It’s been a little to figure out just what kind of vibe that Morbius is going for. Is it a tragic tale of a doctor desperate to save his life and losing his soul in the process? Is it a solo vampire story in the modern day, something we haven’t seen in movies in quite some time? The answer turns out to be…well, both of those, but also a bit of a throwback to the early 2000s era of superhero movies.
The film’s first clip shows Jared Leto’s Michael Morbius go through a cargo ship of armed soldiers, all of whom are terrible and you know are gonna get it right from the jump because the first soldier dismissively calls Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona) “nurse” instead of her actual title of doctor. On some level, it’s kind of cool to see Morbius bound and use super speed through these guys, in the same way that it’s fun to see Venom leap and lumber his way through San Francisco. Sony’s non-Spider-Man movies have apparently found a niche in feeling like they were made back in the early days of superhero movies where things were allowed to be a bit more looser, goofier, and all over the place in terms of quality. It has the potential to be charming in its retro vibe.
Buuuuuuut, for a guy nicknamed the Living Vampire, it also feels like they should be allowed to shed some blood? It’s more than a little weak sauce watching a soldier clutch his neck after it’s been sliced and there’s not really any blood. It’s the same problem with the Venom movies — there’s only so much that they can imply and it feels like they’re being held back from at the very least, being a bloody good time at the theatre…if you’re masked up or feel safe, of course.
Morbius comes to theatres on January 20, 2022.