The Marvel cinematic universe, better known as the MCU, has made and assisted in the making of some of the greatest superhero movies of our time.

Unfortunately, Venom is and will not go down as a great superhero movie.

Tom Hardy takes the lead as Eddie Brock, an investigative journalist attempting to bounce back from an interview scandal with the founder of The Life Foundation. In the the midst of a comeback and possible revenge for the cause of the scandal, Brock accidentally becomes the host of an alien symbiote who then turns into Brock’s violent alter-ego: Venom.

Riz Ahmed plays villain as Dr. Carlton Drake who is the founder of The Life Foundation, a foundation that experiments on ‘volunteers’ which frequently result in costing their lives. The manner in which Ahmed portrays Drake is perfect in the sense that he acts utterly heartless with no sympathy towards other who are only lab rats in his eyes.

It’s safe to say that Hardy didn’t mean to act like someone who has taken PCP but unfortunately that was the case. It seemed as though the role he played was overly exaggerated and almost bipolar in the sense that at times, he was content with the alter-ego and at other times, he was utterly confused and terrified. The balance between the two was not there resulting in yet another confused reaction to the film.

To further explain the confusion, the film was meant to contradict that villains can’t ever save the day but in the same respect there’s a hero in the end. If that is supposed to be the message, why is it that the alter-ego, or Venom, is the hero but not Hardy’s character? Brock is portrayed as someone who cannot fend for himself and doesn’t indulge in confrontation, not upholding a hero persona.

Ahmed was able to easily capture the smug, know-it-all villain personality that made his character, Dr. Drake, all the more hateable. In addition to the hateable personality, what intensified the anger was the lack of empathy and/or human decency that Ahmed portrayed to the audience in an intense and selfish way.

Assumably so, CEOs of scientific and life improving companies are supposed to be educated in who, how, and why they should be testing on an individual. For such a well known business in the film, the way he suggested to experiment on the ‘volunteers’ was highly unethical because there was lack of information given to them and they were just given a waiver to sign.

This was the exact reason for Brock’s interview with Drake.

The movie takes place in busy, present day San Francisco that hones in on Brock who was a local investigative journalist until an interview with scientific con-man, Dr. Drake nearly exposed what was going on in the labs of his foundation.

The film continues as one of Drake’s scientists, Dora Skirth who immensely disagrees with his methods, goes to Brock in hopes of trying to expose Drake yet again. Skrith helps Brock break into the lab in order to retrieve evidence but in the midst in the retrieval, Brock recognizes that one of the subjects being tested is a friend of his and for that reason, he helps her break out of the room. This is the point in time when the symbiote transfers from the woman to Brock and he now possess the violent and dangers of the controlling symbiote.

The plot make the viewer fearful that Brock, the protagonist, will be just another temporary life line until the symbiote finds another host. The viewer expects a devastating ending for Brock considering all that has happened to him considering that his engagement was broken off and that he lost his job, living in a sub-par apartment.

Any Marvel fan or more specifically, a fan of the older, Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies were previously introduced to Venom. It seems as though the viewer may be disappointed because they already have something to base off of and this is not it. Venom draws away from the enemy of Spider-Man aspect and more of the ‘crime is the enemy’ aspect that will create future confusion if a crossover were likely to occur.

The film was quite boring and had a more-or-less inconsistent storyline. It is unclear what could have been changed because at that point, it may as well have not been made. If the storyline stayed true to what fans already know then the film may have been easier to follow and possibly more likeable.

Venom, in my opinion, has earned 5 out of 10 symbiotes. It was uninteresting and lacked the hero aspect that was said to be portrayed in the film. The ending makes the viewer question if bad habits are really worth keeping or not. And with that, I’m going down the road most taken and say no, please just get rid of the bad habits.

About the film:

 

Venom

 

Actors: Tom Hardy and Riz Ahmed

 

Director: Ruben Fleischer

 

Running time: 2 hours and 20 minutes

 

Rating : PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for language

 

Genre: Superhero movie and thriller

 

Grade: 5/10 symbiotes