MORBIUS

 Jared Leto     Adria Arjona     Matt Smith

Jared Harris     Tyrese Gibson     Al Madrigal

            This production is interesting, which is likely an assessment below what the filmmakers were hoping for.  The CGI is good, especially in transforming the faces or Dr. Morbius and Milo, but at times when it becomes just a riot of color on the screen, it’s a bit much and dilutes any meaning filmmakers hope to convey. Jared Leto is at his usual level of excellence, always adapting to whatever character he is playing.  It was fun to see the British actor Sam Smith playing a good/bad guy, dropping his usual polite British demeanor.  Jared Harris is likewise at his usual best as the kind and humble physician.  Adria Arjona’s character as Martine spices up the screen with her good looks and noble character.

            The movie begins with Michael Morbius as a young boy meeting Lucien (whom he names ‘Milo’ right away) in the hospital for blood disorders.  They have rare diseases for which there is no known cure, which binds them together as life-long friends.  Michael becomes a Boy Wonder who already is showing a kind of promise that impresses his doctor (Harris), who arranges for him to be in a gifted and talented program in the U.S.  Fulfilling the doctor’s hope, Michael is brilliant and studious, quickly earning his doctorate at age 19.  Currently as a young adult, he is making a name for himself by creating artificial blood that can be used on the battlefield, but his hope is to create a cure for his disease.

            With the help of his colleague/fiancé Dr. Martine Bancroft (Arjona), Michael (Leto)  begins conducting research on animals, then moves on to human research.  Of course, he can’t resist trying it on himself, the consequences of which are like the boy in the childhood poem, “when he is good, he is very, very good; when he is bad he is horrid.”  The positive is that his body recovers so well, he becomes superhuman, able to fly and have phenomenal strength.  The bad part is that he requires human blood to sustain his improvement, making him vulnerable to destructiveness.  Since Michael is an ethical, thoughtful man, he must wrestle with himself when he has certain urges.  But things get complicated when Milo (Smith)—who has become his friend and benefactor and who doesn’t have the ethical grounding Michael has—thinks he is entitled to the serum.  

            Direction by Daniel Espinosa reflects his interest in mixing Marvel type of action with horror.  He successfully does it here, merging a basically honorable personality with one affected by blood thirst, and illustrating the contrast between someone like that and someone who is mostly in for a good time to compensate for the years he has lost because of his illness.  This kind of dilemma and soul-searching is uncommon for Marvel-based films but reminds me of the recent Warner Bros. produced The Batman, in which he questions himself and tries to listen to his conscience.

            Marvel fans may regard this production as the “same ol’, same ol’”, but I suggest looking at the deeper issue Espinosa is trying to put forth—that of a superpower in the hands of ethical vs. unethical characters.  I think the writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless achieved that goal, although it may not be obvious to many.

 

Dr. Morbius finds himself in an ethical dilemma when as a basically honorable man he develops a serum that cures blood diseases but creates superpowers as a side effect.

 

Grade:  B                              By Donna R. Copeland

F9: THE FAST SAGA

 Vin Diesel     Michelle Rodriguez     Jordana Brewster     Tyrese Gibson     Ludacris

Nathalie Emmanuel     Thue Ersted Rasmussen     Helen Mirren     Kurt Russell

 

If car racing, heists, and spying—with all the special effects that one can think of—is your thing, and you don’t mind absurdity, then F9 is the movie for you.  This is the 10^th full-length version of the theme since it first appeared in 2001.  Another theme puts great emphasis on family, a motif repeated across the series, with the star Vin Diesel as Dominic always implying that family is sacred and of the utmost importance.  (“Family” includes all the people one is close to as well as those biologically related.)  The problem in this newest iteration is that Dominic’s estranged brother Jakob (Cena) has suddenly appeared on the scene. 

Jakob is clearly less principled than Dom, and is easily drawn in by nefarious schemes, this time with Otto (Rasmussen), with whom he plans on getting his hands on an object that will allow him and Otto to rule the world.  They have captured Dom’s nemesis Cipher (Theron) and put her in a glass box so she can assist them, but she shows only disdain for Jakob.

The movie will take us on a world tour (London, Tokyo, Central America, Edinburgh, Azerbaijan, Tbilisi in Georgia, even outer space) as a way I presume of making the story more exciting.

The biggest problem with the movie as I see it is that practically all of it takes place on streets in big cities with cars and people getting hit and scattered every which way, punctuated with fist fight free-for-alls.  A little dialogue will transpire, but soon it’s back to car chases and fist fights.  It is a tiny bit to their credit in my book that the women are just as ferocious and active as the men; not one hesitates to blast with a gun, her body, or fist…AND with a computer.

All of the movies in the franchise have been big box office draws, although critics tend to be much less enthusiastic.  That has to do with the numerous implausibilities (e.g., cars being shot out over large bodies of water and an actual trip into space) and contradictions (characters seemingly rising from the dead) replete in the series.  But promoters of the film advise viewers just to sit back, suspend realistic considerations, and just enjoy the movie with your popcorn.

Director Justin Lin—who has previously directed three Fast films—is also scheduled to direct the final(?) two adventures.  He knows exactly how to please enthusiastic fans of the franchise, helped along by the special effects crew, cinematographer Stephen F. Windon, and composer Brian Tyler.  

 

F9 remains true to the franchise in its daring thrills and main characters, with the cast cast headed by Vin Diesel as usual.

 

Grade:  C-                             By Donna R. Copeland