Venom - Review
Directed By: Ruben Fleischer
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Jenny Slate, Scott Haze
Expectations/Background: A Spider-Man world without Spider-Man? From the start, it looked like Sony was making a mistake. The character of Venom was intrinsically tied with the web-slinger, but a ew years ago, Sony announced they would be building an entire cinematic universe on characters from the Spider-Man mythology without Tom Holland or Peter Parker anywhere in sight. The Venom film was the first to be green-lit and went into production shortly afterwards, but again, nothing much was heard about it. Through it all, people speculated on the potential box office shortcomings, critical failure, and mass disappointment that this film would be. What would this film mean for Spider-Man in the MCU? The sharing arrangement between Sony and Marvel only lasts until Spider-Man: Far From Home, which will debut in July of 2019. If Venom succeeds, will Sony look to take Spider-Man back into their Sony-verse, or will they allow him to exist in the MCU and continue with their films? Things didn't look so good as films like Silver and Black were cancelled and pushed around this way and that. As trailers came out for this film, fans still wondered what a film based on a Spider-Man character would look like without Spider-Man. And as October creeped up on us, the answer became increasingly evident.
The Movie: Despite everything that was said about this movie, this movie works. It has many, many problems that hinder this from being a truly great film, but on a fundamental level, this movie works, and I think it even knocks on the door of a well-done, good movie.
The movie hinges arounds the misfortunes of reporter Eddie Brock, played by Tom Hardy, who encounters a symbiote named Venom. The two bond and become one and have to stop an evil force from accomplishing his goals. Rather standard for a superhero film these days. A lot of reviewers have pointed out that this film feels like it belongs in 2004, and I can't disagree. This is an origin story, through and through, and the film pulls no punches with using some of the classic superhero origin story tropes. Eddie Brock has it all. He loses it all. He becomes a superhero. Sounds a lot like films such as Iron Man, Doctor Strange, or Batman Begins. It's tried and true, and it works here as it did in the other films, but it doesn't bring anything quite original to the table.
Michelle Williams is the only real side character of importance of this film. The movie really only centers around three people, Eddie Brock, Anne Weiying (Michelle Williams), and Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), which is fine. It doesn't need any more extravagant side characters or subplots spinning around, which would have only served to convolute the movie. Michelle Williams comes in, plays her part with a level of competency, and exits the movie. She acted more as a plot device and motivation for Eddie rather than a full, 3-Dimensional character on her own.
More on Riz Ahmed's villain later, but I will say this about him. Riz Ahmed was given some horrendous dialogue, especially for 2018 standards. BUT, he made the most out of every scene that he was in; he gave it his 100 percent, making some of those awful lines sound somewhat tolerable.
But speaking of awful lines, this movie is full of them. The dialogue in this movie was rushed and as a result, seems either forced, corny, or just plain bad. There are moments in the movie where you look at the character and go, "Would anyone every actually say that in real life?" But they did. The dialogue did no service to helping this movie feel like a modern superhero film because it set the movie back a decade or so.
The first act in particular was extremely rough. The first thirty minutes or so delves into some necessary exposition that, yes, we do need as an audience to understand character backgrounds and motivations, but there has to have been some better way to display this kind of info-dump. I found myself losing interest very quickly in these characters and wondered why I did. But the reason that the first thirty minutes or so of the film don't work is because Venom is not in there.
Venom saves the movie. Which is a very odd thing to say considering that he is in only in about twenty minutes or so but his presence is felt throughout the entire runtime once he and Eddie bond. The dynamic between Eddie Brock and Venom is truly the highlight of this movie and is exceptionally well done. If the studio had to get only one thing right, it would have been the dynamic between Eddie Brock and his counterpart, and they nailed it. Right from the very second that Venom speaks a word. Their dynamic is entertaining, it is even heartfelt at certain points, and it proves that you just need good characterization and a good actor to make a dual character like that work.
And thus we arrive at the crux of this review: Eddie Brock and Tom Hardy. Not Venom, but Tom Hardy, because although there are a few scenes that they share together, there are also plenty of scenes that Tom Hardy has on his own. I will say this. Like Riz Ahmed, Tom Hardy is an exceptional actor. He gives his all in every part that he plays and does his very best. And this film is no exception. Regardless of how poor the dialogue may have been or how the story went, Tom Hardy delivers an A-level effort performance. And for the most part, it works. That being said, it only really starts to work when Venom appears on screen. Because for the first thirty minutes of the movie, Tom Hardy is overacting like nobody's business. He is spouting lines in a manner that seems almost directly out of a cartoon and doesn't have a care in the world. But the SECOND you introduce Venom into his life and into the movie, it injects this new life into those crazy lines that he was spouting earlier and all of a sudden, it starts to work. Because you don't need to act that crazy before you're bonded with an alien symbiote. But once he is, he goes off the walls with some scenes, and they really are entertaining. There are a few bits of humor in this movie, and I think all of it stems from interactions between Eddie and Venom. Their relationship is what carries this movie past mediocrity.
