'Morbius' Review: Leto Sinks His Teeth Into Another Villainous Role As Marvel's Living Vampire, Only To Have Sony Pull A Van Helsing

Arlington TX

10 April, 2022

3:55 PM

Description

By Joe Friar, Fort Worth Report April 9, 2022 After playing DC's The Joker, Jared Leto crosses over to Marvel taking on the role of Dr. Michael Morbius, a scientist who becomes a vampire and eventually Spider-Man's foe in the origins story from director Daniel Espinosa ("Life). The real bloodsucker may be Sony with reports of the studio meddling with the production which could explain "Morbius" being drained of all coherence. The effects-laden film with its hollow storyline ends up being filler between web-slinger releases and it makes sure you know that thanks to all the SSU references. Chameleon-like actor Jared Leto plays it straight, looking like he's on tour with Thirty Seconds to Mars, for a refreshing performance that doesn't require prosthetics, accents, or body transformation. He appears more as Dr. Michael Morbius than he does as CGI vampire Morbius which adheres to the scientist-monster ratio rule prevalent in superhero films. This explains why we always get a healthy dose of Dr. David Banner over his green alter ego. The origins story begins in a Greek hospital where we meet 10-year-old Michael Morbius (played by Charlie Shotwell star of the psychological thriller "John and the Hole"). He suffers from a rare debilitating blood disease as does the facility's new patient Lucien (Joseph Esson) who Michael nicknames "Milo." Wonderful English actor Jared Harris plays Dr. Emil Nicholas, the administrator who becomes a father figure to the boys. Two decades later we find adult Michael (Leto), now a prominent scientist, on the cusp of finding a cure while declining a Nobel Prize for his work with synthetic blood which has helped so many people including his childhood friend Milo (Matt Smith) who has become a wealthy playboy and the good doctor's benefactor regarding an unethical mission to Costa Rica. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.