By: Edward Nguyen, Luke Ren
★★★½
“Venom,” a superhero action film about a man who bonds with an alien symbiote, was a simple and fun yet unmemorable flick, released in the United States on Oct. 5. The film follows Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), as he connects with the symbiote “Venom” and fights to take down a corrupt corporation and its crazed CEO, Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed).
The movie’s story appears to be straight out of the 2000s; a simple, good-hearted protagonist gets thrusted into an easily-digestible adventure against evil. The plot is simple and filled to the brim with clichés. The characters act and are exactly what you have seen countless times before in any other superhero flick. There are no shocking twists or unforeseen outcomes. Subplots and explanations are cheaply explained away in the blink of an eye, and the audience is expected to just accept these flaws in order to enjoy the movie.
However, despite these many problems, the movie is surprisingly entertaining. The movie pushes these silly tropes to the maximum while not taking itself seriously, allowing you to disassociate from any critical cinematic judgement and take it as it is. The humor is easy and at times absurd, giving you no choice but to chuckle at the silliness. Eddie is blunt and filled with simple zingers. His tough guy demeanor is not overdone, as he has a “loveable oaf” quality to him that keeps him likeable.
A truly surprising and interesting aspect is the personality of Venom himself. While his character is all the violent and deranged as you would expect, there is a heavy comedic edge to him. The juxtaposition between a gruesome alien monster and its ridiculous human-like thoughts is a fresh and entertaining thing to watch. His relationship with Eddie is also very unique, with their interactions being some of the best scenes in the movie.
Speaking of amazing scenes, the action in the film does not disappoint. The action scenes are brutal and do the characters justice at displaying how powerful they really are. Venom has an imposing design and every tendril and ooze is still satisfyingly clean.
The best parts in the movie truly are the scenes featuring the titular character. Unfortunately, it does take a while to get there. The first third of the movie is mainly setting up the plot, the romantic scenes being the most banal parts of the film. However, once Venom does comes into play, it is satisfying to see that he sticks around too. While not always being fully Venom-suited-up, the symbiote still stays prevalent as a voice in Eddie’s head, assuring that the audience doesn’t get bored waiting for him to come back.
Although the actors did not provide award-winning performances, the simple and charismatic design of the characters made many of the scenes feel natural and almost improvised. The fact that Eddie is only offered a few lines, mostly jokes and absent-minded questions, and is still able to give the character some flavor earns Tom Hardy some bonus points. Oh, and by the way, he’s basically covered in sweat and wears the same sweater throughout the entire movie.
“Venom” seemed to experience a huge change in tone after Eddie becomes paired with Venom, going from an “Alien” style horror film to the staple Marvel comedy action film. The change in attitude from grotesque human mutilation and cliche religious villain speeches to blunt one-liners and relatable alien problems forces the audience to wonder direction the director and writers were aiming for.
It’s evident through the trailer that the movie would be filled with the same dark scenery and ambiance in every scene, and “Venom” did not disappoint. The overall dark backgrounds were easy on the eyes but it made it so that nothing stood out. If you’re looking for flashy colors and sharp sharp contrast with jaw-dropping scenery, look elsewhere.
Overall, “Venom” is a cheesy throwaway action flick that is best viewed with your brain turned off. Though some of the writing leaves something to be desired, the action and humor keeps the film entertaining and easy to digest.