[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”9265″ img_size=”948×435″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]When Sony announced they were planning a solo Venom film that may/may not take place within the MCU, I can say that reactions were mixed. When the first trailer was released, the excitement for the movie was even less. Two more trailers and decent promotions generated some buzz for the project and it didn’t hurt that Tom Hardy was starring as Eddie Brock.
Having just seen the movie, I have to say that I walked in with low expectations. Walking out, I will admit that I watched a much better film than what others had been describing. Considering this was a wild card and essentially the start of Sony’s own Marvel Universe, it seems that Sony is making up for past crimes such as 2015’s Fantastic Four and the third Spider-Man movie (2007).
Although the movie is rated PG-13 and I know there were many, me included; who felt that without an R rating it’d not be the dark film it wanted to be, I will say that there were a lot of horror movie components here. We have such bone-chilling effects, along with liberal use of the word “shit” and even “f*ck” a few times. For anyone worried about the movie being too kid friendly, I would say you have nothing to worry about. Venom is just as vicious as we expected him to be and we definitely see the cannibalistic side of the symbiote.
I don’t want to put out too many spoilers since the movie only premiered a couple of weeks ago, but as someone who was a little skeptical of Tom Hardy in this role, I have to say I felt that he was comfortably uncomfortable in his role. That essentially means that when Eddie is first taken over by the symbiote, he is noticeably in distress. And that was the point. I think he played the part well and I liked his brief role as a news reporter who went for the tough stories, as well as the short background that he was “ran” out of New York. I suppose this way none of us could ask, if he’s in New York and this movie is loosely taking place within the MCU, where was Spider-Man?
Riz Ahmed was a really good villain and he wasn’t the traditional, maniacal baddie we see a lot in superhero movies. OF course, he was dangerous in his own right, but I truly believe that it was more so because he was egotistical, and incredibly manipulative that made him really good in his role. I really wish we had gotten more of Ahmed than we did, but otherwise; I thought he was a good choice.
The movie has some lighter tones and Eddie and Venom’s turbulent relationship makes for some laugh-worthy moments. You have to take some scenes in jest, but from the way things are looking, the two are beginning to understand each other. Michelle Williams was also a good addition to the movie and I liked the way things ended with her and Eddie. A slight spoiler here, there is one moment where her character follows Venom during his battle with Riot, and I really was worried the name “Martha” was going to come up.
If I could critique the movie a little, the CGI could have been improved on, but certainly not the worst we have seen in recent comic-book movies. I also thought the movie was incredibly short. My showing started at three and we got out of the movie a few minutes before five. I’m not sure if the studio didn’t have enough material or simply wanted to make a shorter film due to this being a make or break project. But, I definitely wanted more by the end of the movie.
I hope we do get to see more Eddie Brock. Was this Tom Hardy’s best movie? No, but that’s because the time and material didn’t allow for his full range to come to the forefront. That being said, I thought he did a good job, and I’d like for him to come back in the future. Also, make sure you stay until the mid-credits for a small little scene alluding to what we could expect from a future project.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
A girl with too many fandoms to count.
