MORBIUS: 2 STARS
Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.
In 鈥淢orbius,鈥 a new shared universe of films inspired by Spider-Man characters, now playing in theatres, Jared Leto plays a doctor who takes the old phrase, 鈥淧hysician, heal thyself,鈥 a little too far.
Jared Leto is Dr. Michael Morbius, Nobel Prize-worthy biologist with a medical degree in hematology. His field of work is personal to him. Since childhood he and his best friend Milo (a preening Matt Smith) have battled a rare blood disease that drains him of his energy. As an adult, Michael searches for a cure.
鈥淚 should have died years ago,鈥 he says. 鈥淲hy am I still here if not to fix this?鈥
He devises a cure, but it is it a cure or a curse? He will live, and maybe even thrive, but his life will be forever changed.
鈥淚 went from dying to being more alive than ever,鈥 he says after going 鈥渂atty.鈥
The cure transforms him into a transgenic vampire; a being with superhuman strength and speed, heightened senses, accelerated healing 鈥渁nd some form of bat radar,鈥 but none of the usual weaknesses associated with vampires. Bring on the garlic and crosses. But like traditional vampires, he now must drink blood to survive.
鈥淚 have powers that can only be described as superhuman,鈥 he says. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 a cost. Now I face a choice, to hunt and consume blood or die.鈥
He chooses life, but his tolerance for artificial blood is lowering, and soon he鈥檒l have to break everything he believes in and drink real human blood -- a choice he loathes.
Milo, on the other hand, chooses a darker path, pitting friend against friend. 鈥淎ll our lives we鈥檝e lived with death hanging over us,鈥 Milo says. 鈥淲hy shouldn鈥檛 we enjoy life for a change?鈥
It can only be said one way. 鈥淢orbius鈥 sucks鈥 more than just blood. Likely undone by a PG-13 rating that must have shaved off some of, what could have been, effective horror elements, it鈥檚 a defanged vampire movie with no bite.
A generic story and dated special effects -- the bullet time gag was fresh when we first saw it in 鈥淭he Matrix,鈥 but that was then and this is now -- and the whole turgid affair culminates in a murky, CGI climax that is visually hard to follow. You know where this story is headed, you just can鈥檛 tell what exactly is happening on screen.
Leto is the above-the-title star, but his bland work is over-shadowed by Smith, who at least seems to be having fun as the bloodthirsty Milo.
There are two after credit scenes in 鈥淢oribus鈥 that promise more stories with the batty doctor, but the franchise needs a serious transfusion before continuing the story.
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE: 4 STARS
Marvel has familiarized fans with the concept of the multiverse, a metaphysical theory that sees a collection of parallel universes and alternate realities collide with our own. Marvel superhero superstars Doctor Strange and Spider-Man have both tripped the light fantastic in recent films. Joining them on a cinematic, full tilt, boogie trip into other worlds is Michelle Yeoh, star of sci-fi mindbender 鈥淓verything Everywhere All At Once,鈥 now playing in theatres.
The action begins in a suburban Southern California laundromat run by Evelyn Wang (Yeoh) and husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan). The couple have a meeting with the IRS and the situation is dire. 鈥淵ou may only see a pile of receipts,鈥 says bureaucrat Dierdre Beaubeirdra (Jamie Lee Curtis). 鈥淏ut I see a story. I can see where this story is going, and it does not look good.鈥
The meeting takes a weird twist when Waymond shoves Evelyn into a broom closet, sending her off to another dimension to battle an evil spirit called Jobu Tupaki, armed only with a Bluetooth headset.
鈥淚鈥檓 not your husband,鈥 he explains. "I鈥檓 another version from another universe. I鈥檓 here because I need your help. Across the multiverse I鈥檝e seen thousands of Evelyns. You can access all their memories, their emotions, even their skills. There鈥檚 a great evil spreading throughout the many verses, and you may be our only chance of stopping it.鈥
And away she goes, off on an adventure involving multiple Evelyns as a chef, a martial arts expert and movie star. As she verse-jumps, she must absorb the powers of all her alternate personalities and bring them back to the IRS offices.
鈥淓verything Everywhere All At Once鈥 is the most aptly titled movie of the year. A frenetic assault on the senses, it is a wild and woolly adventure where the quirk factor is turned up to 11 and literally anything could happen. A universe where everyone has hotdogs for fingers? Check. A heartfelt conversation between two sentient rocks? Check. A bagel that contains the secrets of the universe? Check.
You can say a lot of things about 鈥淓verything Everywhere All At Once,鈥 but you can鈥檛 say you鈥檝e ever seen anything quite like it before. An eye-popping reflection on the power of kindness and love to heal the world鈥檚 problems, it is simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting. The directors, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known collectively as The Daniels, mix and match everything from family drama and tax problems, to martial-arts and metaphysics, into a whimsical story that moves at the speed of light. The result is a singular film that milks intentionality out of its madness.
THE BUBBLE: 3 ½ STARS
A lot of movies were made during the pandemic lockdown, but few addressed what life was like on a quarantined movie set. 鈥淭he Bubble,鈥 a new Judd Apatow comedy now streaming on Netflix, is a Hollywood satire that mixes and matches spoiled stars on a film set with COVID-19 protocols, such as physical distancing, daily antigen tests and a "no hooking up with your co-stars" rule.
