Is Jared Leto a good actor?
Jared Leto is an infamous method actor, an Oscar winner, the frontman for a terrible band; but what exactly is Leto’s biggest moment as an actor?
Leto was in many successful films like “Fight Club” and “House of Gucci,” but do you remember him in any of them?
Leto’s acting career is likely best known for his disastrous run as the Joker and if anything his return to the superhero world went worse. This time, Leto’s titular Doctor Michael Morbius goes beyond being bad. His portrayal is one of the most boring to lead a comic book adaptation.
It‘s nearly impossible to discern any personality traits for Morbius besides being uninteresting. He’s smart, he’s dying, he seems to be nice to his patients and there’s only one named female in the movie, so he has an active love life.
Leto does nothing fellow portrayals of comic book geniuses do. He’s not a step ahead of the audience like a Batman portrayal, there’s none of Benedict Cumberbatch’s sarcasm or ego and absolutely none of Robert Downey Jr.’s manic charm.
“Morbius” instead has more in common with “Captain America: The First Avenger” than any of the prior mentioned protagonists’ films, and this is not to the benefit of “Morbius.”
By the time CGI’d skinny Chris Evans beefs up into actual Chris Evans, Steve Rogers is an open book. His background, morals and intent with his new abilities are all clear, so when he chases a Nazi through the streets of New York the audience can just enjoy the display of power.
None of this is true with Michael Morbius. Even for an “anti-hero,” Morbius has no moral compass. Where is Morbius’ version of Rodgers jumping on a grenade?
Leto’s passionless acting does him no favors. Leto never brings anything resembling Tom Hardy’s “I’m getting in a lobster tank” passion for “Venom” to “Morbius.”
Matt Smith on the other hand really did try to bring a pulse to this corpse of a film. The former “Doctor Who” star’s Milo is as over the top as he can get to try and stop the ship from crashing. He doesn’t, but it was a valiant effort.
Smith’s performance outmatches Leto’s, but both are held back by the film’s monstrous computer-generated imagery (CGI). The face morphing Leto and Smith undergo throughout the film to show they’ve gone vamp-mode looks trashy and “Morbius” has no idea how to show the rest of its lead’s abilities either.
Leto can call bats because apparently the bats have accepted him as one of their own. The enhanced reflexes/speed scenes just look like Leto’s standing around in a room high out of his mind. Thankfully, the final fight is quick after Leto’s bat-frat helps him kill Milo.
Following the lead of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” “Morbius” finishes with a nonsensical reveal for the next villain. Unlike the numerous other victims of Milo and Morbius, Morbius’ girlfriend was infected following her bite.
How the bite of a test tube vampire was able to do this, or how Morbius knew it would, is a mystery that I hope never gets explained as it would require more “Morbius” content.
Details of the film’s post-credit scenes leaked before the release of “Morbius” and the real deal is actually worse.
Not only do both scenes make no sense, but they are also as poorly made as anything you’ll see on film in 2022. The second of the two looks like a deepfake made using a rejected Leto starred car commercial.
Three movies into whatever… this is, it has to be asked what the hell Sony’s game plan is besides taking advantage of the fact that they can also use the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) logo.
Marvel promptly sent Hardy straight back to Sony when they tried leaving him on the MCU’s doorstep. If Marvel refused Hardy, who is excellent, why would they take Leto?
But more importantly, what is the purpose of “Sony’s Spider-Man Universe” if there’s no Spider-Man?
Sony’s Spider-Man can’t be Tobey Maguire. Tom Holland seems to want no part in Sony; retaking Holland would also end their working relationship with Marvel, which would be a death sentence for Sony. Is it Andrew Garfield? Garfield escaped Sony once after “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” and just proved he was the best Peter in “No Way Home,” so there’s no reason for him to go back.
Would they use a live-action Miles Morales and steal from “Into the Spider-Verse?” If it’s not Miles (please don’t let it be Miles) then it’s either time to offer Garfield a fortune to return or recast.
As long as Hardy will keep playing Venom, this sham of a Spider-Manless Spider-Man universe will continue. Dr. Vampire will certainly return as Sony continues building its villain roster to do… something. Whether audiences want him to or not is a different story.