Every Marvel film that Sony has made so far has gotten mixed reviews, and it seems that Venom is no different. While Venom has managed to succeed at the box office, critics and fans alike have expressed some frustration over this interpretation of the character, and the movie itself was exceedingly mediocre. However, I would like to touch on a few certain aspects, and I hope that you agree with my assessment of the newest Marvel movie.
Tom Hardy
One detail that everyone seems to agree on is that Tom Hardy’s performance as Eddie Brock was impeccable, but I simply don’t agree. Before Brock is even infected by the Venom symbiote, he acts goofy and aloof, and that is just not the Eddie Brock I know from the comic books. This could very well be a decision made by the studio or the director, but I did not like the direction Hardy had to take with this character.
I feel as thought Tom Hardy wasn’t given enough time to prepare for the role, and that is perfectly exemplified by his accent. He did not sound like someone who is from New York City at all, he sounded like someone who suffered a mild degree of brain damage. In most of his speaking parts, there are certain words that are unintelligible, and I think that is because Hardy was not given enough time to truly master this dialect.
Considering the fact that he was more than likely given a horrible script to work with, I would say that Hardy was ultimately the best choice to portray Venom, but I still expected better from such a gifted actor.
Inconsistent Themes
Venom was not a light-hearted, funny Marvel movie. It was the exact opposite of everything that Disney is going for in the MCU, and featured a main character that bites people’s heads off, yet for some odd reason there were large amounts of jokes peppered in right before the climax. It’s almost as if the movie was cut in half and directed by two different people. While the few jokes we got were hilarious, they just didn’t mesh well with the dark tone of the rest of the film.
Shallow Plot
Put quite simply, the plot of Venom was more shallow than a kiddie pool. There was just no substance to anything that happened, and I was bored out of my mind for most of the movie. Of course I didn’t expect a Sony comic book movie to be the second coming of The Godfather, but I expected some sort of linear progression.
The film’s preface happened so quickly that it was hard to process the entirety of the first act, and placing an immediate time jump in the movie was an extremely sloppy writing technique. I feel like the characters weren’t given enough time to truly have a natural plot progression, and I think there should be a completely different staff of writers for the sequel.
Conclusion
Overall, I was underwhelmed by Venom. I expected more from Tom Hardy’s performance, Riot, the plot and really most of the action scenes as well. However, I am a total comic book fanboy, so this could just be one man’s opinion. The movie was fun at times, but I ultimately went home dissatisfied. In a world where Marvel movies are loved by fans and disrespected by critics, Venom fits too perfectly into that stereotypical mold, and it does not make me proud to call myself a superhero fan.