Review of MORBIUS: Bound to Blood

March 31, 2022

Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) and his friend Lucien a.k.a. Milo (Matt Smith) first met twenty five years ago in a hospital where they were both being treated for a rare blood disease. Their doctor Emil Nikols (Jared Harris) noted Michael’s exceptional intellect and sent him off for further studies. Presently, Michael has become a brilliant doctor and scientist who had been able to develop life-saving artificial blood which earned him a Nobel Prize. 

Working on the anti-thrombotic elements of the saliva of vampire bats he had collected from Costa Rica, Michael invented a drug which could cure the affliction he (and Milo) suffered from.  However, because human trials were illegal for such substances, he conspired with his girlfriend Dr. Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona) to inject the serum into him on a ship on international waters. The terrifying effects were not what they were expecting. 

Morbius was a character from Marvel Comics that I had no idea about. This was a Sony release, like the original Spider-Man and adjacent characters like Venom and Carnage, and so it won't be directly connected with main Marvel Cinematic Universe which is under Disney. There is controversy among fans how Sony was confusing the story arc of the MCU, like seeing Tom Holland's Spider-Man in the closing credits of "Venom." 

Being his origin story, we see how Morbius met his best friend and blood brother Milo, and how his bold experiments had brought their friendship into the next level. Jared Leto played Morbius all moody, broody, and mired in his moral predicament, in sharp contrast with Matt Smith (best known as the 11th incarnation of the Doctor in "Doctor Who" and Prince Philip in "The Crown") who played Milo all loud, gleeful and manic. 

Aside from the vampiric transformations, CG effects ranged from subtle (like his ear wiggling for echolocation) to bombastic (like his high-speed wave forms tinged with bright colors from his clothing). Director Daniel Espinosa effectively created an atmosphere of dread and horror, but kept things within a PG rating. A character last seen in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" appeared in the closing credits scenes hinting a Multiverse connection. 5/10.