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Morbius – Film Review

Cast: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, Tyrese Gibson

Director: Daniel Espinosa

Synopsis: In search of a cure for his rare condition, a doctor inadvertently transforms himself into a super-human vampire…

Review: Vampires, creatures of the night that humanity has always had a fascination with. From the sparkly to the scary, there’s been no shortage of stories over the years that have depicted these mythical creatures. This is especially the case where comic book films are concerned. For Marvel, the Blade series is arguably the franchise that laid the groundwork for the explosion of popularity that comic book films have enjoyed in recent years. Yet, there’s another character in the Marvel realm who dwells among the world of vampires, Michael Morbius. His journey to the big screen is the latest film to emerge from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Blighted by numerous COVID release delays, while these have not always been a curse, in this instance, this is a truly cursed film that is pretty much dead on arrival.

Michael Morbius (Leto) is a brilliant but arrogant doctor whose work has helped save millions of lives. Despite his success, he’s never been able to cure either himself or his surrogate brother Milo (Smith), both of whom suffer from a rare blood disease that is slowly killing them. When Morbius attempts a very dangerous experiment in a bid to find a cure, he finds success, but at a cost. The experiment turns him into a vampire-like creature with enhanced speed and strength, but the drawback is he suddenly has a craving for human blood and must find a way to stop this before he starts feeding on the innocent people of New York City.

It’s not exactly news that comic book movies have come into their own in the last few years as they continue to enjoy almost unprecedented popularity. Given that there are so many films now in this genre, there’s an imperative need for any superhero film being released in today’s saturated market to stand out from the crowd. There needs to be a unique selling point and the script from Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless completely misses the mark as it is as bland and generic as they come. There is nothing we’ve not seen before, and above all else, it commits the biggest sin of being exceedingly boring. The stakes (pun absolutely intended) are non-existent, and nowhere near enough work is done to flesh out Morbius as a compelling and well-developed character that the audience should be invested in.

Jared Leto’s an actor that always seems to attract attention, particularly with his committed method-acting to prepare for roles. Whether he’s sending rats to his castmates to prep for a role as The Joker in Suicide Squad, or dialling up the camp factor to the maximum for House of Gucci, he certainly goes all in for the roles he chooses, but his performances, particularly where those two films are concerned left a lot to be desired. The same once again is applicable to his portrayal of the titular character here. Given Leto’s tendency to go all out, this is dialled back a bit, but like the film’s dull and uninspiring script, Leto does nothing to elevate the film. A vampiric anti-hero could, and really should have been a really interesting character, but he turns in such a dull and stoic performance, it’s almost as if his transition into a vampire drained the film out of every last drop of charisma it could have had.

This is even more doubly frustrating as the talents of the supporting crew are completely wasted on such poor material. Matt Smith is the only one who seems to have got the message to have some fun as he provides some sparks as Morbius’s brother Milo, who becomes jealous when Morbius gets his powers and wants to find the cure for himself, despite the downsides it may bring. The relationship between Morbius and his partner Martine Bancroft (Arjona), a fellow doctor, could have been an interesting plot point. However, like so many aspects of the film, it’s completely under-developed and the chemistry between the two of them is essentially non-existent. Jared Harris and Tyrese Gibson do what they can with their roles, but their talents also completely go to waste due to the poor material they’re given to work with.

The exploration of Morbius’s powers offers the opportunity to utilise some exciting visuals, but beyond that, there’s nothing that director Daniel Espinosa can do to elevate the action sequences. By and large, in spite of the film being released in 2022, everything about the film has the look and feel of a lesser comic book movie that would have been released in the 2000s as the CGI is shockingly sub-par in more than a few places. By the arrival of the third act, the film devolves into a messy, and unexciting CGI battle of two-similar powered beings squaring up to one another. While this is a very common trope of the genre, there’s an inclination to let it slide if the central hero is well developed, and the action is exciting to watch. Morbius ticks neither of these boxes. Like a vampire draining the blood of its victim, what fun could have been had here is completely drained out by this exceedingly dull affair.

Distinctly lacking an iota of personality and with absolutely no unique stylistic choices, Morbius takes what could have been an exciting story and fritters away that potential over 104 joyless minutes.

