Morbius (4½ Stars)

Netflix Thursday #36

The cover above was the first appearance of Morbius in Amazing Spider-Man #101, dated October 1971. Don't be put off by Spider-Man having six arms. It was a silly idea that Marvel had which only lasted a few issues.

Today I'm visiting my son Benjamin in Obersontheim. The weather is freezing! It's -8C up here on the hill, three degrees colder than where I live in Münchingen. He's more of a gamer than a film fan, so he relies on streaming services. I picked "Morbius" on Netflix as a film he hasn't watched before.

"Morbius" didn't do as well as expected at the box office, but at least it made a slight profit. It's a dark film, which is probably the reason not as many fans went to see it. How big is the overlap between Marvel fans and horror movie fans? I can't judge by myself, because I'll watch anything.

The post credit scenes tie in with the multiverse. As far as I know, Morbius lives in the same universe as Venom, Earth-TRN688. In the mid-credits scenes – there are two of them – the Vulture jumps from Earth-199999 and proposes teaming up with Morbius to fight with Spider-Man. Does that make sense? We've never seen Earth-TRN688's version of Spider-Man. It would make more sense for Morbius to jump into Earth-199999. I have the impression that Marvel Studios doesn't know what it's doing. Apart from that, it currently seems unlikely that "Morbius" will have a sequel, so we can safely ignore the mid-credits scenes. They never happened.

Overall, Marvel is in a state of turmoil. "The Marvels" was a big flop, due to a few factors.

1. There's a general slump in cinema visitors.

2. There's a super-hero fatigue after too many Marvel films.

3. Disney, which now owns Marvel Studios, is being mismanaged by Bob Iger.

What's the future of Marvel in the movies? Nobody knows. If "Deadpool 3" isn't a success this year, there's no hope for Marvel.

Success Rate:  + 0.2

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Suicide Squad (4 Stars)

I've often said that I like bad girls. I need to clarify what I mean.

This is the sort of bad girl I like. She's bad, and she lets everyone know she's bad.

This is the sort of bad girl I don't like. She's bad, but she pretends to be good.

Let me test my readers, to see if you've been paying attention. Here are photos of two more bad girls. I like one, and I don't like the other.

Do I like this one?

Or do I like this one?

Success Rate:  + 2.3

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Morbius (4½ Stars)

Today is only the second time I've watched "Morbius", but it's growing on me already. The biggest hindrance in me giving the film a full five star rating is that Michael Morbius is a very unsexy vampire. It's an accurate depiction, because he's always been unsexy in the comics.

My fascination with vampires began when I saw the film "Vamp" while on holiday in the mid-1980's. I was fascinated to see Grace Jones as a vampire. At that time in my life I considered her the ultimate in sex appeal. I didn't see "Vamp" again for more than 20 years, but I watched many other vampire films, and the sexiest vampires were in the films of Jean Rollin. Despite being 100% heterosexual, I could recognise the appeal of Christopher Lee as a vampire. Even Bela Lugosi had a certain sex appeal, in a creepy way. I found David Boreanaz annoying because of his eternally miserable face, but James Marsters was a slick, sexy vampire. And Drusilla! Yes, Drusilla was my dream woman. I'd moved on from Grace Jones.

I had a phase in the early 2000's when I would buy any vampire film on DVD without knowing anything about the film. Some of the films were good, others were a waste of money. I'm more selective nowadays.

Morbius isn't a sexy vampire, not in the least. He's a horrific character. That's the way Jared Leto was paid to portray him, and he did a good job. Morbius is also a tragic figure. He doesn't want to kill anyone, but when he's overcome by bloodlust he can't help himself.

I'm curious to see how Morbius will develop in future films, if any are made. Jared Leto has repeatedly expressed interest in making more films, possibly as a villain facing Spider-Man, but there are no signs that the films will be made. "Morbius" the film was only a minor box office success, but the critics tore it apart. A film needs to be a huge success for the studios to ignore the critics.

Success Rate:  + 0.2

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Morbius (4 Stars)

Netflix Thursday #12

I missed "Morbius" in the cinema while I was in hospital earlier this year. Today I finally managed to see it on Netflix. I'll buy it on Blu-ray when the price drops.

Morbius was never one of my favourite Marvel characters. He was introduced in the early 1970's when Marvel was attempting to return to its roots by publishing more horror stories. At this time comics were written about Dracula, the Mummy and the Frankenstein monster. Morbius was an attempt to write about a vampire who was an integral part of the Marvel Universe (although that phrase wasn't common at the time). It's no coincidence that he was introduced in October 1971, the month when Stan Lee stopped writing. Marvel was heading in a different direction.

