Let’s get this out of the way right now, Venom should have been an R rated film. Sony played it safe and made it PG-13 because they wanted as many people seeing this film as possible. But for someone like the anti-hero Venom, he should be allowed to swear a lot more and actually show some heads getting bitten off.
Venom, directed by Ruben Fleischer, the same director that directed the amazing movie Zombieland, takes a different approach on the popular anti-hero. This movie changes the original origin story from the comics by taking out the relationship to Spider-Man and makes the alien symbiote more of a body snatcher looking for the perfectly matched human host in order to survive.
The story is not what makes this a so-so film, its the fact that the film doesn’t know if it wants to be an action comedy film or a film about an antihero that takes itself too seriously. The film lacks any real pacing that we are accustomed to from other comic book hero movies. Once the movie finally gets going and finds its groove, the credits are already rolling.
The plot is about reporter Eddie Brock, played by Tom Hardy, investigating the science corporation called The Life Foundation for a story. The Life Foundation is seen killing test subjects in the name of science. When Eddie Brock decides to do some self-investigating he ends up getting exposed to an oozing alien symbiote creature that, naturally, turns out to be a perfect match. This merging gives Eddie enhanced strength and resilience superpowers but in return also turns him into someone crazy such as a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type character as he talks back in forth with the symbiote inside his body. As crazy as that sounds Hardy at least manages to deliver the movie’s moments of humor as Eddie grapples with his talkative bodysnatcher companion.
The villain Carlton Drake, played by Riz Ahmed, is the Life Foundation’s founder and boss of the whole organization that is running the test operations with the symbiotes. This villain proves to be just as forgettable as you have come to expect from a comic book movie.
The love interest Anne, played by Michelle Williams, doesn’t tell a good story and makes the audience not interested in their relationship. If she got replaced in a future movie, no one would really care. The film does not pick up until Venom actually makes an appearance, before then it is a pretty boring film. The ending Symbiote battle is less than amazing with murky lighting bad camera angles and messy CGI. It’s hard to tell who is fighting who and what is happening at times during the climactic battle.
You can tell Tom Hardy enjoys the character, but with the limitations of a PG-13 film they can only do so much. Venom is not a bad movie at all but it’s also not the best comic book movie either. It would have been nice to see this film included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the hopes to see Tom Holland’s spider man going toe to toe with Tom Hardy’s Venom, but with the way Sony Marvel movies are, I doubt we will see that anytime soon.
I believe people had high hopes for this movie and were expecting a real anti-hero, that’s how this movie was promoted. Instead, moviegoers and comic book fans alike got a bland so-so superhero movie based off a popular Spider-Man villain. Without spoiling anything, yes there is a post-credits scene and an after credits scene. So stay for that, Sony obviously has plans for this character with more films to come.
FINAL SCORE: C
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