Movie Review -- Venom

  Is it time again for a superpowered CGI-blob-fest already? You bet. Don't worry, it's not another episode in the MCU library. This time we're looking at Venom, a film about the popular 1990's comic book vengeful villain/murderous anti-hero. As a kid I was a huge fan of Venom thanks to the 90's Spider-Man cartoon – I read the comics later on – and I couldn't wait to see him brought to life on the big screen. My dream partially came true in 2007's Spider-Man 3, but that film's take on Eddie Brock and his sinister alter ego was rushed and ineptly portrayed. Can this movie be the one that does justice to this dastardly fiend?

  Meh. Instead of a gripping story about a down-and-out man coming together with a spurned alien companion to get revenge on the one who's taken everything from them Venom plays more like a silly buddy-action movie. Venom's trademark violence and bloodlust is present – albeit in a bloodless PG form – but it clashes with the tongue-in-cheek silliness scattered throughout. It makes for a frustrating viewing experience, especially if you're familiar with previous non-movie iterations of the title character. In short, it's kind of stupid. The plot concerns Eddie Brock, a journalist fallen on hard times after losing his job and fiancee Anne. He more or less wanders into an evil-corporation-up-to-no-good plot and stuff happens and he gains superpowers. It's a by-the-book story you've seen countless times before, a story that is told from a sometimes rushed pace with important events not given much time to sink in or develop.

  Normally Tom Hardy and Riz Ahmed are great at their jobs but here something's a bit off. Ahmed's character, Carlton Drake, often lacks motivation especially in regards to the third act. And Hardy, as Eddie Brock, tries his hardest but the accent he goes for is a bit distracting. At least he has good chemistry with the Venom symbiote (also played by Hardy). For everyone else the dialogue is kind of awkward and the acting is wooden. Look no further than Jenny Slate portraying scientist Dora Skirth who keeps the same facial expression throughout the whole film.

  Really the only other thing to mention is that Venom has tons of plot holes. For example, the Venom symbiote claims to know everything about Eddie, but then a few moments later it asks Eddie who Anne is. So does the symbiote know everything or not? Moreover, why does the Venom symbiote care about Eddie? Why does it care about Anne? Why does it care about Earth? How was it able to bond with Brock but no one else before him? How was it able to later bond so easily with the dog and [SPOILER]? How did the [SPOILER] symbiote bond with [SPOILER] so easily toward the end? How did the astronauts capture the symbiotes in the first place? Why was Skirth so apprehensive about running to the police but not about going to reporters? Is half the script missing or something?

  So that's Venom, a run-of-the-mill superhero (not supervillain) flick with sloppy CG effects, a confusing tone, and an unfortunate misfire in its attempt to bring its title character to life. What it needed was Spider-Man to give the story some focus and the tone some darkness. I'd be lying if I said this movie wasn't somewhat entertaining, but if you're a fan of classic Venom you're going to find this year's Venom movie disappointing. I would say that we'll have to wait another 11 years for another Venom movie but this is Sony; they'll have probably announced a reboot by the time this review is published.

Grade: