Sony begins its new era of Spider-Man related films with their solo movie, Venom (2018, Ruben Fleischer). Featuring the fan-favourite Spidey Villain/Anti-Hero. With Marvel Studios and Sony sharing custody over Spider-Man (Tom Holland), allowing him to star in the MCU, Sony is hoping to make a bunch of movies focusing around characters that are part of the Spider-Man brand, and they are hoping that Venom will be there version of Deadpool (2016, Tim Miller), with an Anti-Hero who plays by his own rules. And with Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception) playing the main character you can expect a good performance.
But with Sony's spotty track record when it comes to their Spider-Man property this movie can go either way. Hopefully, this will be more Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spider-Man) than Mark Webb (500 Days Of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man).
First Thoughts
Overall, I think this film is good. It's got good action, acting and humour. It'll definitely please Venom fans and audiences who are out for a fun time at the cinema. However, I will that this film does have quite a few story-structure and pacing issues that hold it back from being great.
Tom Hardy/Eddie Brock/Venom
Tom Hardy is exceptional in this film! If anything his performance as both Eddie Brock and Venom is enough to attract your attention to this film. I really enjoyed the interactions between both of those characters. From Eddie Brock's street-wise good guy to Venom's sadistic savagery. The two are able to bounce off each other very well. (Although it helps that they're played by the same actor). But I think what really helps Hardy's performance is that he's committed to the role. With a film like this, it's easy for an actor to not take it seriously but Hardy does and elevates his performance a lot. Tom Hardy did a great job as Venom!
Story/Third Act
The story in this film is fun. It's absurd and over-the-top but is very self-aware of this and is quite enjoyable. I also really liked the fact that this was a standalone story. Usually, when it comes to big-budget franchises they try to fit in too much to get audiences excited for the bigger connected universe. But that's absent in this film. It does give references to other parts of the Spider-Man mythos but they don't take attention away from the main story. Which is really good, because it allows the film to set up Venom.
However, I will say that the film does lose a lot of momentum in the third act where it feels like it's rushing just to get to the big finale. Some characters motivations seem to change out of nowhere purely just to benefit the story and other characters become under-developed as a result of the rushed third act. So whilst the big finale is fun and enjoyable to watch, the rush to get to that finale does take you out of the movie. If the writers patched this up early in the script then it could have been avoided.
Action
The action is really the highlight of this whole film! The Filmmakers really captured how Venom would fight. It's really fun to watch him tear through security guards like they were made of paper or to see just Eddie using his new strength and agility to outsmart his opponents when running. The best action scenes in this film are hands-down the car chase through San Francisco, where the Symbiotes powers are used in a really creative way, and the fight between Venom and the S.W.A.T team in the lobby of a building, where Venom's true power is on display in all it's violent beauty! My only criticism of the action is that there doesn't really seem to be an awful lot. Most of it is in the second act of the film and
Tone and Style
In a sort of poetic way, this film's tone is similar to the early work of Sam Raimi, the director of the original Spider-Man films. Mixing horror elements with an absurd and over-top story, which also gives it a strong 90's vibe, that makes sense as that's when Venom became really popular under Todd McFarlane's writing on the Spider-Man comic.
Credit Scenes
There are two credit scenes. One playing in the middle of the credits which sets up a sequel with a famous Venom character that I really want to see! If they can get a stronger script for that sequel than I have no doubt that it'll be great. And then there's one that plays at the end of the credits which is a short clip from Into The Spider-Verse. A film that I am very excited to watch in December!
Conclusion
This is a fun, over-the-top, crazy film that will definitely please fans of the character, and will act as an enjoyable time at the cinema. But it has issues such as pacing and a rushed third act that really hold it back. If they decided to make a sequel, I really that they can fix these problems and make a terrific film!
So that's my review for Venom. What did you think of the film? Do you agree or disagree with anything I said? Please leave a comment down below. And, if you liked what you read then you can follow this blog for more content. Thank you for reading!
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