“Venom” is the story of Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), a reporter who, after investigating reports of human experimentation by evil corporate megalomaniac Carlton Drake, is infected by the parasitic symbiote “Venom”. The film examines what it would be like to make a movie blindfolded, while at the same time examining how to make four different movies and attempt to put them together as one. As you should have inferred from what I just said, this was not a good movie. I had fun with it at certain times, there were aspects that I enjoyed, but all in all it was almost a humorously bad movie.
“Venom” has its strengths. Tom Hardy does a good enough job in this movie. Given the script that he is reading off of and the direction that is being given to him, he performs admirably. In addition to playing Eddie Brock, Hardy also voiced the character “Venom”. While “Venom” was a little more cartoonish than I anticipated, the character provided some much needed comic relief to this wreck of a movie. Conversely, the main antagonist was forgettable and boring. He felt like the type of kid who would be easy to pick on in elementary school. There was nothing memorable about him.
Though Tom Hardy was the silver lining in this movie, his performance alone could not have saved this movie due to its many, many issues. The main problem is that the movie doesn’t know what it wants to be. It starts off as a pseudo-horror movie, yet as it progresses, it felt as though it were attempting to be “Deadpool”. This constant change of tone made me feel like I was watching a different movie every thirty minutes. “Venom” needed to be dark and almost gritty, while also dealing with complex moral issues from the point of view of an anti-hero. Instead, we were delivered a wannabe “Deadpool”.
The beginning of the movie felt like a boring horror movie, while its end almost felt like it was a tongue-in-cheek comedy.
When there is action in “Venom,” it lacks the grit that I, and likely many more, were hoping for. You don’t see “Venom” eating people or any of the gore that would definitely result from his feast. Instead you just hear some sounds that let you know that a person has been eaten, and you’re left feeling unfulfilled. In a movie where Tom Hardy has his body taken over by a violent alien parasite, I would be willing to stretch my imagination when it comes to what happens on screen, but there is nothing unique about what occurred. Venom needed to stand out from other superhero movies, yet it failed due to its lame action and lack of grit due to its PG-13 rating.
Though I’m sure it’s disappointing to many, “Venom” is a movie that you can miss. It’s nothing new for the superhero genre, and it lacks the edginess and excitement of “Deadpool”. I wasn’t insulted by it, and in fact there were parts that enjoyed, but I don’t ever feel the need to see it again, nor will I be in a rush to see any of its possible sequels. “Venom” will likely mark both the beginning and the end of Sony’s Marvel Universe as well. “Venom” should serve as a warning to all potential filmmakers that it is important to be consistent in the tone of your film.