The Title Run review of Venom is finally here (and only a month late)! Overall, Venom was entertaining, interesting, and mostly coherent. It’s not without its flaws and nobody will mistake it for a Christopher Nolan-esque masterpiece, but the film does a good job laying the foundation for the Venom universe and getting audiences interested in seeing where the character goes next.
Overview
The movie actually takes a lot from the comic book origins. The story is retconned to exclude Spider-man, but it borrows a great deal from the “Venom: Lethal Protector” series. Eddie Brock is a hot-shot investigative journalist who moves to San Francisco with his fiance after an unspecified incident costs him his job at the “Daily Globe” newspaper. Through a series of unfortunate choices he ends up down-and-out, broke, & desperate when his path crosses the symbiote and movie really takes off. The films works really hard to set up a viable backstory and give some dimension to the characters, but the backstory drags while the character set-up feels rushed. Weird, I know. The audience is left wishing they cared more about the characters while also eager to see Venom show up and start doing cool Venom things.
What You’re Going to Like:
The symbiotes are introduced as intelligent creatures with specific personalities and abilities. That allows for some interesting interplay as Eddie spends a great deal of the movie literally wrestling with another “person” for control of his body and mind. It takes a little bit of time to adjust to adjust to that dynamic, but it really clicks in the last 40 minutes of movie and makes for one or two laugh-out-loud exchanges between the two.
The soundtrack was surprisingly enjoyable. The deep bass and eerie strings of Ludwig Goransson’s score set a perfect mood for the Venom’s on-screen appearances, and the credits roll in front of a new Eminem single that really seems to capture the anger and aggressiveness of the Venom character.
The finale has some AMAZING visuals as Venom engages in an epic hand-to-hand fight to save the planet from another symbiote threatening to take it over. It’s got great action, creative fight choreography, and some absolutely eye-popping special effects as the symbiotes battle, make weapons, and try to tear each other away from their hosts.
The last post-credits scene featured a 3-minute clip from the animated upcoming film “Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse” that was fantastic. I had zero interest in the movie after the initial trailer dropped last month, but this clip was super-entertaining and more than enough to sell me on giving the film a chance.
What You Might Not Like:
* Carlton Drake, the head of the “Life Foundation” and the main protagonist of the film, is boring. He’s the typical one-note Marvel villain that is really well-acted, completely forgettable, and highly unlikely to return for future movies. They did a good job of making him feel like a real threat, but he just wasn’t very interesting or engaging.
* The tone of the movie is a bit confusing. It lacks the wit and cleverness of an MCU film, the humor and shock value of “Deadpool,” and the dark, brooding, gritty tone of a movie like “Watchmen.” The end result is a mash-up of shifting moods. At times the movie is funny (but you’re not sure if it means to be), violent (but there’s no actual gore), and sad (but you don’t feel enough emotional connection to Eddie to actually care). It takes about 20 minutes of the Brock/Venom connection before you really get a grasp on the kind of personality Venom brings to the table, but once the character’s personality is established the movie is much more enjoyable.
* I hate plot holes. There weren’t any gaping ones in Venom, but there were some minor unanswered questions that bugged me (minor spoilers ahead):
If the symbiotes aren’t compatible with every host, how do they know which hosts to infect? Can they sense which ones they will bond best with? This bothered me when one of the symbiotes was hopping from body to body at will.
Why does Anne let Eddie back in her life when she has moved on and seems happy with another man? Why in the world does her new boyfriend go out of his way to try to help Eddie and even save his life?
It’s stated that the symbiotes kill their hosts by overstressing their organs, so won’t Venom eventually (unintentionally) kill Eddie? Why is Eddie okay with that?
If the symbiotes unintentionally hurt their hosts, how are they also able to heal major injuries like broken bones and being impaled??
Movie Rating
Plot/Story - 7.5/10 - It’s cohesive, there’s just not much to it.
Dialogue - 7.75/10 - Venom’s dialogue becomes much more entertaining towards the end of the film when you have a better understanding of his relationship with Eddie Brock. That said, not much else from the movie stands out.
Characters - 6.5/10 - Outside of Eddie Brock/Venom, the rest of the characters were just kind of there. Carlton Drake was a completely forgettable villain and none of the side characters were particularly interesting.
Music/Score - 7/7.5 - Surprisingly good. See the note above.
Emotion - 4/7.5 -- There was never much reason to care about any characters besides Eddie and it was hard to ever feel like he was in real peril as Venom.
Visuals - 6.5/7.5 - The CGI wasn’t as cringe-worthy as advertised, and the effects for the final battle were OUTSTANDING. The motorcycle chase was also well-done.
Originality - 4.5/5- This movie did a good job of NOT trying to copy the Marvel formula or attempting to be another “Deadpool.” "Venom" attempts to create its own niche and build out its own universe and it genuinely felt like something new and original.
“IT” Factor - 6/10 - Entertained? Yes. Wowwed? Negative.
Final Score: 49.7/67.5 = 73.7% (D+)
The Verdict
Pop the popcorn, turn off your brain, and enjoy the carnage (pun intended). Venom isn’t an instant classic, but it’s entertaining, it sets up a very interesting universe, and it’s got TOM FREAKIN’ HARDY as the lead star. Don’t go in expecting much more than symbiote-induced mayhem with a handful of good one-liners. If you keep the bar there, you won’t leave disappointed.
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