Venom

13 Replies

I did not want to expect too much of Venom, not after the debacle that was Spider-Man 3.  Thankfully, Tom Hardy is not Topher Grace, and because of him, Venom is not Spider-Man 3.  But Hardy can only do so much, so Venom is also no Spider-Man: Homecoming.  It falls somewhere in the middle, which is far more than I could have expected given Sony’s dismal Spider-Man output since 2004’s Spider-Man 2 (worth noting: the only credit I give Sony for Homecoming’s goodness is that they wisely let Marvel drive that bus).venom-4-700x350

Hardy plays Eddie Brock, a disgraced reporter who gets infected with an alien parasite (a “symbiote”) while investigating Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) and his evil Life Foundation.  As Brock learns how to use his new powers while linked to the symbiote, he has to work with his ex-fiancée (Michelle Williams) to save the human race from both the symbiote and Drake’s evil plan for world domination.

This film depicts the origin of Venom in a very peculiar way.  That is, Venom’s creation does not involve Peter Parker or Spider-Man in any way, which is completely opposite to the cVenom_0omic book roots of the character as a human and alien united by their hate of Spidey.

Do  I really care?  Only in that I missed the Spider-Man logo on Venom’s comic-book costume.  Otherwise, movie Venom, and especially movie Eddie Brock is far more interesting than his comic book counterpart (at least in his original form as I’m not going to get into discussing the other comic book versions of Venom, such as space-faring Flash Thompson who ended up a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy).  It’s a credit to Hardy and movie Venom’s clear inner conflict that this Venom can stand on his own as San Francisco’s vigilante protector rather than being a one-note Spider-Man wanna-be. He’s an interesting character trapped in a fairly generic comic-book movie.  Venom is a fun adventure because of the interplay between Hardy and the symbiote, and that elevates this film above Sony’s other recent Spider-Man efforts.

The problem Sony faces (again) is that they’ve planned a whole shared universe around a film before it came out (as they did with Amazing Spider-Man 2), and just like with ASM2, Venom isn’t a strong enough movie to support its own cinematic universe.  The silver lining this time is that since Tom Holland’s Spider-Man wasn’t involved in Venom, there’s no need to reboot his Spidey if Sony modifies their reported plans for a five-film series that (spoiler alert for a disappointing mid-credit scene) will include Woody Harrelson as Venom-offshoot Carnage.  All of which might be just as okay as Venom but shouldn’t I be more excited than just “okay” coming out of movie number one?

By the way, (another spoiler) even though the Carnage cameo is disappointing, it’s still worth sticking around to the very end as there’s a teaser for the upcoming animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and it looks fantastic.  Between that and 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man fans are still doing quite well, even if Venom isn’t the franchise-starter Sony was hoping for.

13 thoughts on “Venom”

  1. raistlin0903

    Well, it certainly was better than what the critics made it out to be. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It could definitely have been better, that’s for sure. But as you said the conversations between him and the symbiote were really what made this film fun. Great post as always! 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
  2. mixedmusingsblog

    I’m not sure why the critics were so savage in how they rated (or rather slated!) this film. I did notice the disparities with the original story line which puzzled me initially however putting all that aside, I really did enjoy it! There was enough action and tension to keep me intrigued and also a lot of humour which I didn’t expect! I don’t think Tom Hardy is an especially great actor but the interplay between Eddie and Venom was great as you mentioned 👍🏽

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
  4. The Inner Circle

    This is an absolute pile of dogpoo,the origins of Venom is in the fallout of one of the biggest story lines in Marvel’s history: Secret Wars. You simply can’t accept Venom on any level without that origin. It’s like having Superman being born on Earth instead of Krypton. Sony makes American superhero stories as we as make Godzilla films…..not very well. They really should sell their rights back to Disney.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
  6. J.

    I’m more curious than interested in this one. If that makes sense. I was tempted to go see it, but Sony’s track record, and the trailers, didn’t exactly sell it. The best I was hoping for was for it to be a fun ride… I’ll see it, but reckon it’ll be one for watching at home.

    Like

    Reply ↓
  7. Widdershins

    What I find amusing is that the majority of people who will see this film will go because of reasons other than those that got the ‘die-hards’ all twisty about the ‘no Spidey’ thing.

    Like

    Reply ↓
  10. licoricerub

    This film received essentially the same reviews on rotten tomatoes as Suicide Squad. I find that absurd. I thought Suicide Squad was a horrible film, and Venom is rather entertaining.

    Like

    Reply ↓
  11. msjadeli

    This movie is pure garbage. Like fragglerocking said, I went because I needed my Tom Hardy fix. Imagine expecting to see him as a badass superhero, I find him having CHANGED HIS VOICE TO THAT OF MIKE TYSON and looking like a total dip throughout the film. I swear he was trying to sound as moronic as he could with his voice, and that may have been the demand of the producers. Don’t waste your time with this movie, and Tom please don’t EVER use that voice again in one of your movies!!!!!!!!!! You are way better than that.

    Like

    Reply ↓

  13. Pingback: ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Leave a comment