Halloween Film Month: 31 in 31 (or Less) #3: Morgan

by themrmojorisin67

 

Director: Luke Scott

Starring: Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Toby Jones, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Giamatti

Released: 2016

Trailer

Synopsis: Lee Weathers (Mara) is sent by SynSect to investigate a violent incident involving their latest genetic experiment, Morgan (Taylor-Joy). Things go from bad to worse when Morgan escapes and seeks to escape, even if it involves killing everyone in the facility.

 

Well, not everyone can have a good streak of films all the time, Anya Taylor-Joy included. For those who came in late, I have reviewed a few films that Joy has been in, and both were good, if not great. Morgan…is not one of those films.

But before we get to the negatives, let’s go over the positives, or how few there are. The acting is actually pretty good—well, mostly. Taylor-Joy is great as the titular Morgan. Even though the character does some monstrous things and is pretty one note on paper, Taylor-Joy actually makes Morgan sympathetic for the audience. Almost everyone else does at least a serviceable job in their roles, although almost all of them feel more deserving of a far better script than what they have here.

The concept—a genetically modified human designed to be far better than the average person versus a lab of people hopelessly outgunned by said human—is actually promising, at least when one doesn’t look at the actual script line by line. Considering how many leaps science has made in the past few years alone, especially in genetics, the concept is especially timely and could actually create an interesting commentary on these modern advancements. It’s a shame all of it is wasted by a poorly written script.

Yes, the writing is probably one of the worst parts, especially in the last two-thirds of the story. The first third comes off as clunky and on-the-nose with its dialogue, but that awkward method of exposition can be forgiven if the rest delivers something memorable and interesting. This is not the case, opting to basically be an amalgam of things the audience has seen many, many times before. Just offhand, without remembering every single detail of the plot, I remember being reminded of Frankenstein, Hollow Man (especially with its uninspired slasher-esque final act), and I, Robot with many of Morgan‘s crucial plot points. And the ending…let’s just say that the ending is a clichéd mess that I was afraid Ex Machina would have pulled when I initially went in to see it. Fortunately, Ex Machina avoided this and delivered a poignant and disturbing conclusion, while Morgan just dives into this clichéd ending without any shame or trepidation.

But clunky storylines could be redeemed by at least having decent action scenes. And Morgan does at least have some interesting fight choreography, at least when I can see it. Yes, this is yet another film where the editor cuts many, many times, syncing each cut with each movement of the fighting characters. Perhaps this is yet another misguided attempt to create tension in a scene that would have looked cold and choreographed without the cuts. All I know is that I am not epileptic or prone to migraines, but I could see this frantic editing during the action scenes posing a huge problem for those who are. Yes, the editing is that terrible.

As for the acting…Kate Mara and Paul Giamatti are easily the worst actors in the film. With Giamatti, this is very painful to say, because I have enjoyed his work, particularly in Sideways and The Illusionist. But in this…it’s like he doesn’t care, perhaps because his role is so small and very one-dimensional. He goes from talking to people in a condescending fashion to screaming like a madman, and there’s not much else for him to do to make his character even accidentally interesting. And Kate Mara is just bland and uninteresting as the main protagonist, opting for a monotone voice and a constant neutral expression that conveys nothing to audience. The ending clears up why this is the case, but the ridiculous way it is delivered ruins any terror or tension from the revelation.

Morgan is one of those films that had a great concept, something that could have worked considering current scientific events. If only it had better direction, writing, and editing to make discussing this concept and building a story around it even remotely worthwhile.

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