Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Al Madrigal, Zaris-Angel Hator, Joe Ferrara, Charlie Shotwell, Joseph Esson, Michael Keaton, Corey Johnson, Joanna Burnett.

To the casual observer the adaptations of graphic novels to the large screen has become an avalanche that shows no sign of slowing down, to the seasoned watcher, it is near impossible to relay the fact that the studios and directors, the script writers, and the producers, have barely got started yet.

A decade and half of films from the MCU, more films than you see in a week’s worth of binging from DC, and then there are all the independent titles, the small screen series, the one shot’s, the legacy movies, the list is endless, and in the pulling power of the fandom that was once called geek, often derided by authority figures such as teachers and old fashioned educationists, films that have embraced the figures from page to screen, and in the last few years have almost single-handedly kept cinema afloat…no mean feat when you consider what the industry has been through, what the world has endured.  

So it is that the depth of characters to be utilised has several hundred, thousands even, layers to go, the possibilities are endless, and it is with no surprise, especially with the popularity of one of Marvel’s big hitters being forever in the background, that Morbius: The Living Vampire is the latest from the Spiderverse to have the chance to shine on a larger platform.

It is a chance that has been taken, but not squarely.

There can be no doubting that both Jared Leto and Matt Smith put everything into their performance as Dr. Michael Morbius and his best friend and fellow sufferer in blood disorder, Milo, there is also the added benefit of the inclusion of Jared Harris as Dr. Emil Nicholas and the decent CGI that frames the look and the narrative of vampiric madness that results in the cure sought for the men’s disease…and yet there is an unyielding inflexibility to the film that seems to refuse to be anything other than fiercely static.

The issue arguably comes from the lack of impact that the character has to anyone who does not have comic book history running through their veins, and one to be frank that is not as popular as many at Sony perhaps think.

It is in the static nature of the film, the sense of single thread discord, that makes it so frustrating, and a reveal that this is one of the reasons that others who see the continual flow of graphic novel adaptations as a distraction, of pandering perhaps to the style rather than the substance.

With more films to come, especially from the MCU and Sony, to be confronted with a great idea turned beige is a pause for thought, and one that needs to be addressed when looking at pulling from the deep roster of supporting players.

A film of style, but unfortunately lacking in the killer substance.

Ian D. Hall