Bottom Line: Squanders its potential by cutting the film from R rating to PG-13, Venom offers enough entertainment for fans of the titular character and provides some guilty laughs at Tom Hardy’s bizarro Nic Cage impersonation.
Critics have been bashing Sony’s Venom, oftentimes comparing it to other classic disaster superhero movies like Catwoman and 2015’s Fantastic Four. The truth (my truth anyways) is Venom is not great but it’s not totally terrible either.
The one major factor that cripples the movie is the studio decided to make it PG-13 instead of rated R to make it compatible if/when they decide to crossover with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Imagine if these exquisitely violent movies like Deadpool, Logan, Jason Statham’s Crank or Dredd were PG-13, which is how Venom falls just short of being good.
The movie takes a while to get going and felt a long time to set-up. The script’s solution to liven things up by intercutting the first 30 minutes with scenes of the Riot symbiote trying to get from Malaysia to the United States… for six months. Lame. The first act, which feels like a throwback to the mediocre superhero movies pre-MCU, is the weakest part filled with characters you don’t really care or connect with as you follow their uninteresting plights.
Once Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) connects with the Venom symbiote, things get more fun and weirder. Hardy spazzing out, sitting inside an aquarium and eating a lobster alive felt like he was channeling his inner Nic Cage (whether it’s a good thing or bad thing depends on the viewer). Eddie’s amusing interaction with the symbiote, which is voiced also by Hardy, is one of the highlights of the film, sort of like a Jekyll & Hyde relationship but the two characters able to converse with each other. If there would be a Hulk solo movie in the future, this type of interface between Bruce Banner and Hulk would be a valuable and entertaining tool.
If you’re a fan of the Venom character and have been agonizing how Spider-Man 3 botched it with Topher Grace and the Venom design, this version nails it. Standing approximately 9 feet tall, Venom gets most of the things right from the character design, to his personality, to his powers. The one glaring thing that is missing from the design though is the spider emblem on its torso. Without it, there’s just an empty space there that makes the “costume” incomplete. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a Spider-Man emblem, just something to occupy the space.
Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock is not a perfect fit. There’s just an unmistakable gruffness and tough guy aura that surrounds the actor that it’s hard to buy into his loser character. Plus his pre-Venom Eddie Brock is boring. Speaking of dullards, perennial Oscar nominated actress Michelle Williams slums it up playing Eddie’s girlfriend and phones it in with a bland performance. Can’t really blame her since the script doesn’t give her much to do… until the finale when she decides to become Jane Foster and tries to save the day. Riz Ahmed as the villain Carlton Drake was nothing extraordinary but I enjoyed the actor’s atypical turn as a bad guy nonetheless.
The action was nice, whether it be Eddie sprouting extra appendages to protect himself or seeing Venom unleashed. The PG-13 rating hobbles the action as it restrains the movie from transcending to the next level, plus the safe editing makes it hard to discern if Venom bit a man’s head off or not. Some of the CGI effects were iffy. The CGI action-packed finale was a bit blurry and tough to follow. The humor works for the most part but again the PG-13 rating shackles the movie from being truly edgy and hilarious.
Venom has several memorable moments like Hardy’s fidgety bonkers performance, Eddie and Venom’s funny interactions and seeing Venom in action. There are also some bizarre but good moments like the kissing scene near the end. Sony’s first foray into their Spider-Man shared universe with Venom is off to a rocky start but it is salvageable and it’s a decent enough foundation to build on.
There are two after-credits scenes. The mid-credits scene introduces a character sporting a hilariously bad wig that makes him look like Sideshow Bob. Everything about this scene, from the set-up to the dialogue, is so cheesy. After the mid-credits scene, be prepared for what felt like the longest ending credits roll in history as you wait for the second stinger.
Rating: 6.5/10 (could be a 7/10 upon 2nd viewing)
Venom suddenly having a change of heart and saving the world felt rushed. They should have given him a few scenes where his reasoning is justified. As of now it felt like he just suddenly out of the blue, "Hey, I like this world, and I will fight my brethren symbiote to the death to protect this Earth.
Lol at Venom enumerating his weaknesses to Eddie's girlfriend. Reminds me of how stupid Superman was in Man of Steel when he revealed to General Zod how to acclimate to Earth's surroundings.
This just popped up and Netflix, so I decided to give it a whirl. It was okay. Pretty basic shit. A bunch of con artist "ghost hunters" are working their scam on a few folks who hire them to banish ghosts from their house, until one day they get a call from house that actually is haunted. It does have a decent twist to the whole set up, as the haunting itself isn't what it seems. You think its gonna eventually turn into a bunch of evil spirits attacking the asshole cons, but it morphs into something just a bit different, and it worked. Nothing mind blowing, but I appreciated the slightly different path it took.
It felt a bit like a student film on a decent budget. It looks slick, the performance are decent, the effects are good, but there's something amateur about it all. All in all though, its alright for what it is, if you're in the mood for some thrills and chills. You could do a lot worse in the horror genre.
Gotta say, this thing was not on my radar at all. The gf picked it out, and we saw it with her brother and his wife. I had no desire to watch this. In fact, the brother and I ordered 4 beers each to get through the movie.
But....I actually enjoyed it and thought it was well done. Lady Gaga can act (we all knew she has a great voice for singing) and Bradley Cooper can sing. And damn, I did not even recognize Dice Clay in this until I saw it mentioned above. Mind blown.
Anyway, good story (I know its a remake of a remake), good songs, good cast.
I had not watched this film all the way through in many years. It is truly one of the all time great comedies, and I don't think we have ever seen better chemistry between comedians in a film before. It holds up.
I had not seen this film in several years. I remember being really into it as a kid. It's definitely not a perfect film. There are some ridiculous elements to it (like the whole statue of liberty thing or the logo holding up two fingers), but I think it gets much more flak that it deserves. It still has more classic chemistry between Murray, Akroyd, Ramis, and Hudson, and there are some laugh out loud moments.
I went in to this movie expecting some carbomb/bullet filled crime drama, but it turned out to be more of a play. Good coming of age movie though. It reminded me heavily of 'The Wanderers'. Who the fuck thought that this would be a good poster for the movie though?
What a poor visual representation of what the movie is about.
It's a French comedy, which means there are no laughs, nor a real ending, and like with all French comedies it's all very existential, meaningless, and yeah there's a dream sequence that you're like ... what? American actors that usually would be worth the price of admission, it's a curious tale of two hard-bitten brothers on a robber baron's mission for some fanciful somesuch. John C Reilly's as affable as he usually is. Jake Gyllenhaal and Joaquin Phoenix are given perhaps a little too much rope. If it had just a little bit better style, there would certainly be a solid 88 minutes somewhere inside this two hour monstrosity.
Pretty well done movie about the capture of Adolf Eichmann, but there have been several such movies and this one doesn't really bring anything new. Ben Kingsley was good as Eichmann, was understated with the lip chewing that other actors can overdo.
The wife - 7,5/10
I was pleasantly surprised by the movie, went with low expectations but the movie was interesting till the end. Great performance by Glenn Close
Might get duped into watching a star is born with some girl I smash this week. Anyone seen it yet? I actually like Bradley cooper so it may be worth the $10 and 2 hours.
There is a whole lot of old fashioned creepy in this film. Many aspects are obviously dated. It held my interest early on but really dragged in certain parts. Although most remakes/reboots are crappy money-grabs, I think we have waited long enough to remake Nosferatu. There are some elements in this film that could be salvaged to make a good modern horror film.
Underrated performance by Ryan Gosling. Much of the time more subdued performances where an actor tries to authentically portray an introvert character go unappreciated, but I recognize what he was doing and I appreciate it.
Might get duped into watching a star is born with some girl I smash this week. Anyone seen it yet? I actually like Bradley cooper so it may be worth the $10 and 2 hours.
That black and white thread actually got me to rematch Sword of Doom again and its just as good as I remember it, don't let the 66 release date fool you its pretty dark and brutal with the non hero probably getting holding the record for onscreen kills at that point(Mifune not far behind in one scene). If you like something such as the recent Zatoichi and 13 Assassins remakes I'd definitely recommend it.
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