First of all, Venom is not a great comic book film. Venom can’t connect to comic book Venom without Spider-Man. So, this film fails as a Marvel Comic Universe film. As much as it fails as a comic film, it makes up for as a science fiction film.
Well, I do have a couple pet peeves, but I will cover later.
Before I do, I need to talk about the main cast. Tom Hardy owns this film in his role of Eddie Brock/Venom. I have nothing but praise for his performance. There were some very funny moments in this film. So often actors like Hardy don’t handle comedy well, but, Tom does comedy very well. I really enjoyed the hilarious banter between Eddie and Venom.
The gifted and beautiful Michelle Williams was wonderful as Annie, Eddie’s on and off again ex fiance/love interest. Her performance sold Eddie’s need to have as well as attain his redemption. Her solution, in the third act, in helping Eddie was brilliant, as well as a lot of fun.
A film is only as good as it’s villain, and Riz Ahmed was perfect as Carlton Drake/Riot; cold, calculating, and creepy as hell.
The CG FX in this, and animation, was some of the best I have seen so far. The final battle at the climax of the film, was a bit more casually chaotic than I think it should have been, but, thanks to quality of the FX, it was easy enough to still follow.
Okay, now for my pet peeves:
1. The chase scene, where Drake has his team using drones to track and stop Eddie. Despite knowing the Venom symbiote had bonded with Eddie, they are using explosive drones to stop him. drones that may likely kill him AND the symbiote. It all made no sense whatsoever. The moment they knew it bonded with him, an order for non lethal capture should have been given.
2. The transition of Venom from alien invader, to sympathetic ally made no sense. There was no moment shown to us that explains his sudden change in attitude. It’s obvious that it came from his attachment to Eddie. But, nowhere was there a moment that showed the beginning of the shift, the awakening of Venom to some kind of empathy.
3. The post credit scene. Not the mid credit scene, with Woody Harrelson as serial killer Cletus Kasady, it was great. But, that post credit animated Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse scene was jarring and had NOTHING to do with Venom, and was annoying as hell to watch.
I am looking forward to the sequel with Carnage, which the Harrelson/Kasady mid credit scene was touting. I just hope Sony/Columbia finds a way to connect it to the MCU, because the fans want it, and, honestly, it’s crazy to at least not tie it in with spider-Man.
Venom is a fantastic flick and gets a solid 9 out of 10 Potatoes.
