VENOM Movie Review
When Eddie Brock acquires the powers of an alien symbiote, he will have to release his alter-ego VENOM to save his life.
Director Ruben Fleischer spends a little too long to get to our main character Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) through his early misfortunes and set the plot in motion. Once Eddie and Venom become one, the action picks up considerably. Hardy’s performance as Eddie is enjoyable, his comedic skills are rarely seen and here he gets to have some fun when possessed by the alien symbiote. Michelle Williams as the love interest is fine and has enough screen time, but lacks chemistry with Hardy. Riz Ahmed as villainous scientist and entrepreneur Carlton Drake is very cliche, he serves his purpose but nothing more.
The real star of course is VENOM. In my opinion, this is possibly the best live action realisation one could hope for. The visual effects show our Lethal Protector maneuvering in erratic and chaotic ways. Eddie and the symbiote taking on the SWAT team was particularly impressive and a standout action scene. VENOM’s deep and menacing voice is a joy to listen to, the back and forth between him and Eddie is hilarious.
There are moments of horror and violence that could have been pushed further, but Sony Pictures wanted to keep this a mainstream comic book movie and obviously appeal to a wide audience.
Ruben Fleischer and Tom Hardy took on what many bloggers had decided long ago, that a Venom movie without Spider-Man was not possible or wanted. They took it upon themselves to speak for every fan and (in some cases) convince movie-goers not to see this film. They failed. With an opening weekend US box office take of around $80 million (more than Marvel Studios’ phase one movies Thor and Captain America or the recent Ant-Man & The Wasp), a sequel is all but guaranteed.
Despite the predictable over reaction from most critics, I agree the movie lacks the weight of the best comic book movies. Still, VENOM somehow finds it’s feet with an enthusiastic performance from Hardy, a creepy anti-hero alien brought to life and solid action.