Over the years Morbius has come and gone in the comics. After his first appearance in Spider-Man #101 and #102, he had a guest appearance in Marvel Team-Up, a series frequently used for showcasing lesser known heroes. It wasn't until February 1974 that he was given a solo series in Adventure Into Fear, but it was cancelled after only 12 issues.

I was pleasantly surprised that the film doesn't have the comedy elements of other recent Marvel films. But something is missing. I sat and enjoyed the film, but I wouldn't say that it excited me. Jared Leto is doubtlessly a good actor, but I couldn't relate to his character. His romance with Martine Bancroft was important in the comics, but it's hardly more than a crush in the film. If the story had shown more of a romantic tragedy, it would have been better.

The film was a moderate box office success, though nowhere as successful as expected. Will there be a sequel? Probably not. It's more likely that Morbius will return in other Marvel films. The mid-credits scene suggests a tie-in with the MCU via a multiversal rift. Sigh... I'm getting sick of hearing about the multiverse.

Success Rate:  + 0.2

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Suicide Squad (4 Stars)

This review will probably be short because I'm suffering from writer's block. On the other hand, does it matter? When I look back at my first film reviews in 2010, they were almost all short. I only wrote occasional long reviews, such as my overview of the Highlander franchise, which I consider to have been one of my best posts, even though it didn't receive many views. Maybe I should start pinning a featured post to the homepage of my blog to encourage my readers to read what I think's reading, rather than relying on Google to send people to posts that accidentally contain topical keywords.

I watched "Suicide Squad" today to remind myself about the film after watching "Birds of Prey" yesterday. For me both films are all about Harley Quinn, exquisitely played by Margot Robbie, however many supporting characters are running around. For that reason I'll compare the two films in relation to her. So, to answer the question which of the two films I like more, I slightly prefer "Suicide Squad", because Harley Quinn is madder, sexier, and overall more enjoyable.

I watched the extended cut today, which is 11 minutes longer than the version I watched in the cinema four years ago. That's too long for me to remember the differences. According to what I've read, the additional time features more backstory about the squad's characters, and it gives the Joker more screen time. Jared Leto is so bleh as the Joker. I'd rather have an extra 11 minutes of Harley Quinn bashing heads.

I'd forgotten that the whole film is one mission, with only a small break for drinks in the middle. That makes the film very compact, despite its running time of two hours.

Success Rate:  + 2.3

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Justice League (2 Stars)

I almost didn't go to see this film. I waited until its last week in the cinema. In the end curiosity got the better of me. I didn't expect it to be good, but it was even worse than I expected.

It's obvious what DC is trying to do. They saw the success that Marvel was having with its interlinked Marvel Comics Universe (MCU) films, so they thought they could do the same. First films about individual heroes, then a team film. An idea doesn't have to be original to work well, but DC doesn't have directors or producers of sufficient calibre to repeat Marvel's success. DC rushed into the team film too fast. Only Batman and Wonder Woman had appeared in individual films already. (I don't include Superman, because he was dead before the film started). The Flash TV series could have been used to build up to the team film, but DC messed it up by having a different actor play the Flash, alienating the audience. Green Arrow could have been added to the team after the preparation of the Arrow TV series, but they made yet another blunder by omitting him.

The film was a mess from beginning to end. The big baddie, Steppenwolf, was hardly introduced to the audience. In the Marvel films the villains are well rounded characters, often with an emotional depth that they don't have in the comics. Steppenwolf is just a bland, two-dimensional character that we don't care about.

"Justice League" tries to add a human element by showing a Russian family, but fails completely. The family is so far removed from the action that whenever they're shown they're just annoyances and we want them out of the way so the story can continue.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Marvel makes the best films and DC makes the best TV series. DC should give up making films. There might be rare peaks of brilliance like "Wonder Woman", but on the whole the films are embarrassing. I'm already dreading the next Justice League film.

Blade Runner 2049 (4 Stars)

This is a visually stunning film, clearly superior to the original. The atmosphere is so intense that it's terrifying. This film makes it clear that the world of Blade Runner is a post-apocalyptic scenario, which was only hinted at in the first film.

I went to see "Blade Runner" with the Birmingham Film Group, and we were more than 20 people. I wish the Stuttgart Cinema Meetup were as successful. When we discussed the film afterwards there were mixed opinions. Some considered it to be brilliant, whereas others considered it to be boring because it was too slow and unintelligible. Yes, the film is slow, but that's its strength. Yes, the film is difficult to understand, but when I sat at home in the evening and thought about it everything slotted into place. This is a film that needs to be watched more than once to be appreciated, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it even more next time.

Suicide Squad (4 Stars)

Best. Film Poster. Ever.

Yes, I do love this poster. It's so cool, The mixture of psychedelic art and photography is just perfect. Having said that, I have to admit that the quality of the film itself doesn't live up to the artwork.

