MORGAN review

Sci-fi is one of my favorite genres. I can’t pinpoint when exactly it was that I started getting more on the nerdy side of the geek/nerd/dork spectrum, but I’ve generally kept a nice balance between 2 of them (geek and nerd). More so the science element of sci-fi. I like stories that take things that are not quite reality yet, but would be plausible if there were a few tweaks. Movies that tackle subjects like artificial intelligence (EX MACHINA, HER), the singularity (SYNC by CorridorDigital on YouTube), and space exploration (The first half both of INTERSTELLAR and PROMETHEUS), and so on, are always going to be something I look forward to. Needless to say I was excited when I saw that Luke Scott, son of legend Ridley Scott, was making a film about a bioengineered child becoming unstable. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like Luke has his father’s touch in filmmaking quite yet. This is his first full-length feature so he does have time to develop.

MORGAN has a nice visual style to it. A nice mix of high-tech equipment and a beautiful isolated house in the woods creates an atmosphere very reminiscent of EX MACHINA. I have to give props to the art direction for making the film at the very least visually interesting. Other than that, though, I can’t really say anything else stood out in a good or bad way.

For such a good cast of actors there’s only one performance I can say was more than just OK. And that’s Paul Giamatti. But that man’s never OK. No matter the movie, he gives his all and I love him for that. I was so happy when Paul came on screen to break the monotony of the first half. His performance is great but unfortunately he doesn’t stick around very long. It was kind of obvious he was just going to come in and get out quickly. Even his character says right after he arrives that he has to “make this quick” and “has somewhere to be.” Everyone else did OK but isn’t worth mentioning.

Another big disappointment with having many great actors like Kate Mara, Michelle Yeoh, and Toby Jones around is that none of the characters really feel like characters. They’re all unique, I’ll give the movie that much credit. We easily can tell who’s who and each has their own personality. But no one feels like they have much of a backstory to them. And if I were to try to describe them I’d just give you archetypes. That one’s the stuck up one who’s better than everyone and she knows it. That’s the non scientist surrounded by scientists. That’s the guy who takes has way too much pride in his work.That’s the boss of everyone who only shows up to make sure things are working properly.

Characters are always the most important thing in a movie for me. If I can’t emotionally connect with the characters then I have no personal investment in the plot. Because this movie is filled with archetypes instead of actual characters I was beginning to find myself very bored. Something sci-fi films can do for me better than most other genres is bring up themes and ideas that are so fascinating that they’re enough to keep me following along to see what it has to say. Unfortunately MORGAN doesn’t really know what it wants to say until the final act. And by then so much has already happened that it no longer really matters. And the twist of the film I saw coming a mile away.

I could just end the review here and call it a day. It’s hard to come up with too much to say about a movie that just leaves you feeling “meh” at the end. So, a few little musings while watching the film:

• For a group of scientists with high-tech equipment their webcam’s frame rates are terrible. It didn’t even look like it could do 20 fps. That really took me out of the movie even more.
• The bioengineered woman, Morgan, spends most of the time in a cell with glass windows and the scientists talk to her through the speakers. Several times they’ll be talking and the camera’s on Morgan’s side of the glass and we can hear the group. Then it’ll cut to the group in the same conversation and they’ll talk about something that you’d think they wouldn’t want Morgan to hear. But they never do anything to make is so she can’t.
• That deer looked fake as hell.
• There was a chance to do something cool with the reflections on the glass when characters talked to Morgan. Some sort of symbolism they could have gone for. Opportunity wasted.
• Brian Cox literally phones it in.
• I did kind of giggle at the cliché “I done goofed” look.
• Why doesn’t anyone ever know how to do a PIT maneuver?
• The fight choreography could have possibly been OK but I wouldn’t be able to tell you as I wasn’t able to really see it.

MORGAN could have been interesting if it had better laid out what it wanted to say earlier on and given us more depth to some of these characters. Maybe trim the cast down a little bit so there’s less focus to spread around. They’re not quite the same, but I would suggest checking out either EX MACHINA or SPLICE instead. I can’t really suggest you go see MORGAN even for a matinee.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Original post HERE