So yes, I know this review is late, this movie didn't come out in Denmark until now.
That means I’ve also had time to hear everyone’s very differing opinions about this film, some
people say it's as bad as Catwoman, some people say it's an awesome fun ride.
I finally saw it, and...well….let’s talk about it.
*clip* Also since this has been out for a while,
I’m sorry, I’m just gonna go full spoilers.
There isn’t a hell of a lot to spoil in this, but if you haven't seen it and don’t
want stuff ruined, yeah, don’t watch this.
So what did I think of Venom?
Honestly, I’m a little torn.
I don’t think it's a good movie, as a movie, I actually think it's really bad.
But there are some elements in there that really really work and quite a few scenes
that I genuinely thought were good.
Overall I can’t say I didn't enjoy watching most of it, but I also can’t say it’s
a good movie.
It’s an interesting case of a film.
Let’s start with what I liked.
Tom Hardy is…..I don’t really know.
He’s certainly not bad, and I think he does quite a good job with the character that he’s
given to play, it’s just the character and a lot of his mannerisms and the way he’s
written is kind of...weird and inconsistent.
But overall you know what I’d say Tom Hardy is good.
The special effects also, not all of them, but quite a few, namely the Venom effect itself,
pretty much the most important one in the film, is really really good.
I also really enjoyed the Eddie Venom dynamic.
That was the one thing I heard going into this that most people really liked, and yeah,
it’s definitely the highlight.
There were some actually kind of funny moments there and it seemed like some thought was
put into that writing to make it an interesting and fun dynamic, and Venom actually ash a
personality, which was fun to see playing off of Eddie in certain scenes.
Some action was also actually really great.
Again, not all, but some.
Going into this I’d heard this was like Catwoman levels of incompetent in terms of
filmmaking, and at points it feels very amateur, yes, we’ll get to that, but that chunk of
movie basically from when Eddie gets the symbiote and the guys come to his apartment and there’s
the motorcycle chase and then there’s the other scene in the office building, all of
that not only felt competently done, it was actually good.
Not only the Venom Eddie dynamic but the action itself was actually really well done and creative
in parts.
And then the post credits scene, or I guess mid credits scene, I can’t say that it’s….great?
The Harrelson wig is terrible, and that line at the end was incredibly cheesy, but then
again a lot of these superhero movies are super cheesy and it sort of fit with this.
It did make me laugh, I’ll give it that.
And I’d actually like to see Harelson in a Venom movie, if it's super over the top
and just embrace it, I think that could be fun.
And you know what, that’s another thing I liked about parts of this film, it kind
of seemed to embrace what it was and didn't take itself too seriously at some points,
and those were some of my favorite parts.
When it’s like, yeah this is kinda dumb but let’s just go nuts with it, those parts
were pretty fun.
That all being said, a lot of this film is really bad.
Specifically the start and the end, the middle was actually pretty good, but the start is
kind of boring and the end is kind of generic.
This movie has some of the worst editing and pacing I’ve seen since Suicide Squad.
It’s terrible, especially towards the start.
It’s the weirdest thing, but the first third of this movie feels really slow but also everything
happens way too fast.
Character choices, moments we’re supposed to feel some kind of emotional investment
in, it all feels incredibly rushed.
However, a lot of it isn’t very interesting either, which makes that segment a bit boring
and therefore feel really long and drawn out.
So it results in this bizarre bad mesh of stuff story and character wise happening way
too fast to care about any of it and because you don’t care it’s not interesting, making
it feel like it goes on for a while.
And then the ending, I was scared this would happen with this but it culminates, yep, in
the hero fighting the villain in a similar suit as their own.
Except while that’s usually at worst just kind of generic, ehre it wasn’t just generic,
it was just really badly executed.
Because these are giant slime monsters, it looks terrible.
The CGI isn’t great here, and besides one or two kind of cool uses of symbiote stuff,
it’s very hard to follow and it’s just an eyesore generally.
Exactly what I didn't want the films climax to be and it was exactly that.
As far as the other performances in this, Riz Ahmed is surprisingly bad.
In the other stuff i’ve seen him he’s either good or really great, and here as the
super generic villain he has some terrible lines.
Part of it must be the writing but part of definitely also falls on him.
Michelle Williams also, surprisingly bad, considering how great she’s been in other
stuff.
I wanna talk about this movie’s rating real quick.
I know a lot of people get upset when you mention either side of this, there are people
who don’t care what it's rated and are gonna love it anyway and there are people who before
this even came out were like, Venom’s gonna suck cuz it isn’t rated r and I’m not
gonna see it.
