geek'd
To better round out the review, we have 2 takes on this. One from a young, 20-something geek and the other a middle-aged geek. Can Venom unite these 2 opinions, or are too many years separating these would-be movie reviewers?
Garret’s Perspective/Young geek: Who needs Spider-Man when you have Venom? After seeing the 2018 Venom movie I was happily surprised with the way I felt about this action packed movie. The Venom movie is of course an origin movie about Eddie Brock finding the Symbiote named Venom. After character introductions of the human cast, Brock meets Venom, and when the two characters join together and begin interacting it is hilarious!
Action scenes were good overall with a couple problems here and there. The only issue I had during the action scenes was when Venom and another symbiote fought. It looked like a bunch of play-doh was smacking against the screen. In some ways it felt more like a pilot for a Netflix show more than anything else. Special effects needed some work and felt unfinished. But with a great cast I’d love to see another one. The movie overall left me feeling surprised and full of energy.
Tony’s perspective/old geek: I’m not a fan of Venom as a character. I don’t dislike him, just never really got into him. I love the concept, love McFarlane’s design. But other than that, haven’t bought an issue or read a storyline. Now, with all the bad press the movie seems to be getting, I had incredibly low expectations. Plus I felt the trailers were less than awe inspiring.
Let me address a few things at the start.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics can go suck it. This movie was fun! I wouldn’t say it was exceptional, but we had a really fun time watching it. And I would agree with the 88% ‘liked it’ rating that the Rotten Tomatoes audience members gave it when polled. The comparisons to ‘Cat Woman’ are far from accurate. This movie isn’t deep, but it was a fantastic start to what I am hoping will become a series of films.
Tom Hardy. Love him or hate him, he never fails to deliver a performance worth watching. This is no different. I found his take on Eddie Brock to be much better than the script allowed, and he really delivered for me. This character is a self-absorbed loser who can’t get out of his own way. As he becomes ‘introduced’ to the symbiote Venom, it becomes a bit of a buddy movie. Michelle Williams was another fantastic casting choice, setting the love interest and motivations in place for a character like Eddie, who isn’t always so likable as a person. She, however, is. And though this movie is about Brock, we wouldn’t care nearly as much about him with her.
The movie was a little weak in the villain department until the end, and I never felt like Eddie had much to lose in regards to outside of his own personal interests. His life was under threat, sure, but he was never really fighting for anyone else. Things happened to him, and he reacted. I know Venom is no hero, but I’d like to see the character arc a little more defined in the next, maybe some loss to solidify him as something more than a reporter with a love interest. Either way, I hope the movie does well enough to earn the sequel. The cast deserves it, the character (I’m a fan now) definitely deserves it, and I’d like to see it expand until it earns a head to head battle with Spider-Man.
BTW: Stay all the way through the credits. There are some things you need to see before you leave!
