Venom – Movie Reviews by Ry!
Venom – A Symbiote Out of Time
In today’s market of comic book films, you have to more than just a hero’s tale. The aptitude within taking a risk can lead to a great experience. By not going beyond a common outline, it will lead to lackluster results. A story layered with tropes, clichés and incomprehensive detail, Venom becomes a film of lost potential.
Venom is a single coat of paint upon a typical comic book outline. You have Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) a down on his luck news reporter that encounters a symbiotic alien creature. This general introduction is all you get in the way of any kind of character development. The plot is devoid of any creativity because everything turns into scenarios of generalities or montages of special effects. In between the lazy direction is forced attempts at drama through a love interest and corporate villain. The direction is uninspiring, revealing a lazy script that has predictable interactions with mind numbing dialogue. There is a lot of ‘attempts’ at comedy or emotional discourse, but this makes Eddie Brock look obnoxious and idiotic in his decision making. As an audience member, you realize the devalue of the journey comes in the form of using the ‘anti-hero’ tagline as a mask upon a broad comic book story. By basically hiding the flaws with a shallow insult upon uniqueness, it makes those ‘heroic’ moments feel underwhelming. With a lead like Tom Hardy, you feel he is wasting his talents. He becomes another name to stick in front of an iconic character, reiterating lines with no attempt at genuine growth. Between the one-dimensional characters, unexplained plot holes and constantly changing tone, you realize there is no conscious effort in trying to stand out from the rest of the pack. This film becomes another generic comic book film.
Even when you feel that all hope is lost, you get some interesting sequences (I count 2) of Venom in action. The other detail that is good is the creation of the creature, but it becomes void as he is barely on screen. It all hits the fan when the climax becomes the predictable ‘hero vs. villain’ trope, leading to what you would expect. Putting the secondary cast aside (as they really didn’t add any real value), there is nothing redeemable in watching this film. As today’s market of comic book films flourishes with creative twists, layered characters and thoughtful story-lines, Venom falls in the trap of being created in the wrong era. I recommend skipping this at the theaters, it’s not worth your time.
Final Score – 2 out of 5 (Rental)