Morbius Review: 3 Ups & 7 Downs

4. The Tame PG-13 Treatment

Let's face it, Morbius was always going to have a PG-13 rating, but in the pursuit of maximum box office earnings Sony have basically de-fanged a character known for drinking blood.

In an attempt to sidestep the ethical and content issues of our supposed hero snacking on human blood, he spends the bulk of the film chugging down blue synthetic blood he created. It's a fine enough solution, except that even when he or Matt Smith's Milo do kill humans, it's near-bloodless.

During Morbius' initial transformation scene, where he slaughters a tanker full of bad guy mercenaries, he very clearly slashes throats and yet we see nothing more than the bad guys clutching their necks with the sound of blood apparently draining out.

The film is constantly at war with itself, underlining the contradictions inherent in a PG-13 movie about a man wrestling with his own inner-hankering for human blood.

It doesn't really work here, and it'll be interesting to see how the Marvel Cinematic Universe deals with it with their upcoming Blade reboot, which has also been confirmed to be PG-13.