A few more noteworthy points to be made; the action in this film is extremely lackluster and boring. There is a car chase towards the beginning of the second act that had some life in it, but somehow, it just lacked that flair that it needed. The rest of the action, especially with Venom, is just fine. There's nothing else except that it's fine. It's shot in such a way that you can hardly tell what's going on half the time, but you have enough of an idea so your mind passes it off as acceptable.
There are also a few weird cinematographic choices made by the production. When Eddie and Anne are taking at a restaurant, the camera cuts at least 5 times on Eddie, who's saying one line. It's a very odd decision to make. Additionally, a lot of the movie is very monochromatic. Each setting has their distinct color but nothing else. The film doesn't really go into other settings very much and, just like its characters, sticks with a few settings.
So again, I need to emphasize; this film is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. I would put it higher than the recently released Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald. Story is THE most important part of a movie, and far as story goes, this film does fine. It's not the most novel story, but for what it's worth, it works. This movie is almost good; and for me, that's a huge win when talking about a Venom film.
The Villain(s): I will say this about Riz Ahmed. I thought his villain was better than most in today's day and age of comic book movies. He would be right up there with a Phase 1, 2, or maybe even 3 MCU villain. He has awful dialogue, but that doesn't stop him from giving a solid performance. He may not have the most commanding figure or voice, but he chews up scenery, and I really appreciate that from a villain. But again, his villain's development was very flat, very bland, and had no dimensions to it at all. He wants to accomplish an evil goal, Eddie Brock is in the way of his evil goal, so he has to get rid of Eddie Brock. That's about as simple as you're going to get.
The Music/Score: The music in the film is the epitome of standard. There's absolutely nothing noteworthy to talk about. It was there, it served its purpose, and it was gone. It rose when the action id, it tried to be emotional, and just served as background noise in most cases.
**DISCLAIMER**: This is a subjective, opinionated article that does not have, nor should have any affect on your opinion on the given material. As such, my opinion is entitled to change over time and whatever is written here at this given point in time may not and should not be held to me in the future. You are not meant to agree with me 100 percent of the time, because the nature of subjectivity is we see everything differently. Please keep this in mind.
The movie hinges arounds the misfortunes of reporter Eddie Brock, played by Tom Hardy, who encounters a symbiote named Venom. The two bond and become one and have to stop an evil force from accomplishing his goals. Rather standard for a superhero film these days. A lot of reviewers have pointed out that this film feels like it belongs in 2004, and I can't disagree. This is an origin story, through and through, and the film pulls no punches with using some of the classic superhero origin story tropes. Eddie Brock has it all. He loses it all. He becomes a superhero. Sounds a lot like films such as Iron Man, Doctor Strange, or Batman Begins. It's tried and true, and it works here as it did in the other films, but it doesn't bring anything quite original to the table.
Michelle Williams is the only real side character of importance of this film. The movie really only centers around three people, Eddie Brock, Anne Weiying (Michelle Williams), and Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), which is fine. It doesn't need any more extravagant side characters or subplots spinning around, which would have only served to convolute the movie. Michelle Williams comes in, plays her part with a level of competency, and exits the movie. She acted more as a plot device and motivation for Eddie rather than a full, 3-Dimensional character on her own.
More on Riz Ahmed's villain later, but I will say this about him. Riz Ahmed was given some horrendous dialogue, especially for 2018 standards. BUT, he made the most out of every scene that he was in; he gave it his 100 percent, making some of those awful lines sound somewhat tolerable.
But speaking of awful lines, this movie is full of them. The dialogue in this movie was rushed and as a result, seems either forced, corny, or just plain bad. There are moments in the movie where you look at the character and go, "Would anyone every actually say that in real life?" But they did. The dialogue did no service to helping this movie feel like a modern superhero film because it set the movie back a decade or so.
