Morgan

"What is Morgan?" the film's marketing campaign has been asking for weeks. Turns out, Morgan is just another sci-fi film that's only engineered to disappoint.

Morgan is an unassuming little thriller, nicely put together and engaging enough while you're watching, though its memory is likely to vaporize hours, or even minutes, after you've seen it.

Thanks to Morgan, we know what bedtime stories Ridley Scott told his kids.

It's an attempt to wed philosophical science fiction concepts with bloody horror - a dubious endeavor that somehow works.

The predictable twist hampers the story's suspense, and the film doesn't dip beyond the superficial.

Even I, a self-prescribed horror movie skeptic, found myself wrapped up in Morgan - I was invested in the characters, I (mostly) bought into the plot and even found myself embracing some of the gore by the end.

A B-movie with pretension to high-minded inquiry, addressing artificial life and the sanctity of human existence, but when the story actually engages with the themes the only outcome is a reductive body count and artful blood splatter on concrete.

Although flawed and scrappy, there are enough positives to recommend Morgan.

The makers of Morgan are far more interested in gun fights and grisly slayings than in the implications of for-profit genetic monkey business.

In essence, Morgan is a heinously overproduced student film, complete with a scad of actors who are too good for it.

Thankfully, Morgan doesn't outstay its welcome: it's a brisk, ninety-minute B-movie with an A-list cast.

...it lacks substance, but it's big, loud and thrilling...