Set during the height of the pandemic, 鈥淭he Bubble鈥 brings the cast of the dinosaur action flick 鈥淐liff Beasts 6鈥 to a luxury hotel in England for two weeks of quarantining before shooting. Under the watchful eye of a beleaguered producer (Peter Serafinowicz) and inept health official Josh (Chris Witaske), the cast, including franchise star Dustin Mulray (David Duchovny), his on-again-off-again love interest Lauren Van Chance (Leslie Mann), action star Sean Knox (Keegan-Michael Key), actress on the verge of a comeback Carol Cobb (Karen Gillan), character actor Dieter Bravo (Pedro Pascal), and TikTok superstar Krystal Kris (Iris Apatow) arrive to be promptly locked away for two weeks.
For most of them, the return to the franchise is simply a matter of a paycheque. For first time director Darren Eigan (Fred Armisen), however, it is a career making gig, if only he can wrangle the stubborn actors into seeing his vision.
As the shooting drags on, the actors break rules, hook up and mutiny, all the while complaining that they are being mistreated. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e being 鈥榓ctor鈥 mistreated,鈥 says an exasperated manager. 鈥淚鈥檓 being 'human being' mistreated.鈥
Basing a comedy on the pandemic is a nervy move. Most of us lived it, locking down and playing by the rules, but part of the pleasure of 鈥淭he Bubble鈥 is watching these pampered and privileged people placed in a situation where their money and fame don鈥檛 matter. Early on, Carol, in isolation in a posh hotel room, devolves into a fugue state despite the splendor surrounding her. It鈥檚 an early indication that the pandemic is the great leveller and is fodder for several, very funny scenes.
Also pointed is Apatow鈥檚 skewering of Hollywood. Ego runs rampant as the insecure actors jump from bed to bed, complain about the script鈥"It goes against dinosaur logic,鈥 says an oh-so-serious Mulray鈥攁nd attempt escape from the ever-watchful security. From starting new religions and delivering nasty, drop dead zingers鈥"I think all the critics around the world were wrong,鈥 says Lauren to Carol in reference to the dreadful Rotten Tomatoes score of her flop 鈥淛erusalem Rising.鈥濃攖o well-cast and weird cameos from Benedict Cumberbatch and James McAvoy and on-set hi jinx, Apatow hits the nail on the head. Sometimes a little too squarely, but it is an entertaining ride.
The pandemic backdrop of 鈥淭he Bubble鈥 is a serious, all too recent memory, but luckily the movie doesn鈥檛 take itself too seriously. Apatow, whose streak of sticking with a story for just a bit too long is uninterrupted here, finds the right tone, and as the story and characters spin out of control, he finds the funny and doesn鈥檛 let go.
NITRAM: 3 ½ STARS
鈥淣itam,鈥 a dramatization of the events leading up to the 1996 massacre at Port Arthur, Tasmania that killed 35 people and wounded 23 others, mines the nihilism of its title character in an attempt to shed light on a senseless act.
In his telling of the story, Australian director Justin Kurzel has made a deeply unsettling film, but not a violent one. He replaces the violence of the tragic real-life event with the uneasy trajectory of a killer in the making.
Known as Nitram鈥攖he movie never uses his real name鈥擟aleb Landry Jones plays the title character as a 20-something, impulsive, detached loner who lashes out at the slightest provocation. His mother (Judy Davis) is worn down after years of dealing with his antisocial and unpredictable behaviour, but his father (Anthony LaPaglia) attempts to find a coping mechanism in compassion.
They are given a reprieve of sorts when wealthy recluse Helen (Essie Davis) hires him to cut her lawn and invites him to move in. She treats him kindly and becomes a stabilizing force in his life. When she passes away suddenly, followed by the death of his father weeks later, Nitam is cut loose with a large inheritance courtesy of Helen鈥檚 largess.
Nitram鈥檚 childhood fascination with fireworks translates into a love of firearms as an adult. In the film鈥檚 most chilling scene, he purchases powerful automatic weapons from a gun shop owner who鈥檚 only too happy to make a sale.
It is the first tangible step toward infamy.
The events of April 1996 are not portrayed in the film. In fact, there is very little violence on display. Instead, Kurzel has crafted a bleak, but effective portrait of mundane evil. Jones embodies the character, playing him as a cypher with a deep well of rage. It isn鈥檛 a showy performance. It鈥檚 dark, hard to read and even harder to understand. Alienated, he is devoid of empathy or compassion; a ticking bomb ready to explode. It鈥檚 disturbing character work, so carefully rendered that, knowing how the story ends, will make your skin crawl.
There is little that is sensational or exploitive in the storytelling 鈥淣itram,鈥 but I had to wonder why a movie, even one that doesn鈥檛 name the killer by name, exists.
It鈥檚 one thing not to utter his name, it鈥檚 another to make a movie about a real-life man who became a monster, shattering dozens of families in the process. 鈥淣itram鈥 in no way glorifies him, but neither does it shed that much light on the hows and whys of his unspeakable acts. It is a well-made film that prefers to hammer home its indelible message of gun control, but in its very existence, provides an uncomfortable notoriety to someone best forgotten.
