As the major studios attempt to recapture Disney's success with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony already has a foot in the door; Spider-Man: Homecoming marked a collaboration between them and the superhero powerhouse, and now they have the chance to launch their own property. A backdoor pilot of sorts, and with Tom Holland's Spider-Man expected to factor into their plans eventually, Venom has a lot resting on its shoulders. Is Tom Hardy's anti-hero Sony's Iron Man, or will his bite poisonous to the future of this Universe before its even underway?
Off-beat journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) attempts to revive his career and relationship with ex-girlfriend Anne Weying (Michelle Williams) after a scandal destroys both. He investigates the Life Foundation, founded by Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), who are trailing ways in which the human race can survive when humanity's resources are depleting. Suspicious of their ethics and integrity, Brock gets in too deep and bonds with an alien symbiote who gives superpowers to its host. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Venom is a disappointing and uneven shambles that wastes its cast and talent on a lazy Universe kick-starter that struggles to get itself off the ground.
Although the trailers failed to convince otherwise, the hope was that Venom could prove its doubters wrong, offering a somewhat darker, gnarlier breed of the superhero flicks. Unfortunately, the result is a deeply puzzling movie which appears to be the product of major studio tinkering; based on the tonal inconsistencies and the poor general flow of the film, scenes are awkwardly spliced together and strained in their pacing, causing difficulties for the film sustaining a vigorous momentum. Confirming Hardy's pre-release comments, it is reasonable to presume that substantial strands of the plot have been left on the cutting room film, leaving the film torn to shreds at times and rather difficult to follow cohesively.
Wooden dialogue and humour so dull that you are laughing at it rather than with it, Venom's script is responsible for most of the film's problems. With three people working on the screenplay - Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg and Kelly Marcel - ideas aren't fully realised and genre tropes come into play far more regularly than one would like. Because of how sparse and unoriginal the origin story feels, it seems bloated, even at just 112 minutes (15 of which are credits!). Realistically, and without stretching too hard, it could have told this story in an hour making it all the more difficult to endure at times.
Whatsmore (and this is more speculation than anything): when Daniel Espinosa's Life dropped last year, rumours swirled that it was intended as a prequel to Venom, quickly dismissed following the film's poor performance and middling reception. Almost certainly, in one lifetime, it was part of this universe; the signs are peppered all over the place and while it attempts to distance itself in the first act, comments are made that link the two more explicitly than they perhaps realise, as if falling through the process from an earlier draft of the screenplay. It would further explain why that opening act feels as hurried as it does, quickly assembling a formulaic (and rather shallow) story that brings the symbiotes to Earth before the title screen even appears. Again, this is open speculation - but a theory that has some weight.
Tom Hardy is completely confounding. It's not a bad performance but he appears to be acting in a completely different film to everyone else, adding to the film's tonal irregularity. Everything is on the cusp of a punchline which really dilutes a great deal of the grit the universe is seemingly attempting to push. It's almost a parody and would work if the film was striving for a lighter, irreverent tone; but it's not, and no one else is playing it as such, making Hardy's cartoonish performance all the more perplexing. Michelle Williams and Riz Ahmed are far more self-aware, bravely trying to save a sinking ship, despite the film never earning their efforts.
Fleischer's direction, like the film, is mostly messy - mainly boiling down to the frantic editing - but there are a couple of decent moments observed throughout. Some of the set pieces provide very rudimentary thrills and a motorcycle chase is a highlight, but it's not anything we haven't seen before - and crucially, superior elsewhere. It's very easy to picture Venom as a film that got away from its creators, in need of an edgier execution that was surely neutered by the studio with a need for the film to play wide; this is symbolised most notably through the symbiote character. It is bizarrely treated as comedic relief, removing most of the fear factor and intensity that could have turned it into a real threat. it would give the film the bite it is so desperately after; instead, so it could play PG-13, its effect is disappointingly diluted.
Venom might not be a complete write-off, but it hardly inspires confidence moving forward. This is a film for the Marvel completionists, not those hoping for an antidote to Hollywood's heroes; ultimately, it's closer in kin to the DCEU than the MCU. It's a poorly-made film, no doubt, and one afflicted with identity issues - but in a 'can't-look-away' fashion, it provides some basic enjoyment and fun can be found in its eccentricities. The special effects are perfectly adequate and the performances are valiant but there's no escaping how messy it is tonally and that almost entirely derails this antihero flick that lacks the sting it needs to launch a fulfilling Universe.
★★★✬☆☆☆☆☆☆
(3.5/10)
Summary: Venom is a mess, a tonally inconsistent and slapdash film with a bizarre central performance from Tom Hardy and poor cutting and chopping that emphasises the film's wider issues with identity.