The first act in particular was extremely rough. The first thirty minutes or so delves into some necessary exposition that, yes, we do need as an audience to understand character backgrounds and motivations, but there has to have been some better way to display this kind of info-dump. I found myself losing interest very quickly in these characters and wondered why I did. But the reason that the first thirty minutes or so of the film don't work is because Venom is not in there.
Venom saves the movie. Which is a very odd thing to say considering that he is in only in about twenty minutes or so but his presence is felt throughout the entire runtime once he and Eddie bond. The dynamic between Eddie Brock and Venom is truly the highlight of this movie and is exceptionally well done. If the studio had to get only one thing right, it would have been the dynamic between Eddie Brock and his counterpart, and they nailed it. Right from the very second that Venom speaks a word. Their dynamic is entertaining, it is even heartfelt at certain points, and it proves that you just need good characterization and a good actor to make a dual character like that work.
And thus we arrive at the crux of this review: Eddie Brock and Tom Hardy. Not Venom, but Tom Hardy, because although there are a few scenes that they share together, there are also plenty of scenes that Tom Hardy has on his own. I will say this. Like Riz Ahmed, Tom Hardy is an exceptional actor. He gives his all in every part that he plays and does his very best. And this film is no exception. Regardless of how poor the dialogue may have been or how the story went, Tom Hardy delivers an A-level effort performance. And for the most part, it works. That being said, it only really starts to work when Venom appears on screen. Because for the first thirty minutes of the movie, Tom Hardy is overacting like nobody's business. He is spouting lines in a manner that seems almost directly out of a cartoon and doesn't have a care in the world. But the SECOND you introduce Venom into his life and into the movie, it injects this new life into those crazy lines that he was spouting earlier and all of a sudden, it starts to work. Because you don't need to act that crazy before you're bonded with an alien symbiote. But once he is, he goes off the walls with some scenes, and they really are entertaining. There are a few bits of humor in this movie, and I think all of it stems from interactions between Eddie and Venom. Their relationship is what carries this movie past mediocrity.
A few more noteworthy points to be made; the action in this film is extremely lackluster and boring. There is a car chase towards the beginning of the second act that had some life in it, but somehow, it just lacked that flair that it needed. The rest of the action, especially with Venom, is just fine. There's nothing else except that it's fine. It's shot in such a way that you can hardly tell what's going on half the time, but you have enough of an idea so your mind passes it off as acceptable.
There are also a few weird cinematographic choices made by the production. When Eddie and Anne are taking at a restaurant, the camera cuts at least 5 times on Eddie, who's saying one line. It's a very odd decision to make. Additionally, a lot of the movie is very monochromatic. Each setting has their distinct color but nothing else. The film doesn't really go into other settings very much and, just like its characters, sticks with a few settings.
So again, I need to emphasize; this film is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. I would put it higher than the recently released Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald. Story is THE most important part of a movie, and far as story goes, this film does fine. It's not the most novel story, but for what it's worth, it works. This movie is almost good; and for me, that's a huge win when talking about a Venom film.
The Villain(s): I will say this about Riz Ahmed. I thought his villain was better than most in today's day and age of comic book movies. He would be right up there with a Phase 1, 2, or maybe even 3 MCU villain. He has awful dialogue, but that doesn't stop him from giving a solid performance. He may not have the most commanding figure or voice, but he chews up scenery, and I really appreciate that from a villain. But again, his villain's development was very flat, very bland, and had no dimensions to it at all. He wants to accomplish an evil goal, Eddie Brock is in the way of his evil goal, so he has to get rid of Eddie Brock. That's about as simple as you're going to get.
The Music/Score: The music in the film is the epitome of standard. There's absolutely nothing noteworthy to talk about. It was there, it served its purpose, and it was gone. It rose when the action id, it tried to be emotional, and just served as background noise in most cases.
In Conclusion: Is Venom worth seeing in the theaters? I think if you're ingrained in the comic-book "ecosystem" and want to take a look at a film that does introduce an interesting, and possibly very relevant new character to the comic book world, then by all means. But if you're looking for an inspiring story, three-dimensional characters, and intrigue or nuance, this is not the film. The first thirty minutes are extremely dull, but once Eddie and Venom bond, the film picks up immediately and it's almost smooth sailing from there. It's not great, but it's good enough.
**DISCLAIMER**: This is a subjective, opinionated article that does not have, nor should have any affect on your opinion on the given material. As such, my opinion is entitled to change over time and whatever is written here at this given point in time may not and should not be held to me in the future. You are not meant to agree with me 100 percent of the time, because the nature of subjectivity is we see everything differently. Please keep this in mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment