It’s hard to describe my thoughts walking out of Venom, initially. I won’t say I wasn’t entertained, but so much of it were for reasons I’m sure weren’t what Sony wanted. Tom Hardy tries his damndest as Eddie Brock to give the iconic Marvel villain/anti-hero (the character’s lack of conventional heroism has been heavily emphasized in the marketing campaign) some emotional grounding, but the screenplay that Jeff Pinker, Kelly Marcel and Scott Rosenberg feels at odds with the ominous direction that Ruben Fleischer is trying to apply.
Half of this film feels like a throwback to the grittier style of comic book films common in the late 90’s and early 2000’s like Blade, Batman Begins or Sin City. Heck, Brock’s character arc feels similar to Jim Carrey’s, “zero to hero” take on Stanley Ipkiss (a much darker character from the original Dark Horse series) in 1994’s The Mask. But the other half feels as if it’s reaching towards a more lighthearted tone akin to MCU’s Ant-Man films.
And there are plenty of great superhero films that have tonal shifts at points- Black Panther and Infinity War earlier this year did manage to work in a few fun comedic moments in what were mainly very serious plots. That’s not the case with Venom, where the experience is truly akin to watching two completely different movies crammed together.
This take on the origin story of Spider-Man’s rival features Brock as a disgraced investigative reporter struggling to find a gig after his inquiry into the plans of inventor Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed). Drake and his company, the Life Foundation, have been experimenting with alien symbiotes that crash landed in Malaysia months ago, in the hopes of fusing them with humans to create superpowered beings.
When Eddie sneaks into the private files of his attorney girlfriend Anne Weying (Michelle Williams) who’s defending Life Foundation, he grills Drake publicly in an intense interview. Eddie’s media company then fires him for bad public relations and an infuriated Annie dumps him, leaving poor Eddie in a mountain of bills and low self-esteem. Much of Venom’s first third is establishing the story as well as hyper-focusing a good amount on Eddie’s misery. It wasn’t fun to watch, as IMO it felt to me like this universe was oddly, and rather cynically, karmically punishing him for doing the right thing.
It’s once Brock eventually fuses with the titular symbiote when this film truly becomes an experience. A guilt-ridden Life Foundation scientist (Jenny Slate, in a disappointingly underwritten role) tips off Brock, preceding him trying to rescue a kidnapped friend from the lab. Anne’s new doctor boyfriend Dan (Reid Scott) can’t quite figure out why Eddie’s developed inhuman strength, superhuman reflexes and regenerating powers, why CAT scans and loud noises (such as passing airplanes) cause him to almost “glitch”, or his voracious appetite for, well, everything.
He’s especially fond of tater tots (be they baked or frozen from the bag), live lobsters that Brock literally dives inside a lobster tank to retrieve in the restaurant Anne and Dan are dining at (in a scene that made me giggle and mutter “What…what the fuck?” under my cupped mouth), and sometimes the odd bit of human flesh.
You see, Venom’s not a discriminating symbiote, just so long as you don’t openly call him a “parasite” which sets him off emotionally. Otherwise, he’s content to lend his black gooey powers to Brock and help him battle Drake’s goons and confused police officers. The two set out on a mission to save the world from the plan of Drake (and his own symbiote, Riot) from fetching more symbiotes in a bid for world conquest.
Meanwhile, Venom bonds with Brock to where he can read the thoughts of his host, and he takes it upon himself to give his new human friend romantic advice to reconnect with Anne. I kid you not, he’s the slimiest but most sincere relationship counselor you’d ever want to be infected by.
The real problem is that while Venom as a character is conceptually cool, he doesn’t have enough genuine warmth as a personality for the audience to get really attached to him. I can tell they’re trying hard to establish a bond between the sinister symbiote and Eddie that the audience can root for. But unlike how Spider-Man adjusts to his new powers, gadgets, and situations, it never comes off like Brock is really “empowered” by Venom so much as he’s along for the ride.
Many superhero movies have a moment where the hero truly first comes into their own. These include Superman and his various iconic flight scenes, Captain America using his powers for the first time in First Avenger, Wonder Woman charging through a battlefield and T’Challa’s coronation in Panther are a few of my favorites. The closest Eddie gets is a pretty fun chase through the streets of San Francisco, but even then Venom still can’t help ridiculing the poor guy once they’ve made it to safety. And I won’t try to imply there aren’t some cool visual sequences, especially when it comes to the climactic battle (which is, sadly, yet another “doppelganger fight”), but some of the other action sequences are a bit visually incohesive.
The supporting cast sadly is basically floating up the creek (not Craig’s), as Michelle Williams doesn’t get to do too much interesting stuff until the later parts of the movie, and others are just left aside or randomly killed off.
So is there a lot wrong with Venom? Oh yes, definitely. If you were hoping for a movie about him that truly transcends the comic movie genre, this ain’t it, chief. But I’ll give it this: eventually, it becomes anything but boring. It’s a battle between one half of a film that wants to be a graphic and uncompromising hard-R epic, and a PG-13 romantic romp that feels as if it needs to catch up to Disney’s Marvel movie division with their more jovial attitude and humor.
The result is a very confused work that has far more unintended laughs than planned jokes that land. Hardy’s over-the-top performance trying to control the symbiote combined with the cheeky but violent mentality of Venom itself is fascinating to watch, even while the rest of the film around them comes off rather routine in many ways. It certainly does want to “unleash the anti-hero” as the commercials push hard for, but its indecision about how heroic the title alien should hold it back a lot.
Still, if you want to chuckle at a superhero film that’s absurd but also doesn’t realize how absurd it really is (and Eminem’s growly, straight-out-of-2001 theme song is a prime example). I’ll recommend streaming or renting it down the road. If you’d had the chance to get possessed by this movie, let us know your opinion at @Official_FAN on Twitter!