Film: Venom
Director: Ruben Fliescher
Starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze
Runtime: 2 hour 20 minutes
Rating: 4/5
A film focusing on one of Spiderman’s greatest foes without Spiderman, what could
go wrong? Well, surprisingly very little. “Venom” might be the most fun comic-book movie
to grace the silver screen
in years. The movie does not try to be a grand narrative or push the boundaries of cinematic presentation, but it prides itself in wanting to simply entertain.
“Venom” is a roller coaster of cheesy, horror, comic-book fun that utilizes black comedy, a form of comedy that portrays tragic events lightly, and
will bring joy to longtime fans of the character of Eddie Brock/Venom.
Tom Hardy stars as journalist Eddie Brock who loses his job after refusing to name a source that exposed the
unethical treatment and killing of
human test subjects from the Life Foundation. Brock is now fired, his fiance leaves him and has
resorted to wandering the streets of San Francisco as a drunk.
A worker from the Life Foundation finds Brock and hopes she can convince him to expose
the foundation. When exploring the facility, he comes into contact with an alien organism called a symbiote.
The symbiote bonds with Brock and the two become one: Venom. The two learn how to cooperate with one another and fight off the Life Foundation. They also realize they can make a positive change in
the world with their incredible abilities. This realization comes with a back-and-forth discussion on what is and is not
ethical, like a modern day Jekyll and Hyde.
The back-and-forth between the two is easily the greatest aspect of the film. The symbiote is constantly wanting to eat people, which Brock takes great exception with and keeps trying to explain why the two can’t do that. With
the constant playful relationship, the two refer to themselves in plural pronouns calling Venom “we” instead of “I” or “me.” It speaks volumes to how they view each other, especially when the symbiote takes great comedic offense to being called
a parasite, while mocking Brock for being scared of several
dangerous situations and not being overly ambitious.
The shortcomings are anchored in the story surrounding Venom. The story is basic: Evil research corporation wants to better humanity through
unethical means. The antagonist played by Riz Ahmed is the stereotypical mad scientist who sees the ends justifying the means in his experiments and
has little uniqueness to his
character in the movie.
The presentation is harmed by the inconsistent pacing,
given the obvious edits and cuts made to make this film rated PG-13 instead of rated R. There are cuts in which one can tell an entire scene was cut out, and much of the violence is implied rather than shown with its grit and gore. It also feels like a large portion of the movie is missing, but the good news is that you will be wishing you had more of the movie instead of less.
Despite the shortcomings, this film is still a great popcorn flick. It is not trying to be cinematic gold. Venom is just trying to be fun, like an unapologetic ‘80s action film. The stage might be rotted and unappealing, but the magic show on that stage is such a fun time that you will not care. This is a must-see for fans of Venom, horror or black comedy. Venom is the perfect mix of fun and cheese that 2018 can offer.
