Film Review

Morbius (2022)

A biochemist tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead.

The subject of ridicule since announced, Morbius face-plants into cinemas after a marketing campaign extended into years by the coronavirus pandemic. Effectively Sony’s attempt to develop their own quasi-cinematic universe after the surprising success of Venom (2018), by focusing on Spider-Man supervillains they have the rights to, it’s been an unconvincing venture from the outset. Venom at least had some cultural cachet as a comic-book character, if only mild familiarity to general audiences thanks to Spider-Man 3 (2007), but “Morbius, the living vampire” is a deeper cut. And while Marvel are likewise rolling the dice on unfamiliar heroes like Shang-Chi and the Eternals, plugging those characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has inherent appeal for fans. Morbius perhaps referencing Eddie Brock, less so…

Dr Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) is a brilliant scientist trying to cure himself of a rare blood disease, who gets more than he bargained for when his…