Chernobyl – TV Miniseries Review

Main Cast: Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Emily Watson, Jessie Buckley, Paul Ritter, Adam Nagaitis, Con O’Neill, Adrian Rawlins, Sam Troughton, Robert Emms, David Dencik, Alan Williams, Ralph Ineson, Barry Keoghan, Michael McElhatton

Showrunner: Craig Mazin

Synopsis: An account of the events leading up to the nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and the subsequent fallout of one of the deadliest man made disasters in history…

Review: As human beings, our lives can so often be irreversibly impacted by natural disasters. Though we are powerless to prevent them from happening, preparations can be made to mitigate the damage and devastation that they leave in their wake. It’s a stark contrast to the numerous man-made disasters that we have seen throughout history, that have also had similarly deadly consequences. However, when you look at how the events transpired, it’s hard to overlook the fact that someone was responsible for allowing these atrocities to happen, and how they could have very easily been prevented. One such disaster, arguably the worst man-made disaster in history, is that of the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant explosion. A tragedy of incomprehensible fallout, captured with horrifying realism in this tense and devastating HBO miniseries.

Over the course of five nerve-shredding episodes, showrunner/writer Craig Mazin and director Johan Renck, explore the disaster and its horrific aftermath. Firstly, recounting the the night of the deadly disaster, and the catalogue of errors that led to the fatal explosion. Following on from that, looking at the attempts by the Soviet government to contain the fallout from the disaster. You watch with disbelief as they seek to prevent the already horrific situation from spiralling into something much worse, at times with shocking degrees of negligence and recklessness. Before ultimately, trying to establish how such a nuclear catastrophe on this scale could have ever happened in the first place. At numerous points throughout the series, this feels more like a documentary. This is largely down to the expert production design, which recreates the power plant, and the surrounding neighbourhoods, which feel remarkably authentic.

Irrespective of whether you’re coming to the series as someone who knows everything about the disaster, or if you know the barest minimum, Mazin’s scripts expertly combine informative scientific facts, with intense and devastating drama. With each episode, it’s made painstakingly clear to us all as to the full extent of the horrific nightmare that was unfolding, and enabling the audience to process just how an event like this could have ever happened. With the exception of a few artistic liberties, Mazin’s scripts faithfully recreate how events unfolded, and the excellent writing is brilliantly combined with Johan Renck’s masterful direction. Each episode expertly blends genres such as the intense drama, and the traumatic horror of those who were the first to be affected by the radiation, to those were recruited for some extremely perilous missions. Furthermore, the crackling sound of a dosimeter going haywire is a sound so unnerving, it may well invade your nightmares.

With brilliant writing, combined with expert direction, and along with Hildur Guðnadóttir’s haunting score, every member of this cast deliver sublime performances. However, the three who shine the brightest are the three characters whose arcs are the pillars of this miniseries, the biggest of those belongs to Jared Harris who is exceptional as Valery Legasov. Drafted in by the Soviet government to lead the efforts to mitigate the effects of the tragedy, he’s not afraid to speak up and the people in charge just sweep everything under the rug. By his side, Stellan Skarsgard is equally tremendous as Boris Scherbina, a Minister whose relationship with Legasov is initially frosty to say the least. However as the two men work closely together, to combat the scale of the disaster they’re dealing with, it strengthens their relationship immeasurably. Last and certainly by no means last is Emily Watson’s stirring work as Ulana Khomyuk. A composite character serving as the embodiment of the countless number of scientists who worked to uncover the full truth behind this unimaginable tragedy.

The show serves as a tribute to all those brave souls who risked their lives to prevent the catastrophe from turning into something that could have been even more cataclysmic than it already was. However, the central theme that beats at the heart of this miniseries is the extremely damaging effect that lies can have when a country is in the grip of a catastrophic event like the Chernobyl disaster. In the wake of a deadly catastrophe that has wreaked unimaginable havoc, electing to cover things up with lies and misinformation may seem like a good idea at the time. However, as was the case of Chernobyl, these lies and misinformation came at a substantial cost, which is still being felt today. This is something that the governments of today could and should definitely learn from, especially at a time when a global health crisis of a very different nature is ravaging the world.

Sublime work from every aspect of the production ensures that this gripping and heart-breaking drama, like the disaster it’s depicting, will never be forgotten. An essential, definitive look at the one of the worst man-made disasters in history.