Marvel movies being made by studios other than Disney have been quite hit-or-miss in recent years. We’ve been treated to some quality superhero flicks in the form of “Venom” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” as well as some subpar ones such as “Dark Phoenix.” The latest of these films, “Morbius,” falls into the Sony umbrella, in the same way that the “Venom” films do. Unfortunately for the character of Morbius, it is simply not as well known or beloved as Venom. This coupled with the lack of MCU connection, “Morbius” was marked as having a distinct lack of hype when compared to other recent Marvel movies, even with a repeatedly delayed release date due to the pandemic. Despite having a star-studded cast including Jared Leto, “Doctor Who” star Matt Smith, and “Chernobyl” star Jared Harris, it seemed as though few people even knew the movie was coming out. Due to the lack of hype surrounding it combined with negative early reviews, “Morbius” unwillingly turned into a bit of an ironic meme, with loads of people comedically exaggerating how well it would do, knowing our “predictions” would starkly contrast reality.

“Morbius” follows Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto), an expert in blood diseases suffering from a disease of his own which handicaps him physically and gives him a significantly shortened lifespan. Out of desperation, knowing he doesn’t have much time left, Morbius injects himself with an experimental serum that fuses human DNA with that of a vampire bat. The serum cures him of his illness but has the unintended side effects of giving him superhuman strength, agility, bat-like echolocation, flight and a craving to drink human blood that will be fatal to Morbius if not satisfied. Morbius tries to keep the craving at bay with artificial blood, yet it soon becomes clear that the substitute will not be adequate for long. To make matters worse, his childhood friend Milo (Matt Smith) has also taken the serum, and he doesn’t have the same self-control that Morbius has. Milo immediately begins murdering humans and drinking their blood, which Morbius, being the only one known to have taken the serum, is blamed for. Morbius is tasked with escaping the law and stopping Milo’s murderous rampage, as well as finding a cure for his condition.

MCU movies are often criticized for being too “goofy,” or injecting too many attempts at comedy into their scripts. “Morbius” is the complete opposite – it takes itself far too seriously, leading to some truly awkward and unintentionally hilarious moments. For example, in one scene, Leto seems to attempt to emulate the classic Hulk catchphrase, “You won’t like me when I’m hungry.” Despite the awkward delivery that made me wonder if the wrong take was used, this was played 100 percent seriously. In another scene, Morbius steps into a glass case full of vampire bats and stretches out his hands like Jesus for no other reason besides looking dramatic (and getting a good shot for the trailer, I suppose). The cast do as well as they can with what they’re given, yet the writing is just too cheesy to be taken seriously.

“Morbius” is also unbelievably dull. There’s nothing special about this superhero origin story that we haven’t already seen time and time again. It’s yet another superhero movie where the main antagonist is virtually a carbon copy of the hero. In this case, Smith’s character Milo has the exact same superpowers as Morbius. As a result, the fight scenes between Morbius and Milo are all cliche computer-generated image-fests that we’ve all seen a hundred times before in other superhero movies. Throw in a horribly anticlimactic and rushed final battle scene, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a real snooze fest of a movie.

Speaking of CGI, a flaw with “Morbius” that I rarely encounter in movies with such a high budget is that a lot of it looks, for lack of a better word, ugly. Morbius and Milo look more like Snapchat filters than something you’d see in a superhero movie made in 2022 created by a major studio with a $75 million budget. They’re reminiscent of the scary faces YouTube videos that were popular a while back, videos made by an amateur YouTuber more than 13 years ago.

The best way to summarize “Morbius” is that it feels like a terrible 90s adaptation of your favorite superhero that fans like to pretend doesn’t exist. The dialogue is wooden, the characters and storyline are too poorly written to be interesting, and the CGI is both awful and overused. The difference being that unlike 90s stinkers such as “Spawn” and “Blade II,” “Morbius” is surrounded by other, better superhero movies that make its flaws all the more glaring. If you’re in the mood for a modern, live action Marvel movie outside the MCU, don’t bother with this one. Watch “Venom” instead. You’ll thank me later.

Will Duffy can be reached at [email protected].