'Morbius' review: Jared Leto sucks as a vampire

MANILA, Philippines — After suffering numerous delays mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, "Morbius" starring Jared Leto as the titular character has finally flown into theaters.

Leto plays Dr. Michael Morbius, dubbed "the living vampire" as a result of an experiment where he tries to find a cure for a blood disease that he and his childhood friend Milo/Lucien (Matt Smith) suffer from.

Perhaps it was the many postponements, or maybe being overshadowed by other recent Marvel-adjacent properties like "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home," but this Sony project feels really out of place with a plot too basic and stakes almost nowhere to be seen.

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There was so much potential in seeing a doctor, who has taken an oath to save lives, turn into a vampire who must take lives in order to survive. But the film never dives deep enough into this situation, instead just hovers on the surface and is very much held back by its PG-13 rating.

This is by no means any fault of Leto, stepping away from his dramatic and heavily-committed roles like his recent outing in "House of Gucci", or even his different take of another comic book character the Joker, neither of an eccentric Smith and his "The Crown" co-star Jared Harris (severely underused).
 
Even the post-credits stingers feel like last-ditch efforts to fill the future with hype, though as of now that presides in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (both movies and television series) and Sony Pictures Animation's upcoming "Spider-Verse" sequels.

It should come as no surprise that the "Spider-Man" content are Sony's biggest moneymakers. But without any creative sparks, the studio will need more than a couple of vampire bites to come alive again.

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