Review: The Venom Movie Is A Funny But Flawed Film

Venom's first live action appearance on film was bungled thanks to the mess created by Spider-Man 3.

Well now 11 years have passed and the character is on the big screen once again in his own movie. Does Venom bring the comic book character to life? Well yes and no.

Venom is my favorite comic book villain of all time and I was scared when I first heard of this movie.

Since Sony butchered the character in Spider-Man 3 by casting Topher Grace, my expectations were low when I heard this movie was going to be made.

Thankfully, Venom 2018 is not a total disaster and it's a film that some people will love because there's a lot of humor in the movie.

Not to mention Tom Hardy is likable as Eddie Brock because he plays the character far better than Topher Grace ever could.

Venom feels like a buddy comedy because Eddie Brock is constantly talking to the Venom symbiote who wants to go out and eat people's brains (literally).

There are times that the character violently kills criminals, but Eddie Brock usually has to tell Venom to go away.

If you treat this movie like a comedy film, you'll have a lot of fun watching it.

However, if you wanted to watch a slick action movie, well you're better off watching something else instead. As a standalone comic book movie, Venom is very flawed.

I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but there is a lack of coherent action in this movie. The editing is too choppy and there is way too much shaky cam used in the action scenes.

By far the only action scene I liked is when Venom takes out a squad of SWAT people.

Sadly, the end fight with Riot is just one big CGI mess. It's not as ugly as Justice League's CGI, but it's not a well directed ending.

While the action might not be good, the acting is pretty decent overall.

Tom Hardy is humorous throughout the entire film while Riz Ahmed is believable as the movie's villain named Carlton Drake. Even Michelle Williams plays a decent part in the film as Eddie Brock's on/off girlfriend.

If you treat this movie as a comedy, then you are going to like Venom a lot. It may feel outdated and the action isn't great, but it's not the worst movie I've seen in 2018.

This movie is far better than The Predator, Pacific Rim 2 and many other blockbusters I've seen this year. That said, it's not perfect and serious comic book fans will dislike the changes that have been made to the character's origins.

Verdict: 3.0/5.0 stars

Wanna read more on this? Check these out: Venom: Let There Be Carnage Rotten Tomatoes Rating Revealed (more); Tom Hardy Talks About Critical Reception Of First Venom Movie (more); Venom: Let There Be Carnage Seems To Have Positive Fan Reactions (more); Venom: Let There Be Carnage Runtime Revealed (more).

And here are some more related articles: Venom: Let There Be Carnage Release Date Changes Again (more); Venom: Let There Be Carnage Has Been Delayed (more); Venom: Let There Be Carnage Trailer 2 Revealed (more).

A few more: First Venom: Let There Be Carnage Trailer Is Here (more); Venom: Let There Be Carnage Release Date Changed (more).