Venom movie review

Grade:   C+

Rating: PG-13, 112 minutes

In a Nutshell:   This Marvel movie was timed for the 30^th anniversary of when Marvel released the Venom comic book in 1988.  Tom Hardy described Venom as a reluctant hero and an anti-hero.  Well said.  The film-making and story telling are messy, but it’s still fun for the comic book fans.  I confess I’ve never read the Venom comic books, so I had no expectations, other than Marvel has knocked it out of the park this year at the box office.   I was prepared to be wowed, but left the theater underwhelmed.

Tips for parents: 

• Several people lose their heads….literally.  The symbiotes eat people by chomping off their heads.  Some of the images are gross and scary.  That tongue!  I have a feeling we may be seeing a lot of that tongue this Halloween.

Rubie’s Marvel Men’s Universe Deluxe Venom Latex Mask, Black, One Size

• Some profanity and 1 F-bomb.
• Some critics think the PG-13 rating prevents the movie from becoming truly scary and dark, as the Venom character deserves; however, I appreciate the fact that Marvel offers movies that are mostly family-friendly.  It was originally going to be released as a rated R movie, but later changed to PG-13 so that Sony could have cross-overs with the Spider-Man movies, which are more kid-friendly.  Rumor has it that a rated R director’s cut is currently being made.
• Tom Hardy said he wanted to make a movie that his son could watch him in.  His son is a Venom fan, so Tom got tips from him on how he should play the character.
• Pre-marital relations.
• Explosions, destruction, innocent people in peril.
• HUGE body count, but a surprising absence of blood.

Uplifting theme: 

• “There’s no such thing as can’t.” – Eddie Brock/Venom
• Everyone wants to feel special.  Even losers have something to offer.
• Can people tell if you’re one of the good people or the bad people?
• Good vs. evil
• As several characters say in the movie, “Have a nice life!”

Things I liked:

• Tom Hardy is solid as Eddie Brock/Venom.  He gives a really fantastic performance.  Some people assumed that Topher Grace would play Venom, since he had that role in Spider-Man 3 , but I really liked Tom Hardy in it.
• Three actors in the movie are Oscar nominated: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, and Woody Harrelson.
• Marvel has developed a wonderful tradition of adding humor that balances nicely with action.  Some critics thought this movie had too much humor, but I thought it was the perfect amount, even though some of the jokes fell flat in the audience I sat with.
• The movie takes place in San Francisco.  I grew up in the Bay Area and visit The City often.  Love it.  To get travel tips and hacks, check out my new web site www.EmptyNestTravelHacker.com   (shameless plug)
• Fans of the popular TV show This Is Us: Season 1 will be happy to see Ron Cephas Jones play Eddie’s boss.  He has an awesome view of The City out of his office window in the movie.
• The little dog in the hospital is a Papillon named Gemini.  I have a Papillon at home named Blaze.  So adorable.
• There is a battle between two symbiotes with lots of action and destruction.  Right when I wished all of the action would slow down so I could see better what was happening, it did!  Yay!  That’s one of my pet peeves with the Transformers movies; the fight scenes between the Transformers is just a giant, jumbled mess and I can never see what’s going on.
• I love that Marvel always gives us a Stan Lee cameo!
• Stay seated after the movie ends.  There are 2 sneak preview scenes, one not too far into the rolling credits and another one much, much later.  The first one is an awesome scene with Woody Harrelson and the second one is a scene from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse -The Art of the Movie movie that’s coming out soon.

Things I didn’t like:

• It takes a long time to build up.
• Michelle Williams always gives a great performance, but she just didn’t seem right for this role.  I didn’t feel the chemistry between her and Tom Hardy and even her character, a lawyer, didn’t seem like a match for a tatted-up news reporter.  I loved her in The Greatest Showman DVD 2018 and All The Money In The World, two very different movies, yet both were really great.  This is her first superhero movie and she explained in an interview that she wanted to try something new.
• It felt like it needed a stronger connection to the Spider-Man movies.  I would have loved to see anything about The Amazing Spider-Man.  It would have been hilarious if we just saw The Amazing Spider-Man sailing between buildings during any of the city scenes just for fun.
• All of a sudden, Venom speaks English and has a sense of humor?
• The villain (played by Riz Ahmed) isn’t as menacing and evil as he could have been.  He’s too corporate and controlled.  I love villains that are unhinged and full of character.
• SPOILER:  Venom says that Eddie changed his mind.  How exactly?  That jump in the villain’s motivation was a very large and instantaneous one that just came off as nonsensical.  If humanity is worth saving (which, of course, it is), I would have liked Eddie to show Venom more of that.  Show us more humanity.  Show us more reasons why flawed humans are still worth saving.

Funny lines:   

• “I have a parasite.” – Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy)
• “You’re lucky to have me.  I’m quite a catch.  That’s what my mom told me.” – Eddie
• “For a smart guy, you really are a dumba$$.” – Jack (Ron Cephas Jones)

Interesting lines:

• “Who the he!! are you?” – bad guy

“WE are Venom.” – Venom

“Life hurts, Eddie.  It just does.” – Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu)

• “Science never sleeps.” – Dr. Skirth (Jenny Slate.  She has such a memorable voice and was adorable in Zootopia (Theatrical))
• “There are those who try to silence us, but in the end, we’re the ones who change the world.” –  Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed)

Fun Fact:

• Did you see the movie LIFE in 2017?  Some people thought it was a prequel for Venom because it has some of the same footage in the trailer as VENOM.  The studio says they’re not related; however, it’s curious, because the name of the company that does the scientific research is called Life.
• Marvel released 5 movies this year!  Wow!  Not only were they really good, but they were all really GREAT: Black Panther (2018)(Theatrical Version) Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp.

 If you liked the movie, you’ll probably like these:

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@trinaboice