And now having watched the film, I don't think the movie would have been saved if it was
rated r.
The biggest problems don’t really have to do with that.
However there are small moments that kind of lose a bit of their impact because of their
rating, in the action, where it either cuts away or there’s like no blood at all.
I’m not saying I demand like Saw-esque blood and guts, but just a little it would’ve
added something here, because at points it reminded me of that Dora Milaje dying in Black
Panther with no blood at all which really took me out of that scene.
There are also some kind of cringeworthy moments that are trying to be emotional, a couple
between Eddie and Michelle Williams stick out.
And also this isn’t a big complaint, but it just felt so Sony that the ending of this
movie of course was in the trailer.
By the time the final battle started and we hadn't heard the turd in the wind line yet
I was like, yep, that is 100% gonna be the last thing of the film.
And it was.
At least it wasn’t the very last shot, but it was like the second last shot!
God, have you learned nothing Sony?
The biggest complaint I have with this film isn't even something that I hated, because
it was so weird and bizarre that I was kind of entertained by watching and thinking, what
is happening.
But there’s a lot stuff in this that makes little or no sense.
And I’m not just talking about plot holes, although there are a lot of really obvious
ones here.
Like normally I don’t notice this stuff while I’m watching, it’s more afterads
when I’m talking about with friends that I’m like, oh yeah that makes no sense.
But while watching the movie I was like, how did Michelle Williams get back to the facility
in comparable time to Venom sprinting there when she was left like in the middle of a
forest.
There’s also Venom surviving that whole xplosion at the end with no real explanation,
but every movie has plot holes, that’s not the biggest part of this.
At points this movie reminded me, and I know this is going to sound like the weirdest comparison
possible, but it reminded me of Bee Movie.
Because watching that film, character’s motivations and character’s reactions to
certain weird out-of-the-ordinary things change from scene to scene and that’s what I think
makes that film not just bad but an absolute incredible mess tonally and plot-wise.
And here, there were moments that felt like that, where one second a character acts like
they’re in the real world and all this stuff freaks them out, and then like the next scene
it’s like they stepped right out of the phase 3 MCU and they’re used to seeing aliens
and superheroes and everything.
And character’s motivations just switch with like no explanation, it is the weirdest
thing to watch.
I don’t know if ti was, but it feels like a lot of stuff was cut out from this.
Like a lot a lot.
Not only with what I just mentioned, but there are also confusing scenes and moments where
characters interact in a certain way and I’m like….did I….miss something where these
characters had more scenes together?
Cuz these lines of dialogue make little to no sense in this context.
The rules of this world are also really poorly defined, mainly in regards to the symbiote.
There’s stuff like how can it shoot through Eddie’s clothes but not slip through the
glass of a containment facility, but you know what, maybe that’s cuz it’s more powerful
when it's bonded to a person, so I guess I can forgive that.
But then other stuff like sometimes it knows what Eddie’s thinking and cna read his mind
and sometimes it can’t, or the fact that sometimes it's omniscient and knows when people
are outside the door but sometimes it isn't and can’t sense a car coming up right next
to it.
Also it seems to be able to make Eddie do basically whatever it wants but still requires
his cooperation?
Maybe it doesn't really and it just likes having Eddie around but point is, these are
a lot of explanations that I myself am having to try to find for this movie and that shouldn’t
be the case, there are quite a few moments of inconsistencies that make the rules of
this world quite confusing.
Overall, I can’t say Venom’s a good movie.
I think it has good stuff in it and overall it’s entertaining, but it's got a lot of
bad stuff in it and at some points just feels sloppy and poorly made.
Most of it is still interesting but there are parts that are unfortunately actually
kind of boring.
I don’t think I’d ever watch this again, but you know what, I wouldn’t mind seeing
another one of these.
Which really surprised me, but if they just got rid of or improved the boring and really
generic stuff in this film and focused in on what worked, I think a sequel could work.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m not absolutely hating this Sony cinematic
universe so far.
Do I wanna see a Silver and Black film and a Morbius film and an Aunt May spinoff….yeah
I don’t know.
But honestly I wouldn’t mind seeing this version of Venom worked into the MCU.
This Venom fighting Spider-Man, that could be kind of awesome.
Anyway, as far as this movie itself, yeah it’s not good.
I don’t think I’d recommend seeing this in the cinema if you haven't already, if you
wanna watch it I’d say wait until it comes out on digital when you can maybe zone out
more in the more generic and/or really bad parts.
I’ll give Venom a 5.4/10.
So those were my thoughts on Venom.
What did you think of it?
Let me know all of your thoughts down below in the comments.
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Thanks for watching and I’ll see ya next time.