MORGAN (2016) Review
Directed by Luke Scott
Sci-fi thrillers are not new to the Scott family, Ridley Scott, one of the big names of the science fiction genre, directed the 1979 film Alien, years after, he took his son, Luke, as his second unit director for his films Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) and The Martian (2015). And now, making his directorial debut in a film produced by his father, Luke Scott has a name to uphold in the filmmaking business. But is Morgan a film for the books? Or did he disappoints the family name?
To answer it short, Morgan is disappointing. There are a lot of layers the film could have gone deeper but its treatment only wanted to examine the surface. It has these amazing actors that are completely capable of what the story requires, Kate Mara proves that she can do some kickass action scenes along with the 20-years old Anya Taylor-Joy. There’s mystery to it, and tension which is what it needed to establish the story of its titular character, Morgan.
Lee Weathers (Kate Mara), a risk-assessment specialist who looks like an uptight CEO arrives at the remote, top-secret location where their company is conducting an experiment, a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. An unfortunate event, a human hybrid whom the employees call Morgan, began to act unusual and hurt one of their employees, so the company has to make a move and assess their property, Morgan, if he or she, or it, is still a viable subject for their experiment. But things have gotten way out of hand which endangered not just Weathers but all of the people involved in the project, along with Morgan.
The film is interesting without a doubt, it may also be a bit common for its genre, an experiment gone wrong, but with its cast, everything looks promising. But it just wasn’t enough. Morgan could have been truer to herself or itself, dealing with self-issues and the people around that developed her for who she was, but its narrative only dealt with how things should be handled, though there’s nothing wrong with that, the audiences are just left with nothing but the action and thrills that has no substance. Kate Mara and Anya Taylor-Joy are definitely compelling to watch, even though their characters doesn’t show that much affection, their presence and portrayal of their characters are perfect, you just hoped that there’s more to the film than just being generic.
2.5 OUT OF 5 STARS
“Morgan” opens September 7, 2016 in Philippine cinemas nationwide from 20th Century Fox. Rated R-13 by the MTRCB.