Ahead of its theatrical release, Morbius has already garnered negative reviews. Directed by Daniel Espinosa, Morbius is the third entry of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, after Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The film follows Dr. Michael Morbius as he gains vampiric powers after he attempts to cure his blood disease. Joining Jared Leto as the titular character are Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson. However, despite the promising cast, Morbius is still plagued with bad critic reviews.
The road towards Morbius’ release has not been smooth-sailing. Although Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless finished the script in November 2017, production only began in February 2019. Originally, Morbius was slated for release in July 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its premiere date seven times. Finally, Morbius had its world premiere on March 10, 2022, and is scheduled for release on April 1.
As of writing, Morbius holds an 18% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 84 reviews. While there is no critic consensus yet, the reviews are overwhelmingly negative. Most of the criticism comes from the film’s lack of structure and coherent script. Morbius, which already missed a perfect release date, moves at a rushed pace while compromising its timeline, characterization, and logic. As a result, its scenes are seemingly incomplete, poorly edited, and, at times, incomprehensible. Unfortunately, unlike its predecessors, Morbius relies too much on their shared Spider-Man universe rather than fleshing out its own mythology. Here are some of the negative reviews for Morbius:
"Despite a fine performance from Jared Leto, Morbius is a painfully mediocre superhero origin story, delivering a shallow recreation of better movies."
Time:
"But if Morbius doesn’t drag, it doesn’t exactly whiz by, either. Espinosa may have been trying to distinguish his film from the dozens—are we into the hundreds yet?—of other movies spawned from the comic books of various universes, and his efforts do give Morbius a vaguely noble air. This is a movie that feels like one big windup for something else, even if we walk out feeling we’ve already seen plenty."
IGN:
"Morbius is a gloomy, black-on-black-on-black tapestry in so many sequences that monochromatically lose visual interest. Morbius flies past New York City skyscrapers like Spider-Man discovering his web-slinging for the first time, but there’s nothing aerially spectacular."
"After a promising start, Daniel Espinosa’s long-delayed film only intermittently matches the intensity of the lead performance, and the script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless becomes thin on story, choppily stringing together chaotic outbursts and action clashes that build to a painstakingly foreshadowed “sibling” face-off."
Mostly, the film occupies a strange no-mans-land of the sprawling Spider-Verse, not charming like the “Spider-Man” films, not funny like the “Venom” films, and certainly not technically impressive like the animated “Into the Spider-Verse.”
"Morbius lacks all charm and devotion to its main character, hoping that lengthy action sequences and jarring images of Leto and Smith’s animated faces will make us forget about how poor the script is."
On the other hand, Morbius’ blend of horror and superhero genres has earned praises. The consistently spooky and dark vibes from the film are effective enough in building the characters and their motivations. The familiar Spider-Man franchise is then elevated with the introduction of new characters, ensuring sequels in the future. Moreover, Matt Smith offers a compelling, nuanced performance. His acting occasionally overshadows that of Jared Leto, who once challenged Tom Holland’s Spider-Man into a fight. Here are more of the positive reviews for Morbius:
"The curious fun of Daniel Espinosa’s film is in how it embraces the gothic mythology that inspired it. Morbius does eventually become a cluttered slugfest, as all things must. But for much of its run it is a stylish, intriguingly toned story of a man trying to thwart mortality."
"Swedish-Chilean director Daniel Espinosa (Life) gives it all a dark sheen, and shoots the pair's inevitable confrontations less like traditional comic-book clashes than something from The Matrix. The air around them moves like liquid ribbons, and even in peak CGI, their fights looks like something between jet propulsion and underwater ballet."
"At its best, “Morbius” keeps the audience riveted, wondering what will happen next. In the end, it ends up where all Marvel movies end up, on a roof, and looking like a blown-up computer screen. But the obligatory fireworks don’t go on long enough to spoil anything. Against all odds, “Morbius” is an intelligent, human story."
"A monster movie with a little bite, Morbius is elevated by some spirited performances and director Daniel Espinosa’s sure hand with familiar comic-book material."
After the massive box-office success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it is no wonder that Marvel fans are hyped for yet another character, especially since Spider-Man: Homecoming’s villain Vulture appears in Morbius’ trailer. However, early critic reviews suggest otherwise, implying how the film turns out to be a disappointment. Nevertheless, a Rotten rating was also awarded to both Venom movies, yet audiences appeared to enjoy them. It might be the same case as Morbius, so when it releases, the public will still be free to form their opinion.
