For most comic book movies, 2018 has proven to be a groundbreaking year for comic book movies with Marvels Black Panther achieving both critical acclaim and box office stature to become the third highest grossing movie ever domestically, Infinity War receiving the same kind of critical and box office acclaim while being a massive improvement over Age Of Ultron, Deadpool ll being a stronger sequel than it's predecessor despite making less money in the end, and Ant Man And The Wasp proving to be the sweet dessert audiences needed after enduring the shocking climax of Infinity War. Fast-forward to October with the fall movie season already getting underway with October having record breaking box office success with Venom and Halloween 2018. There has been much controversy over the release of Venom with many fans desiring for Sony to hand the rights of the character over to Marvel so he can officially join the MCU, and receive a proper origin story along with the short running time and PG-13 rating spelling out disappointment for many fans. What cemented the fears of most Venom fans, was the critical drubbing the film received from critics upon it's release with many criticizing the films story and lack of true impact on the audience in comparison to some of the other comic book movies that came out this year. Having seen the film now, one can say with some reassurance that the film isn't as terrible as the critics made it out to be but it also isn't great either. The film falls in the category of being just okay to borderline decent and it's mainly due to it's exceptionally fantastic star who literally carries the film on his shoulders: Tom Hardy.
Venom is not the trainwreck it's made out to be but rather a fun yet enjoyable ride, that works mainly because Tom Hardy is a truly awesome actor, who brings the character to life and gives him a level of depth that wasn't present with Topher Grace's Venom in Spiderman 3. Unlike that Venom, Hardy's Venom works and essentially makes the rest of the film worth watching even if the story isn't that great for it. The storyline for Venom centers around an investigative reporter named Eddie Brock played by Tom Hardy, gathering evidence against a corrupt scientist played by Riz Ahmed, who produces symbiotic human/alien creatures. When Brock becomes infected with an extraterrestrial being, he ends up becoming the host for the sinister creature called Venom with his dual personality speaking with two voices and demonstrating superhuman abilities including raging anger that manages to intoxicate the reporter with power. Reading the synopsis for the plot of Venom, it sounds true to the origin story of the character, but also has the audience asking on the back of their minds the question of where is Spiderman. The answer is Tom Holland Spiderman is nowhere to be found with this version of the Venom story focusing on the character of Eddie Brock and his transformation into the comic book super villain/anti-hero that audiences know him to be. This film basically rides on the performance of Tom Hardy, whose both convincing in the part as well as coming across as being rather goofy at times, particularly when he does his split personality as Brock and Venom. Those moments are easily the best of the entire movie and are sure to prompt huge moments of laughter from the audience. Hardy takes what's essentially a generic and bland origin story and makes it a rather enjoyable experience when he becomes Venom. Michelle Williams does a solid job playing Brock's fianc'ee and lawyer for the Life Foundation. Her relationship with Brock becomes more complicated when she is fired by her firm after Eddie reads her email for confidential information in order to confront the films main antagonist Carlton Drake regarding the information. What begins as being a rather generic female comic book character that Williams plays, takes an interesting twist as she becomes the female Venom that comic book fans are familiar with later on in the movie sharing one of the films best moments with Brock. Hardy and Williams are the strongest actors in the film and work hard to give complexity to their characters despite being given a rather bland script.
On a technical level, the film plays out like a monster horror movie that has all the trimmings and makings of a superhero film with themes such as creating a super-race, extraterrestrials, world domination, crime, justice, courage, and conservation of resources being covered along with traditional superhero themes such as love, helping others, and commitment being incorporated into the films script. The message that Venom despite being sloppy fun that doesn't attempt to take itself too seriously, says that science that is meant to improve humanity can backfire on mankind. For the films main plot, it's neither groundbreaking or terrible, it just comes across as going through the motions for a comic book origin story mixed with a touch of classic monster formula. As far as the films look goes, the special effects are impressive and give Venom a far more appealing look than what Spiderman 3 presented to audiences. The moments in the film where Hardy transforms and becomes the Venom are the best scenes of the movie, delivering both nice visuals as well as laughter for the audience when both personalities clash with each other. Eddie and Venom's relationship are the moments where the film truly comes alive and makes it worth the price of admission alone. Their relationship is done so convincingly well, that one wishes they had their own symbiote latched onto them so they can dwell in similar conversations with their other half, no matter how absurd they become. As far as the films editing, the movie flies at a brisk pace and never feels like its moving slow, but it also doesn't leave enough time for the story to truly expand as well as the side characters and relationships to develop such as Eddie and Anne. The first half of the movie clearly struggles in terms of establishing the story and getting off the ground but once Brock becomes Venom, the movie truly comes to life and takes off with full steam. The CGI for Venom is not groundbreaking by any means, but it still manages to leave an impression with audiences as it looks and feels more like the Venom that fans grew up with both in the comics and 90's Spiderman cartoon that aired on FOX.
Overall, Venom is not the horrific disaster that critics made it out to be, but it's also not on the same level of awesomeness that other comic book films this year reached such as Marvels Black Panther, Deadpool ll, and Infinity War. It can be argued though that Venom never attempts nor tries to be as epic as those films in regards to storytelling and scope, but rather chooses to tell a more simple yet fun-filled origin story. On that level, Venom succeeds despite having a rather bland and sloppy script that becomes saved through Tom Hardy's performance (That guy can truly act). Venom is not a bad movie but it's also not a great one, it falls somewhere in the middle and serves as being a fun ride but mainly due to the scenes where Brock and Venom share the screen together. Their moments give audiences a glimpse of what the film could've been had the script been stronger, the movie been darker with an R rating, and the running time being two to two and a half hours to allow for more characters and subplots to be further developed. For some fans, they will find themselves longing for these essential things and may end up agreeing with the general consensus from the critics, that the movie is severely lacking in quality compared to other superhero films that came out this year. For other that grew up with Venom, the movie will prove to be a step in the right direction in terms of getting a better version of the anti-hero put on the big screen with the next step being incorporating him into the Marvel Universe (Though I suspect that won't happen until after a sequel with Carnage emerges). Despite it feeling as if the filmmakers held back on showing Venom's craziness with the lack of an R rating and short running time, the movie still provides solid entertainment for the audience along with packs of laughter that's largely thanks to the films main star. It is a true testament to an actors greatness when the main star practically saves what could've been a disastrous origin story in a similar vein to Halle Berry's Catwoman or the 2015 Fantastic Four, and elevates the film to being a fun ride, that manages to just enter the territory of being decent. Here's hoping the script is much better next time and Sony gives the filmmakers more free reign with the sequel since Venom proved to be a huge success. As a standalone origin story, Venom just barely succeeds on its own without it's hero counterpart to stand on the opposite side, it's loud, it's noisy, it's chaotic, but also hilarious and somewhat accomplishes what it set out to do which is to entertain it's audience.
Final Verdict: SEE IT (But only for Tom Hardy's performance, he makes the movie)
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