It looks like Sony couldn’t quite capitalise on the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home as Morbius has become one of the worst-rated superhero films of all time.
There weren’t the highest of expectations to begin with for the third film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, however, it seems even those expectations weren’t met.
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Jared Leto’s ‘living vampire’ Morbius dropped overnight and the reviews have been nothing less than savage.
The film has a 17 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes - yikes.
However, in some form of a consolation, the audience score currently sits a bit higher at 48% - I guess you can call that a consolation?
Morbius sees Leto portray the ‘living vampire’ Michael Morbius, who originally appeared as a Spider-Man villain, but has become something of an anti-hero in his own series, much like Tom Hardy did in Venom.
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Micahel Morbius has been described as ‘one of Marvel's most compelling and conflicted characters’.
In the movie, he’s ‘dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder’ and he injects himself with a formula aimed at curing himself and others afflicted by the same condition.
However, he quickly realises that his ‘desperate gamble’ quickly goes from a ‘radical success’ to something that is ‘potentially worse than the disease’ he started with.
Sadly though, it seems viewers just really can' get on board with the film.
The critics haven’t let up on Morbius either.
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Emily Zeimer from The Observer wrote: “Unless your ticket is free, don’t bother. This movie is as lifeless as the bodies Morbius drains and throws on the floor.”
This coming from someone whose ticket was probably free.
Adam Graham of Detroit News said: “There's nothing in Morbius that couldn't have been better summed up in a two-minute trailer.”
Nell Minow from Movie Mom said: “More like Bore-bius, amirite? The action scenes are poorly staged and the special effects are awful. Plus, it spends much too much time on the origin story somehow without ever making us connect to the title character.”
To sum it up, the ‘Critics Consensus’ on the Morbius Rotten Tomatoes page reads: “Cursed with uninspired effects, rote performances, and a borderline nonsensical story, this Spidey-adjacent mess is a vein attempt to make Morbius happen.”
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It seems the seven-time delay to theatres hasn’t helped the release of the flick either.
It followed the release of the two Venom movies, with the 2018 film receiving a 30 per cent, and its 2021 sequel copped an improved 58 per cent on the ‘Tomatometer’.
However, the audience score for those films was significantly higher than that of Morbius, with both reaching more than 80 per cent.
According to Variety, the vampire film is expected to rake in AU$50-60 million from the opening weekend, however, Sony is looking to temper those expectations and have predicted a figure closer to AU$45 million.
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For reference, some well known terrible hero movies are currently ranked higher.
Suicide Squad from 2016, which also featured Jared Leto, sits at 26 per cent on the film aggregate website, Ryan Reynolds much maligned Green Lantern is on 26 per cent, and Batman V Superman has a 29 per cent rating.
At least it doesn’t stink at the levels of 2015's Fantastic Four reboot or Halle Berry's Catwoman, which both have a score of 9 per cent.
Jayden Collins