HOLLYWOOD—I recall seeing the trailer for the movie “Morgan” in theaters and it immediately got my attention, however, that anticipation fails to deliver on SO MANY fronts. What makes this movie so alluring is NOT knowing precisely what or who Morgan is, but when you have TV spots and movie trailers dispelling that allure, the thought of being surprised no longer exists.
It’s similar to the new thriller “The Disappoints Room” staring Kate Beckinsale, where the audience has no idea precisely what lies in that room. It appears “Morgan” suspected the audience needed to be warned about what this mysterious creature or being really is, before entering the theater. That is mistake number one in my opinion.
The narrative revolves around Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy), a human hybrid whose development has mesmerized her founders/creators. Unfortunately, Morgan is unstable, and when things don’t go her way she lashes out violently. Her latest tantrum resulted in one of the scientists losing an eye, and that prompts the arrival of Lee Weathers (Kate Mara), in a very subdued and quite dry performance. Lee comes across just as robotic if not more robotic as Morgan herself, who is quite intriguing to say the least.
While Morgan and Lee might appear different, they are much more similar than what the audience expects. The biggest problem with “Morgan” is that it becomes a cat and mouse game that leaves very little suspense and thrills to entertain the audience. There is a waste of so much talent in this movie. Not just Mara, but Toby Jones, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Paul Giamatti, who seems to continually be cast as the small, white angry guy.
“Morgan” has remnants of that classic B-movie of scientists looking to do good, but in the midst of doing that good become so caught up with their ‘experiment’ they will go to extreme lengths to ensure they are successful. So the audience is left with the dichotomy of rather Morgan is all evil, or is it perhaps the scientists/handlers who continue to poke at her with no avail?
The movie has a somewhat interesting twist at the end, that I would argue most viewers would be able to piece together if they just carefully pay attention to a few of the characters in the movie notably, the primary players. Be warned, if you’re entering the theater suspecting “Morgan” to be an edge of your seat thriller, you’ll be greatly disappointed.