When I compare Marvel and DC on the screen, I have a fixed opinion. Marvel makes the best films, DC makes the best TV series. Usually when I say that to my friends it starts an argument. They're quick to name good and bad examples to contradict me. Of course, there are exceptions, but in general I consider myself right. Look at the absolutely brilliant films Marvel has made in recent years: for instance, the Iron Man trilogy, the Captain America films and "Guardians of the Galaxy". What has DC done that even comes close? The Superman films were poor. The Dark Knight trilogy was good, I admit, but it didn't reach the level of the Marvel films.

Then look at DC's recent TV series: to take just three examples, "Smallville", "Arrow" and "Gotham". They are all perfect in their own ways. "Daredevil" is very good, but it doesn't reach the level of "Arrow". "Jessica Jones" is disappointing, while "Agents of SHIELD" has a lot of promise but is uneven, some episodes succeeding better than others.

It's difficult for me to write about "Suicide Squad" without giving away spoilers, but I'll try to do my best. It's about a team of super villains assembled by a government agent, Amanda Waller, to tackle extreme threats to America and the rest of mankind. It's called a suicide squad because the members are expendable; they're criminals that nobody would miss if they died.

As in all team films, the problem is to introduce all the characters and still leave time for the rest of the film. "Suicide Squad" is less successful than "The Avengers" in introducing the characters before the action starts. Deadshot and Harley Quinn are presented in great detail, whereas Killer Croc and Captain Boomerang are merely background characters who seem to be tagging along for the ride. When they finally did something my reaction was, "Oh, they're still here?" Colonel Rick Flag, the army man who leads the Suicide Squad into battle, seems like a superfluous babysitter. It's not until late in the film that he starts to reveal some of his personality, but by then the audience already wishes he were dead.

An irony in the film is that the first threat that the Suicide Squad has to deal with is caused by a supernatural being, the Enchantress, that Amanda Waller wanted to use in the team. The question is, would the squad have been needed if she hadn't caused problems by creating the squad? This irony would have strengthened the film if it had been developed, but by ignoring it it seems more like a plot hole.

The film's greatest strength is Harley Quinn, as most critics have been quick to point out. Her brand of insanity makes her immediately likeable. There are already talks of a second Suicide Squad film, but rather than do that there should just be a Harley Quinn spin off. Preferably without the Joker, because this film's incarnation of the Joker, as played by Jared Leto, is the weakest on-screen version ever. He pales in comparison to Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger.

I watched the film dubbed into German, as is typical for foreign films shown in Germany. I was greatly impressed by Harley Quinn's German voice, which completely expressed the character's madness, maybe even more perfectly than the original actress, Margot Robbie. The German voice was provided by the politician Anne Helm, pictured above, who is best known from providing Anna Kendrick's voice in German films. She did an excellent job, proving that German dubbing is the best in the world.

This is a much better film than this year's "Batman vs Superman", but DC still has a long way to go to catch up with Marvel. Even the computer generated special effects in the final scenes weren't up to Marvel's standards. DC should consider giving up films and sticking to what it does best: television series.

Alexander (4½ Stars)

There are three versions of this film: the original theatrical version, the director's cut, and the "final cut". The third version is supposedly structured differently to the first two. I can't comment on the differences because the third version, the final cut, is the only version I've seen. Judging by director Oliver Stone's introduction this is the way he really wanted the film to be, free of the constraints of having to satisfy the film studio, the critics or even the audience. As such this is a very self-indulgent film. Oliver Stone is saying, effectively, that he's made this version for himself.

Obviously this is a work of love. Stone states his admiration for the epic films he watched as a child, but he also admires the man Alexander. He has a fascination with the remarkable young man who achieved greater victories in a short lifespan than any other leader ever. Stone wants to show how he grew up, how he became king, how he triumphed and how he died at the age of 32 without leaving an heir.

Stone succeeds in imparting this fascination on the viewer. We feel Alexander's passion and his belief in his noble destiny as the son of Zeus. He see him torn between love and contempt for his ambitiously evil mother. We feel his idealism as he proclaims freedom from slavery in the kingdoms he conquers. Only when he becomes overcome with fanaticism to continue fighting, not stopping to enjoy the spoils of victory, do we finally feel alienated. Like seeing an old friend on a doubtful path I found myself calling out "Turn back, Alexander, before it's too late".

My main criticism of the film is that it took so long to get started. If it had showed Alexander's life chronologically I would have accepted the slow start. As it was the film begins with Alexander's greatest victory, the Battle of Gaugamela, but rather than start with the battle itself we have long discussions of strategy. I'll deduct half a star for that, but overall this is a brilliant film, a masterpiece.

I believe that the final cut that I'm reviewing here, sold under the name "Alexander Revisited", is no longer available on DVD. It's worth looking for if you can find a second hand copy.