In light of the recently released Venom: Let There Be Carnage trailer, I decided to finally check out its predecessor.
In 2018, I was going through a phase with superhero movies where I only had interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (that phase is still in effect). The previous year featured Wonder Woman, the last DC Comics adaptation I’ve seen (as of this article), which, for the record, I thought was severely overrated despite a great dynamic between the titular character and her partner in crime, Steve Trevor. Additionally, any non-Disney Marvel properties were not on my schedule to watch either, and that included Venom.
In an effort to remain hip and relevant like my fellow Gen Z-ers, I came to the conclusion that I’d might as well subject myself to this seemingly cult classic nearly 3 years into its polarizing existence.
First and foremost, as a Marvel fan, it was nice to see the Klyntar race brought to life in a way that somewhat explores the symbiote’s origins, or at least more than Spider-Man 3 did. For a character with the magnitude of Venom, this was long overdue. Visually, I think the design came out quite nicely and it made for some pretty cool looking sequences as well.
Now with that out of the way, this movie is painfully average. The trailers, in retrospect, were almost a glorified highlight reel. Nothing beyond the action and the mid-credits scene are necessarily “worth watching.”
The story is boring, the relationships are boring (apart from Eddie Brock’s symbiotic partnership with Venom). The villain, Carlton Drake, and his ominous Life Foundation, is just a generic bad guy; not much to unpack and no interesting motive. I did, however, like Dora Skirth (a Life Foundation researcher) for the minimal screen time she had though.
That’s not to say Venom is unwatchable. It’s a fun little journey and knowing it has an official sequel to effectively expand the universe makes this film a lot more digestible.
The acting is okay, nothing profound, but also nothing out of a TikToker-ridden hospital drama. The comedy, however, is questionable. At times, it feels like a 14 year old wrote this movie with the amount of cringeworthy jokes and quips making their way into the script.
Perhaps the humour was just poorly executed, which would parallel the godawful chorus of Eminem’s ‘Venom’, on the film’s soundtrack, that genuinely makes me reconsider if going to therapy was worth it and if life has any meaning beyond being a sentient vessel of flesh and bone slaving away for monetary worth in a borderline dystopian society.
I’ve heard criticisms of the film’s PG-13 rating and, for me, it is what it is. I understand how an R-rating would’ve helped encapsulate the essence of the character, but I don’t think it would’ve been enough to even remotely save this movie from its divisive reception.
All in all, Venom is a fun film to watch casually on your downtime. It’s definitely skippable, but checking it out won’t be a waste of your time… unless it is, in which case I sincerely apologize.
