Review by John Delia
A new super dude arrives on the scene and this time it’s a hero controlled by an antihero called Venom. Probably the ugliest of the Marvel villains, the Symbiote character “feeds off†humans as it does its dirty work. Purists should be informed that Spider-Man, the graphic novel first host for the evil parasite Venom, does not appear in the movie and therefore deviates from the norm.
Venom takes on Eddie Brock instead, bonding to the man and forcing him to kill. That said, the film still makes an effort to add a character to the growing Marvel Nation that seems to have no end. My thoughts are that Marvel is adding new, because several of the mainstays are fading and losing their luster. I guess many others have been saying that for years.
Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) has a news show that features his digging into the big corporations that are not on the up and up. When he gets wind that the Life Foundation has symbiotic lifeforms that were taken from a meteor, he decides to investigate. But Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), the CEO of Life Foundation, has too many government people under its control and Brock finds it hard going. Not giving up, he copies the Life Foundation’s classified papers from his fiancé, Anne Weying’s (Michelle Williams), law firm computer. Using it as proof that Drake is dealing in illegal tactics, he accuses him of wrong doing. When Drake discredits him one of his scientists, Dr. Dora Skirth (Jenny Slate), gets in touch with Brock with proof of Drake’s evil plans.
When a Symbiote parasite takes over Brock’s body turning him into Venom, the controlling half puts Brock in danger as the city gets a dose of the beast’s power. Director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, 30 Minutes or Less, Gangster Squad) takes on his first Marvel character film and makes it his own. Following the style of the character Deadpool however, the comedy gets a bit over the top and actually dumbs down the thills of the monster’s attacks.
His choice of Tom Hardy for the host of Venom did bother me more than I thought it would as he’s depicted as more of a clown than a defender of the population that’s under attack. Sure he has a duel personality with Venom crawling inside of him, but too much of a Joker can spoil the fun. Maybe I still have Mad Max: Fury Road, Dunkirk, The Revenant, and even The Dark Knight Rises on my mind to accept him. Trying to shake those role personas from my brain just didn’t work for me, and I guess I’ll have to wait for Mad Max: The Wasteland to see him in his real element.
I understand that filmmaker Ruben Fleischer cut out several minutes of the movie to get a PG-13 rating. I really don’t know why as Deadpool did nearly $800 million worldwide and Deadpool 2 did nearly $750 million worldwide, both rated R. What happens with extracting minutes from the film? It leaves one wondering about weird breaks in the action, story shifts and especially the horror factor. If you are going to have a character that’s “badass†then show it or what you get is the Joker doing real comedy. The film will still gross over $500 million worldwide carrying the MARVEL symbol, but it may be better for those who are not true action junkies and even those that are, to wait and see the R version on Blu-ray. Just saying.
That said Venom has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for language. Venom has this thing for biting off heads, slashing necks and stabbing people with his symbiote sword, so young teens be prepared to wince.
Stay through the credits to see a clip from the upcoming animated film Into The Spider-Verse and a stinger.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Not the best outing for a Marvel character. (3 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Â Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Jenny Slate, Ron Cephas Jones, Michelle Lee, Melora Walters, Scott Haze, Reid Scott.
Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-fi
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for language
Running Time: 1 hr. 52 min.
Opening Date: October 5, 2018
Distributed by:Â Sony Pictures Entertainment
Released in: Standard, 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX