Venom hit the theaters Friday, October 5. Unfortunately, the blockbuster film did not live up to the hype and expectations Venom fans had. Although the movie was ravished in color and life and the dynamic duo of Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Venom (Tom Hardy) was fun to watch, the movie itself lacked a bite. The ultimate downfall was the PG-13 rating.
Venom, Carnage and other notorious Symbiotes are well known for their destruction and chaos in the Marvel universe. These creatures would go on to be some of the most ruthless characters in any universe. The PG-13 rating on this movie ruined this aspect of the characters, which many Marvel fans loved. The more violent and gruesome acts were shown in silhouettes. It’s as if the movie was shot to be an R-rated movie and the scenes we craved for were removed or re-written. Another issue Venom fans had was the misconception of the main villain, Riot (Riz Ahmed). Many thought the main villain was to be Carnage, who is one of Venom’s biggest foes with the exception of Spider-man. Riot was the main villain, but he was only in the movie for a short span of time. The plot was also way too basic for the characters. Things moved so quickly and most of the movie was very predictable. As soon as the Symbiotes reached Earth, the audience was expecting havoc. Unfortunately, there was none and Venom’s weakness was as bad as Superman’s glowing green rock. No, Venom’s weakness was not a green glowing rock, but it might as well have been.
The dialogue was a hit or miss as well. During this serious and dark movie, one liners were spit out at the worst possible times, breaking the tension of the movie. Some of these one liners worked very well, especially during Stan Lee’s cameo in the movie. At 96, the creator of the Marvel Universe is still throwing in some of the best one liners in the Marvel movies. Many others, however, destroyed the integrity of the movie.
Among the upsides of Venom was a beautiful concoction of lighting and colors. From street sides to the inside of Carlton Drake’s Lab, the aesthetic was breathtaking. One of the most interesting parts were the quick changes between characters. The quick changes between the character and the symbiote gave the movie life. Eddie and Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) were able to instantly change into their viscous alter egos. The CGI in the movie was very well done, but this created another issue. The downfall of the CGI occurred during the final fight scene between Riot and Venom. The fight became confusing as Riot’s silver color blended in with the side of a building and Venom’s midnight black color blended in with the nightlife.
Even though the aesthetics of the movie, including lighting and color contrast, were some of the best in 2018, the plot and dialogue of the film simply did not come together.
