Stroud (Tyrese Gibson, F9: The Fast Saga) & Rodriguez (Al Madrigal, Physical) investigate the murders, they suspect that Morbius may somehow be responsible. Can Morbius find a way to control the monster inside of him, stop the killer, and clear his name before it’s too late?!

I will start off my review by saying that I haven’t read any Marvel comics, so I had never even heard of Morbius before this film was announced. Thus, I didn’t really go into this movie with any preconceived notions or opinions of the character. Morbius has unjustly received a lot of scathing reviews, making it out to be this horrible film. However, I found the movie to be quite entertaining overall, and a solid origin story for this character. While there is plenty to enjoy about the film, it may be slightly underwhelming given the massive MCU blockbuster it followed—but I’ll get into that later. Morbius is a Jekyll and Hyde story crossed with a superhero (or is it supervillain or super anti-hero?) origin story. Morbius was just trying to save his own life, but in the process accidentally transforms himself into a monster. While he struggles to keep this creature at bay, elsewhere in the city is someone else embracing their inner monster. He finds himself torn between these two worlds, trying to stay human, but also knowing just how good it feels to let the monster loose.

The film does a nice job of setting up this world, using the familiar backdrop of New York City, but adding this other more sinister layer. As Morbius first gets his powers, the film takes on the tone of a horror/slasher film, with a newly-tuned Morbius looking to feed. The film even puts the viewer in Morbius’ POV as he hunts and slashes his victims. The filmmakers also make use of slow motion as Morbius approaches his targets and then suddenly speed things up as he makes his attack. This aesthetic, while initially quite visually interesting, tends to be a bit overused as the film goes on, and constantly appears as Morbius goes head-to-head with the film’s big bad. I really enjoyed this initial creature-feature feel of the movie. However, it quickly moves on to a more standard superhero feel. Morbius tests and hones his powers—his echolocation allows him to “see” his surroundings, and he travel along soundwaves like swimming through a river, or using them like step stones. He is ultimately prepping himself for his big showdown with the villain.

The effects generally look quite good in the film, especially as Morbus uses his echolocation and flies through the subway tunnels riding on soundwaves. The fight sequences are also pretty well done. It felt like this was a film designed with 3D in mind, even though it never even get a theatrical 3D release. The film makes use of CG to transform Morbius’ face into his more menacing vampire monster look. While this works most of the time, in one of the darker scenes it comes off almost cartoony rather than realistic. That said, the actual performances were pretty solid, especially from Leto, and Smith, who both have sort of dual roles to play. While not at generally humorous as the Venom movies Morbius does have its moments, such as Morbius giving an MCU nod with “you wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry”, or the lighter moments added by the FBI agents.

As for the downsides of the film, it remains primarily an origin story movie for Mo the character of Morbius, and doesn’t really do much else. Releasing just before this movie was Spider-Man: No Way Home, which really shook up the Spider-Man multiverse and opened up so many (for lack of a better word) amazing possibilities for this film. However its connection to the Spider-verse and even the Venom movies is largely ignored. The one thing we get feels more like an afterthought and relegated to a post-credits sequence, which even feels like it cold have been dubbed over after-the-fact to try to set up a sequel. I don’t generally watch trailers for things I know I’m going to see, but the original trailers were a bit misleading, making it look like there would be more integral connections between this film and the others. However, with what we got, it’s never really explained where this film fits in with the other movies/universes.

That said, Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds excellent. The picture is clean and clear throughout, with rich and beautiful colors, and an excellent level of detail, especially in faces (you can see the beads of sweat), scratches in glass, and the echolocation effects. The film gets a bit darker as it goes along, but still remains clear. The audio presentation is very impressive, providing clear dialogue, and making excellent use of the stereo and surround channels to provide a fully immersive experience. Whether it’s the sounds of bats fluttering around you, echoes of the hospital PA system, explosions, pulses from Morbius’ echolocation, or just the general ambiance of the locations, you always feel like you are right there in the middle of what’s happening on screen. It is a very impressive audio track.

The Blu-ray contains a nice selection of bonus material, including outtakes, marketing material, Easter eggs, and over 23 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes. Unfortunately there is no audio commentary or deleted scenes included—I would have loved to have seen/heard about how the film evolved given its numerous theatrical delays. The release includes both a Blu-ray disc and a DVD packed on either side of a standard HD keepcase, placed in a carboard slipcover. An insert provides instructions on how to redeem an HD digital copy of the film.


What’s Included:

Film: (1:44:11)

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