This was easily in the top two of my most anticipated film releases of 2018. I was never an avid reader of the Marvel Universe’s comic book line; but, I often perused my older brother’s collection; and, I watched the X-Men cartoon series EVERY CHANCE I got. The notion of a generally good person being driven to shed his/her insecurities and instead tap into his/her darker, more selfish side instantly called to me as a result of my own experiences with bullying. (But, that’s a story for another day... and forum.) I also admit to being a HUGE fan of Tom Hardy’s and Michelle Williams’; so, when I found out that they would make up the film’s core protagonist couple I was absolutely beside myself with excitement.
That said, Venom started out on rocky footing for me. Firstly, Williams (in her role as Anne Weying) still looks like the new girl in town from Dawson’s Creek, lacking that bit of edginess that I usually ascribe to litigators. And seeing Hardy play the role of quiet activist by way of concerned news reporter (Eddie Brock) who takes issue with a lot of the city’s socio-political problems but not enough to do anything more than publish some news articles/interviews is a pill that’s hard to swallow. Hardy just does NOT LOOK LIKE an innocent, nerdy news reporter (ala Riz Ahmed’s own character in another great film by the name of "Nightcrawler" that is about news reporting and a great watch in and of itself). The character of Eddie takes issue with corruption in a manner that Tom Hardy looks like he would take to another level; but, for whatever reason, has not done so up until this point. It turns out, my incredulity fed right into the film's development. It takes the mutating parasite known as Venom to give Eddie that slight push towards more physical activism (not all too different from the “madness” that is constantly driving the Joker). We even get a rather entertaining and all too fleeting a glance at how Venom reacts with Anne. Once Brock begins to give into Venom's will, the film shoots STRAIGHT FOR THE MOON.
The venomous voice that emanates from Brock's infected persona lends itself to SEVERAL moments where the audience is literally laughing out loud; and, the eventual initial CGI reveal of Venom himself was so perfect for me because it is downright the COOLEST CGI iteration of a Marvel hero I have ever seen and STILL saves enough to have the audience BEGGING for more. The action/fight scenes are literally scattered with “holy shit” moments and there are two other “venomous” mini-storylines that make it so that Brock and his own inner battle with Venom is not the only such struggle occurring throughout the film. When Brock’s fully developed Venom is finally brought to life and unleashed, it is such a satisfying moment. The film actually pushes 2 and a half hours; but, it moves along well. Moreover, the post-credits scene, of which there is only one, literally left me and I know several others in the theatre absolutely ITCHING for the sequel. The stage has officially been set for Venom’s pairing with Spider-Man, who is certainly one of, if not, the most famous and beloved Marvel character.
All of this makes it a film you should watch AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, preferably in theaters. Venom gets 4 out of 5 reps from me, as it easily makes up for its somewhat slow beginning and sets us all up for what I hope is a number of sequels.
Did this film have enough bite for your liking?
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