Morgan disappoints with lack of originality

Short Version: Morgan is a film with overly familiar ideas, and little originality in executing them.

Morgan follows the breakthrough of a biotech team who spent seven years creating a viable synthetic life form, and raising it to maturity. That lifeform, Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy), starts off with the wondrous joys of life in front of her; but as she matures rapidly, her remarkable mind quickly becomes aware of the cage that’s been built around her, as well as the jailers keeping her there.

One day, when confronted with the disappointing news that she won’t be released outdoors, Morgan attacks one of her handlers, prompting a set of company protocols that send risk assessment analyst Lee Weathers (Kate Mara) out to the facility to investigate. When Lee arrives, she finds that Morgan (and some possible co-conspirators) may be playing a game of possum to make everything seem more docile and safe than it is. But Lee is all too savvy at her job, and as she begins to see more and more of the threat that Morgan presents, the synthetic being realizes that drastic measures may have to be taken in order to ensure her own survival.

The debut feature film from Luke Scott, Morgan is a sci-fi psychological thriller that tries to find a smart niche of modern quandary to hang its hat on, but ultimately ends up being a predictable and cliched film, with little impact or impression left afterward.

Pretty much everything about Morgan screams basic. The direction by Scott isn’t at all bad, just rote, routine, and unimaginative. The cinematography by Mark Patten is crisp (though a little muted), but overall there seems to be a lot more faith put in the set design, blocking, framing and camera choices than there should be. These elements of the film are, again, pretty standard and overly repetitious, offering us little visual stimuli at best – at worst, showing us the same sequences and setups of images and scenes over again, demonstrating a lack of directorial variety. Later scenes of “action” are just as basic, often telegraphing events that any person remotely familiar with the beats of horror-thriller films will be able to read.

The script by fellow newcomer Seth W. Owen starts out promising a rich, twisty, thrill ride – but once the actual action kicks in, it’s clear that the film is totally front-loaded, not able to actually delve deeper into the ideas it introduces. Worse yet, Morgan hinges its story on what it thinks to be a big twist – but it’s one that’s just as predictable and soft on impact as just about everything else in the film. Ultimately, Morgan delivers only the most basic, surface level version of its storyline, with none of the richer metaphor or subtext that elevates sci-fi to the greater levels.

The cast is filled with talented actors – who all probably thought they were getting something richer than what ultimately turned up screen. You have excellent actors like Toby Jones (Wayward Pines), Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Hateful Eight), Vinette Robinson (Sherlock) or Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger) all playing scientists weighing some pretty complex ethical concerns; though that internal conflict isn’t really a focal point or their performances. Kate Mara (House of Cards) and Ana Taylor-Joy (The Witch) are supposed to play stoic women in a battle of wits – though both their characters end up feeling kind of flat and dry, with little hint of depth. Without an interesting central conflict between the two main characters, it’s hard for the audience to engage or connect with any of the characters. It’s a lot of watching people you don’t really care about, facing danger that doesn’t really compel you.

In the end, Morgan is a film with overly familiar ideas, and little originality in executing them. It’s an early harbinger of the dry spell that is the early post-summer film season, and should probably be avoided until pops up as an “ok” pick for a Netlfix and chill night.

Grade: C-

Morgan is now in theaters. It is 92 minutes long, and is Rated R for brutal violence, and some language.