Morgan (2016)

“Morgan” stars Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Paul Giamatti.  Released on September 2, 2016, the film has a group of scientists raising a girl with enhanced human abilities, who has grown more troublesome by the minute.

The film features the directorial debut of Luke Scott, the son of Ridley Scott.  Clearly, people should have learned by now that they shouldn’t mess with something that they couldn’t control, especially genetically-engineered beings.  The idea for this film does have its tendency of being either great, so-so, or an unfortunate misfire when it comes to Ridley Scott and his production company, Scott Free Productions.  Scott serves as one of the producers of this sci-fi thriller while also handing over the director’s chair to his son, Luke.  Like father, like son, as they always say.  While its familiar concept seemed creepy on paper, does it manage to translate well on screen?

Pros:
The performances were pretty good.

Anya Taylor-Joy as the title character.

The cinematography and its tone fits the concept well.

Cons:
The second half offers some generic thriller tropes.

The editing during a couple of action scenes felt choppy.

A bit dull at some parts, but not harmful.

Final thoughts: Director Luke Scott had something going for “Morgan”, a science fiction tale of a girl who isn’t like any other human on the planet.  However, the execution of this disturbing concept is classified as a hit-and-miss.  What’s considered a hit is its creepy, well-filmed first half.  What really missed the mark for me is the direction they took in the second half.  All in all, I thought Luke did an OK job with this one.  Not his best film, but he should feel relieved that it’s not a complete disaster in terms of critical reception.  Box office wise, however, that’s a different story.  Fans of Ridley Scott may or may not like this film.  Everyone else?  I would say it’s worth watching once in theaters and then wait until it hits television screens.

C