Director: Ruben Fleischer
Screenplay: Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg, Kelly Marcel
Running Time: 112 minutes
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, Reid Scott, Jenny Slate
Venom is a curiosity. With Marvel Studios at its peak, and Warner Bros. still finding their feet with their shared DC cinematic universe, you would think Sony would learn from its competitors on how to establish a shared movie franchise. But the studio’s efforts to begin Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters using one of Spider-Man’s iconic foes disappointingly repeats several errors from past comic book movies.
The Life Foundation, at the behest of its CEO Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), is finding ways to help humanity survive in outer space. They’ve been trying to bond extraterrestrial life forms—symbiotes—to the homeless, with unsuccessful results. When investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) begins to pry into these illegal experiments, a symbiote inadvertently transfers to him. The result sees him gain new abilities including super strength and a rapid healing factor, at the cost of a homicidal parasite that’s grappling for control of his body.
To put it simply, Venom is a mess. The tone is indecisive and the pace is sluggish at times, both of which aren’t helped by a lazy script. The infamous “turd in the wind” line from the trailers is no better in context and the symbiote using “pussy” as an insult dates the film instantly. Then there are the plot holes and gaps in logic. It’s established early on that the symbiotes can only successfully bond with certain hosts, yet what the requirements are for it to work are never explained. At one point Drake uses a symbiote as an execution method, which is baffling given he had no idea whether or not the symbiote would even be rejected by the victim in question.
Even the performances are largely forgettable. Michelle Williams is lackluster as Anne Weying, the actress reciting her lines with no real emotion behind them. Ahmed, meanwhile, is a generic “bad guy,” with little insight into his motivations, and a lack of depth beyond a twisted messiah complex. Venom’s multiple problems snowball and culminate in a frustrating third act. The battle between Venom and the antagonist is an uneven CG slugfest, not helped by the two characters’ similar designs and nighttime setting.
The film is strangely watchable though, and that’s thanks to Hardy’s performance. Watching Brock grapple with having another voice inside his head is entertaining, from his facial expressions of disbelief and surprise, to the jerky body movements resulting from his internal struggle. A lot of humour stems from the banter between human host and symbiote, cutting through the pervasive blandness. It’s great to see the movie not take itself—or its source material—too seriously, but it’s the incohesiveness of all the elements that let it down.
How much you’ll enjoy Venom is dependent on your mindset going in. Don’t go in expecting a Marvel Cinematic Universe quality film and you’ll likely be sated. Ultimately, this is another example of Sony struggling to understand and adapt the Marvel properties they have their hands on.
