Venom (2018): ‘Tom Hardy Villainous Split’ – A Film Review

Introduction

One of Spider-Man’s biggest enemies was a character called Venom. This originally seeming like a costume swap for spider-man with regenerative abilities but then being revealed as an alien symbiote that takes a hold of its host. Eventually Spider-Man’s internal battle with Venom would lead to Venom combining with the character Eddie Brock to become the big mouth, fangs and long tongue that is iconic of the character. Venom was huge. Spider-Man 3 managed to unceremoniously botch the concept to the point of completely misrepresenting the characters presence on screen. Spider-Man 3 essentially killed off the first run of Spider-Man movies and it wasn’t until 2018 that the character of Venom would return on the silver screen but oddly enough without Spider-Man.

The Characters

To be able to centre on Venom, a villain, the film essentially creates an anti-hero out of him as he is the protagonist of the story. Considering that Spider-Man doesn’t appear in Venom, the story focuses on Eddie Brock played by Tom Hardy, who gives a wonderful performance in this film. Giving the characters of Eddie Brock and Venom a full range that makes him feel quite separate from previous roles he’s played. Though he really makes the film, side-line characters certainly put in their all too, making this a wonderfully performed film throughout. As a superhero film, and as it centres on a life form that is largely a dark version of Flubber, the film focuses heavily on CGI. This has been handled very well throughout but has its moments too, as does the editing, of not being up to scratch.

Let’s Not Think Too Much

What follows is a visually interesting but flawed film that ultimately, due to the performances, is a massively fun ride. It’s worth not thinking too much into it, which is made easy by the performances, as there are some plot holes and cheesy moments that may hold the film back, but are almost the sacrifice to be kick-arse. It can be traditional and all too familiar but we’re really able to become a part of the characters world and internal struggles. This reflects the well-handled script as a lot of characters do need to be established making for a slow beginning along all too familiar territory but a great ride once it gets going. We do perhaps just have too many super hero films at the moment.

Conclusion

Venom is left as quite the surprise, from a nervous outset. The failure of Spider-Man 3 and the love of the character meant that this was a project that was always going to make people anxious. This was always going to be an issue at the heart of the film and it may not live up to the comic book character, but it manages to be a fun film none-the-less. Tom Hardy manages to take the character into an area almost where any return of Venom needs to be from him. Perfectly setting up the character and his world for any future releases.

Synopsis

Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) has discovered a symbiote in space and is looking to develop a way to harness this being through any means necessary. Whilst one of his enemies, Eddie Brock a journalist, who has challenged his ethics and been burnt by him, ends up stumbling across this symbiote whilst infiltrating his labs.

Ratings

Entertainment:
Performances:
Predictability:
Technical:

A Note on My Reviews

Please read ‘On Reviews‘ for a guide to how I write film reviews. Any spoilers are appropriately marked and, though I personally prefer to know little about a film before seeing it, there is a synopsis below the review for any who wish to see one.

Films Mentioned

Spider-Man 3 (d. Sam Raimi USA 2007)

Venom (d. Ruben Fleischer USA 2018)

Venom (2018): ‘Tom Hardy Villainous Split’ – A Film Review

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