Standout
Give the man credit, Hardy is holding this movie together with all his freakish symbiotic strength.
Comic Book Movie
I'll never not be excited for a marvel movie (even though this isn't Marvel Studios at all)
Rotten Tomatoes 30% Cinemascore: B+
Warning! Incoming Rant!
For everybody saying Venom fails as a movie because of its disconnection to the famous wallcrawler, Stop. That's not why Venom is bad, Venom is not tied to its comic book origins nor does it suffer from deviating from them. Films do not fail because they "mis-adapted" their source material, they fail because the film itself didn't captivate its audience and or executive its premise to the individuals expectations. That's enough of that, lets get on with the review.
Rant Over...Actual Review in 3...2..1..
I'd be a liar if I said I hated Venom. That's not true. Once Eddie gets roped up with his symbiote counterpart I smiled from ear to ear for a solid thirty minutes. There is a gem of a great idea in here; Eddie and "Venom" on their own may not be very interesting characters but the chemistry between the two in their infancy is incredibly entertaining. It's too bad that Venom fails in nearly every other aspect. Cliche plot? Check. How about the Villian? Complete with evil monologues and questionable motivations. Production and Editing? Barely passable at best. Venom does not work, and that's actually disappointing because the dynamic between Hardy and, well himself, is actually solid and could have thrived in a better script.
For the uninitiated, Venom is an alien symbiote that through a series of events (depending on the iteration of the story) finds its perfect match in Eddie Brock (Hardy). In this film, the Life Foundation brings the symbiote to earth and Eddie is an ex-reporter who recently had a falling out in his relationship. Once Eddie makes contact with the symbiote after sneaking into the Life Foundations super secret laboratory, the alien latches onto him and introduces himself (itself?) as Venom (also Hardy). The two, now one, embark on a dual quest throughout the city fighting armed hostiles and exposing secrets in accordance with their own motivations...and eat the occasional bad guy or two.
Sounds exciting right? Funny thing, everything there is boring stuff. The Life Foundation experiments, the rampaging throughout the city, even the vore is sub par to weak as genre films go. The first act crawls through cliche after cliche making it a slog to sit through. The real entertainment comes from the interplay between Brock and his alien counterpart. Seeing the two fighting to coexist, especially when Hardy is ignorant of the symbiote's influence, makes for some laugh out loud moments. In addition, Venom's commentary over Brock's scuffle from the trailers gives stale and familiar moments a bit more of a bite (pun intended).
The fun doesn't last long however. Eventually the film is thrown drastically into its third act without allowing the chemistry between its two leads, Brock and Venom, to breath. The third act of Venom had me scratching my head out of frustration as rule after rule established in the narrative previously are tossed out the window. I really can't exaggerate how ludicrous it becomes. The film is still entertaining, but it switches gears from "good Marvel movie" to something more a kin to The Last Knight or Fantastic Four(2015).
Venom is a movie who’s best moments are sandwiched between two shallow acts. Its first act is bland, unoriginal and a drag that turns forty minutes into a marathon. Its third act becomes nonsensical, and breaks many of the previously established rules in its narrative. Its second act however, harbors the fruits of its promising premise. Eddie and Venom's chemistry is captivating in its early stages, and sets the foundation for some great interplay within and between some standard set pieces. If not for everything else letting Hardy down, Venom might have not just been passable but a standout among comic book films this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment