Morgan Review

Aug 30

Preview

R: Brutal Violence, and Some Language

20th Century Fox, Scott Free Productions

1 hr and 32 Minutes

Cast: Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Brian Cox, Jonathan Aris, with Chris Sullivan and Paul Giamatti

Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy) is not like any other girl. Created and raised in a laboratory environment by a group of scientists, she defies nature with her super-human qualities. Walking and talking within one month and self-sufficient after just six, her rapid progression is remarkable, exceeding the expectations of her creators. After Morgan has a "tantrum" in which she viciously attacks and injures one of the scientists (Jennifer Jason Leigh), corporate troubleshooter Lee Weathers (Kate Mara) is called in to determine whether or not to terminate Morgan before she can cause any more havoc or escape to the outside world.

REVIEW: From Ridley Scott……’s son Luke comes his directorial debut. Based on a script by Seth W. Owen that landed on the 2014 Black List of Best Unproduced Screenplays, Morgan is an original Sci-Fi action thriller. A synopsis similar to other Sci-Fi films such as 2010s Splice and 2015’s Ex Machina. Its just hard to think about how this film would play out because the trailer features a backstory, creepy vibes, and of course one of many deaths Paul Giamatti. Recently since the release of Stranger Things, it was hard for me to not think Morgan wasn’t Eleven. There came a point I shook my head trying to remember “this is not Eleven. She is not Eleven.”

THE GOOD: Morgan has a premise that is very similar to a lot of other Sci-Fi films where man plays God. What makes this different is the violence. From the opening the film boasts a violent scene that tells you the type of film you’re getting into. There isn’t much Sci-Fi that you would expect the expositional story origin of Morgan. But what makes everyone fearful of Morgan is how dangerous she is. It isn’t due to any special abilities, but is dueto her being extremely skillful in the art of karate. This powerful science experiment of a girl that is only 5 years old but pretty much contains the physical body of a teenager is goddamn black belt. This leads to very well choreographed action sequences that features something you don’t see often in action films lately: hand to hand combat.

Anya Taylor-Joy who has been the lead in now 2 creepy films this year (the first being The Witch) gives a heartbreaking and kick ass performance as the titular character. There are sequences where she’s crying when about to be put down like a dog after killing Giamatti. And when her “mother” says that she isn’t her mother, Morgan has a change of attitude from sadness to rage and that’s when her murder spree begins. When Morgan goes off on her “family” it is both a horror and a joy to see, because you sympathize with her for the most part. The film’s first half is a brilliant build up to a rather violent second half which makes the first half all worth while.

THE BAD: The story is everything you’ve ever seen before. It follows the trope of every Sci-Fi film of a science experiment gone wrong. It knows what it’s trying to do and what it’s leading up to, but the final act it says screw it then goes off the rails. The film has a great build up, but it just tears itself in the last 5 minutes of the movie. It just took the last 5 minutes to mess up everything it built because it features an ending that M. Night Shyamalan would say “man I grew up from this.” It has a plot twist that intends for you to gasp and get surprised but you end up groaning then immediately booing.

The cast in this film is wasted. When Paul Giamatti is bought in he gives a great performance for a very brief moment. And you have Academy Award Nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh only to be abused. Seriously can we stop beating on Jennifer Jason Leigh? Can this not be a thing? She was abused in The Hateful Eight (well mainly because her character was a bitch), and she’s abused here and you just feel bad for her. Anyone else can played her role, because she’s just wasted here.

For a film entitled Morgan, this film spends a whole lot of time on Kate Mara as Lee Weathers. From the beginning the film boasts that she is a badass. They say she’s from a cooperate company, but Leigh immediately says pretty much to the audience “yeah that’s bullshit. You know why she’s here.” As much Kate Mara is a good actress, her character is annoying. It is the type of annoying that she is cocky. Every time when she gets her ass beaten she says “I don’t need any help. Let me do my job,” only to get her ass beaten again. Every moment when you want Lee to shine as abadass, the characters she’s dealing with think otherwise and take her down. And some are not even Morgan herself. Even in the final act where she’s bruised and beaten and still says “let me do my job,” you just scream, “YOU’RE NOT EVEN GOOD AT DOING IT!”

LAST STATEMENT: Though it benefits from cool action sequences and a great performance from Anya Taylor-Joy, Morgan is as bland it can be with a plot twist that gives up on the film itself.

Rating: 1.5/5 | 34%