Review of Venom (2018) by Strider M — 06 Oct 2018

Heroes are overrated.

VENOM.

I first saw...him/it...in the '90s Spider-Man cartoon, & he/it was awesome. Then he/it reappeared in the 3rd Sam Rami Spider-Man movie, he/it was...eh...ok. Now we have a new symbiont, as played by the Dark Knight's Bane. Nothin' left to say...except: here...we.....GO.

At around 105 minuets, the story flows like a symbiont up a hosts' leg, we get setup, main plot, & payoff; there weren't any problems with the pace that I could see.

The cast really gelled well. Tom Hardy plays Eddy Brock like a "scruffy nerf herder", "man of the people" type, who loses his will to do what's right, but ultimately comes through in the end. And even when he gets in over his head, he just rolls with it. Honestly, his was the most likable Eddy Brock to date, I really wanna see more of him. Michelle Williams plays what I have dubbed "discount Pepper Potts", & honestly, she was great. Her character was human without breaking character. And she was really really smart & understanding, & not in any way a load; she was like Gwen from the Amazing Spider-Man films. I will say that there's more than one villain, but I'm only gonna talk about the one we see the most, to avoid spoilers. He's this corporate guy, you know the type, spoiled rich kid, thinks humanity exists to serve him, only values his own life; ya just wanna see something eat him. I don't know what the actor did to bring this character out, but he deserves an oscar. I absolutely HATED this guy! It was like seeing Hitler reborn! He was so evil, so callous with life, & so disgustingly cocksure of himself; he NEEDED to be stamped out completely! It was just...the best villain performance I've seen in a Marvel movie so far. The rest of the cast did great. Everyone was relevant in some way, down to the smallest background character, it was like seeing a perfect painting, every pigment in it's proper place. As for the voice of Venom, his actor did a pretty good job. A combo of the Venom growl from the '90s cartoon & perfect, almost Shakespearian, diction. And while he had his casual moments, I believed he was this otherworldly intelligence.

The stunts & effects, the stunts & effects, O..M..G!!!! The stunts & effects!!!! All the stunt work was done practically, with just a little CGI here & there, & it was AWESOME!!!! Give the stunt team a truckload of cash, they deserve it! And Venom?? He was glorious! On his own, he looked like a giant amoeba made of crude oil, & combined, he mixed the cartoon with real life in a way that put the trailer to shame. He was an 800 pound Kung fu gorilla who found balance between monster & man. The only problem I had was the excessive shaky cam & the jump-cutting, made the film look choppy in places; but other than that, can't complain.

The film takes place in California, & it showed in the music, a kinda techno-rap, which wasn't the best, but I was too focused on everything else to care.

All in all, IMHO, Venom is a worthy edition to the Marvel movie verse. I can't even go into too much detail without major spoilers, but rest assured, we're gettin' multiple levels of payoff here! Despite being PG13, Venom's brutality & overall rawness shined through, & I really hope we get to see more of this version of the character! I'm giving Venom 4 stars outta 5! Until next time, EXCELSIOR!