Morbius (2022)

Despite seeming unnecessary, the film works as a tight, brisk mad-scientist thriller with strong atmosphere, effective scares, and heartfelt performances from Leto and Matt Smith. Espinosa brings an engaging dreamy style to its nocturnal world.

The critic finds it a consistently enjoyable franchise start-up elevated by spirited performances and the director’s sure hand, offering modest genre pleasures and a spooky vibe.

The critic finds that Morbius does not suck as a movie and provides a diverting neo-vampiric tale despite the odds. The first half is better shaped, with coherent characters and visuals that sometimes allow light to shine through the gloom.

A run-of-the-mill, capably acted origin story that is professionally mounted but mostly lifeless and disappointing after years of anticipation. It leans on familiar vampire clichés and horror visuals without delivering excitement or depth.

The core concept of two friends bonded by suffering has promise but is undermined by messy action, wafer-thin characters and a slight plot. Solid performances and flashes of visual interest cannot save the flat, forgettable result.

The critic finds the film disappointing overall, with a dated plot, visually confusing CGI and predictable storytelling that reaches new depths.

The film starts promisingly but fails to sustain intensity, becoming thin on story and repetitive in its action. Leto's committed performance stands out amid a script that makes the movie feel like another boilerplate Venom-like entry without the humor.

The vampiric Marvel movie is a bloody mess and diabolical shambles suggesting carnage in the edit suite. It singles out the inexplicable stumps of discarded subplots and hollowness of performances for complaint.

The critic calls it a sketchy mess with thin, disposable secondary characters and a lack of laughs or oddness that partially redeems the Venom films.

The film is an amazingly pointless and dumb vampire superhero yarn with a muddled good/bad setup and silly demonic transformations. It singles out the bafflingly dull story and post-credit stings for complaint.

The film is a hopeless, thuddingly generic Marvel venture where CGI effects undermine the lead performance. It singles out the lengthy, unengaging runtime and generic plot for complaint.

This dull, derivative origin story is dead on arrival and a shameless exercise in comic-book universe expansion. Slick direction and committed performances are let down by sub-par effects, underpowered action and a character never adequately sketched.

The critic finds Morbius generic and jarringly so, a flimsy time-killer and early-April placeholder that is neither original nor a good story. The lead character lacks flavor, the FX are creaky, and the script shows no signs of meaningful revision or added spice.

The critic calls Morbius a misbegotten, artistically bankrupt bid that is the nadir of comic book cinema and a colossal snore. The film suffers from dreadful special effects, a lack of heart in the lead performance, and an over-reliance on generic VFX instead of sturdy storytelling or effective scares.

The film is an appalling vampire snooze-fest without jeopardy, originality, coherence or compelling characters. It singles out Jared Leto's dead-eyed performance and poor writing/direction for complaint.

The critic finds it a super-sized disaster and a chore to sit through, with bland action, thin characterisation and a leaden performance from Leto.

The critic finds the film isn’t terrible, with good work from Leto and slick VFX providing modest entertainment, but notes it’s unlikely to please crowds like recent Spider-Man films and criticizes the script for favoring exposition.

The film is stale, unoriginal, and forgettable due to a lazy script that rushes through backstory and lacks character depth or arcs. Leto brings some comfort to the role despite the weak material.

The critic finds the film a lifeless, mechanical mash-up of better movies that fails to deliver on its vampire premise or as a Spider-Man spin-off. They single out its rote storytelling and lack of visual flair or engaging performances for complaint.

The film makes Jared Leto boring and lacks imagination or energy, feeling algorithmically calibrated with unimaginative action. It only briefly comes to life through Matt Smith's more dynamic villain performance.

The review calls it an underwhelming Marvel horror where the mad-scientist setup is fun but drags into a usual big battle with little character investment; praises Adria Arjona’s performance as the standout.

The film is a dull, depressing comic-book/horror hybrid that fails to deliver any thrills or surprises. The critic singles out the poorly staged and choppily edited action scenes for particular complaint.

The film is breathtakingly terrible and excruciating to watch, with a rote script and lack of personality or tone. Leto is surprisingly muted and devoid of charisma in the lead role.