Everyone knows that Morbius has been ripped to shreds by the critics. Let's be fair about this though. Sony has set itself an incredibly difficult task with movies like this one and Venom. How do you make a Spider-Man movie, without Spider-Man? It isn't an impossible task, only a difficult one. Villains have had runs in the comics where they are more of "anti-heroes" than traditional villains. It seems possible to have a story around a villain that relies upon a natural turn to altruism or an internal moral struggle that leans more towards self-interests. For example, look at Loki. Loki has his own television show that depicts a moral struggle that perhaps has a lot to do with self-interest. That's what makes the character interesting without Thor. Loki doesn't need to be altruistic, always trying to do the right thing. He has a conflict setup that forces him to confront his self-interest in a believable way.
Too Altruistic
Michael Morbius could have had that, but the writers choose to make him completely altruistic. There is no cost to his curse. Yeah, he says there are several times throughout the film, but never does it come to anything. I think they shied away from what worked in Venom. Venom wants to eat brains but Eddy Brock wants to use the power for good. In a lot of ways, Venom happens to Eddy, which makes an interesting conflict. Furthermore, Eddy Brock starts to think that maybe the "bad guys" deserve it. In the sequel, Venom helps Eddy with his work. So, what to do? How can he balance the benefits with the bad? I'm not saying Venom is a masterpiece, but it does come much closer to hitting the conflict of a villain protagonist. Don't be afraid to make your characters a little morally sketchy. If they weren't, they'd be heroes.
The Trailer Lied
I don't think Sony knows quite what its plans are for this Spider-Verse/Venom-Verse saga. Whatever you think the Spider-Man connections are, take your expectations down by 100. I don't like the idea of faking trailers to mislead audiences about what the movie is actually about. It pisses the audience off and hurts the artists that made the movie. They didn't ask for their movie to be passed off as something it isn't. Trust me. The trailer does not tell you what this movie is at all.
The Dialogue and Story are just Bad
At one point, my wife leaned over and started cackling at the dialogue. It wasn't campy enough to be camp. This choice landed the film in the weird area of "Are they trying to be funny or serious?" It was difficult to tell throughout most of the film. One actor, Al Madrigal (who played Agent Rodriguez), nailed the dialogue. He leaned into the campiness and got the majority of the laughs. He was easily my favorite character. I think that Matt Smith (who played Loxias Crown) also leaned into the silliness really well. I won't spoil it, but he gives Tobey Maguire a run for his money.
The Movie looks really cool
I liked the special effects and the coloring. It reminded me a lot of what was so amazing about The Amazing Spide-Man franchise. The special effects were cool. Again, I think the protagonist gets the star treatment and the antagonist gets hosed like with Electro. I thought it looked cool. But much like with Avatar, the script wasn't good enough to make people want more. Audiences are no longer pleased with good CGI alone. Audiences will forgive an okay story, but you have to give them something.
This is a movie I really wanted to enjoy. I ignored the reviews and went anyway. I found some things to like. A few performances, special effects, and an occasional joke landing made it alright. Overall, the movie failed to earn a lot of what it anticipated would be its shining moments. The story and the characters needed more work and more conflict. The audience didn't have enough of a chance to connect with anyone. Morbius proves that the magic of the comic book movie isn't just explosions and CGI. This photonegative shows us what we really loved about Spider-Man: No Way Home. Sure, we want to eat popcorn and see something cool. But we won't care if the work isn't put into the characters.
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