MOVIE REVIEW: MORBIUS

 

Biochemist Michael Morbius tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but when his experiment goes wrong, he inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead.

Director: Daniel Espinosa

Cast: Jared Leto,  Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, Tyrese Gibson

Release Date: April 1, 2022

Genre: Action, Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, some frightening images, and brief strong language

Runtime: 1h 44m

Review:

Morbius is the kind of paint by the numbers, forgettable comic book origin story whose main purpose is to set up future installment.  Daniel Espinosa film is both glossy and undercooked at the same time.  His direction borrows from a bevy of comic book films mainly from the early 2000s which isn't the greatest source for inspiration.  The plot moves at a surprisingly quick pace which maybe intentional so you don't notice how nonsensical the whole thing is.  Jared Leto, an actor known for throwing himself into roles, is surprisingly understated and uninspired in the central role.  His performance gives you the impression that he'd rather be anywhere else but there.  Matt Smith, on the other hand, seems to relish chewing up scenery as the requisite friend/villain who ends up with the exact same power as the hero.  Supporting players Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal and Tyrese Gibson all show up for a quick paycheck while bringing very little to their undercooked characters.  At least Morbius has the common sense to not overstay it's welcome with its quick runtime that still includes two post credit scenes that feels more like the result of corporate deal than some sort of big revelation.

C-

Transformers: Dark of the Moon Teaser

MOVIE REVIEW: LEGION

ON DVD

LEGION



Scott Stewart's supernatural thriller Legion, scripted by Peter Schink, concerns a group of strangers in an out-of-the-way eatery who become the first line of defense when God, believing the human race is no longer worthy of Him, decides to end their existence. This motley crew's only spiritual ally is the archangel Michael, played by Paul Bettany. Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Charles S. Dutton, and Lucas Black co-star in the Screen Gems production. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Directed by Scott Stewart

Cast: Paul Bettany, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palicki, Charles S. Dutton.

Release Date: Jan 22, 2010

Rated R for strong bloody violence, and language

Runtime: 1 hr. 40 min.

Genres: Suspense/Thriller

Review:

Terminator with a touch of the dash of biblical mumbo jumbo gives you the general sense of what to expect with Scott Sander’s Legion. It’s a film that is most aware of its B-movie schlockly roots and has fun with it on occasion but not nearly enough to make the entire experience enjoyable. Sander’s best attribute is his ability to move the nonsensical plot along at a nice quick pace, never lingering to long on any details. He hits the major and minor plot points like he’s playing darts. The script is littered with archetype characters that all have standard issue personal issues. The cast, made up of surprisingly strong performers, does as well as can be expected. Paul Bettany is stoic and provides his British Angel an other worldliness feel which fits the character well. Adrianne Palicki is believable if overly “troubled” as the mother of the messiah to be. Dennis Quaid phones in his performance to such an extreme degree you are kind left wondering if he ever wanted this film to see the light of day. Tyrese Gibson, Charles S. Dutton and Kate Walsh have small and limited roles but they do more with them than this film deserves. If the script has one strength its it admirable ability to keep you off balance by dispatching characters unexpectedly and abruptly, something I’ve always enjoyed. Outside of that there is very little new or innovative in this genre film.

D

Movie Reviews: TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN

Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Movie Reviews: TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
IN THEATERS

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN

The battle for Earth has ended but the battle for the universe has just begun. After returning to Cybertron, Starscream assumes command of the Decepticons, and has decided to return to Earth with force. The Autobots believing that peace was possible finds out that Megatron's dead body has been stolen from the US Military by Skorpinox and revives him using his own spark. Now Megatron is back seeking revenge and with Starscream and more Decepticon reinforcements on the way, the Autobots with reinforcements of their own, may have more to deal with then meets the eye.

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Dunn

Director: Michael Bay

Opens today June 24, 2009

Runtime: 2 hr. 30 min.

Rated PG-13 for brief drug material, intense seq. of sci-fi violence, intense seq. of sci-fi action, crude and sexual material and language

Genres: Sci-Fi Action, Action, Science Fiction

Review:

A simple way to gauge how much you’ll enjoy Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen is to ask yourself a few simple questions. First off, did you enjoy the first movie? Secondly, do you know what to expect from a Michael Bay film? If you answered yes to both you’ll probably enjoy this sequel for what it is, mindless popcorn fun which never attempts to evoke more than visceral sensory thrills. For the most part Bay successes in doing this giving the audience more Autobot Decepticon battles and massive set pieces which you can’t help but marvel at. Bay lenses this film with his usual hyper kinetic style and delivers an endless array of money shots after slow motion money shots. It can get a tad taxing with the films overlong run time and while the battles are cool to look at they rarely carry any emotional weight to them mainly due to an even more thread bare script than the first film. Some major drawbacks to the script are way too many bad sexual or crude jokes which feel forced throughout, if you thought the first film’s urinating gag was bad you’ll find plenty to dislike here. Also there are plenty of new transformer characters brought into the fold, some with great effect like Soundwave, Sideswipe and Arcee. Other like the Autobot twins Mudflap and Skids near Jar Jar Binks level of grating-ness. The script is a jumbled mess that contains way too may cringe inducing lines and the overall plot isn’t terribly clear with some conceits making more sense (The Fallen, The Matrix of Leadership, Space Bridges and Energon) if you’ve been a lifelong fan of the original animated series otherwise it’s all just mindless jargon. Character wise neither human or robot characters fare very well in terms of depth. Whatever the character was in the first film they are pretty much the same thing here. Shia LaBeouf delivers a few interesting character moments but mostly he’s pretty much doing what he did at the end of the first film, running away from Robots and explosions. Megan Fox suffers an equal fate and she not strong enough an actress to make something special with such little non screaming running time. Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson return from the first installment but they could have easily been replaced by anyone or no one as they aren’t asked to do more than shoot and scream orders. Faring a little better are other returning supporting players John Turturro Kevin Dunn and Julie White, the latter returning as Sam’s parents. All three are good fun and bring some needed comic relief. Newcomer to the franchise Ramon Rodriguez, as Sam’s college roommate, is also goofy fun in his supporting role. These actors weren’t asked to do much and they don’t for the most part, something that becomes fairly apparent when there’s a lull in the action. That being said when the film closes and you’ve witness a final battle that rivals Bay’s own Bad Boys 2 ( his other nth level opus of destruction) in sheer size and length you’ll either find yourself utterly entertained or mostly empty or maybe even both.

C+