Sony's VENOM Movie

[Silver Nemesis]

[The Joker]

Venom looks like an absolute beast, so that's good. The trailer itself seems like it's following WB/DC in mimicking the MCU tone, but maybe it's just the trailer? From what I've read, this movie might actually be R rated.

Which probably would help differentiate Venom from the standard assembly line.

http://comicbook.com/marvel/2018/07/...ben-fleischer/

Speaking to ComicBook.com at San Diego Comic Con, Venom director Ruben Fleischer was asked if his film is approaching an R-rating or, at the very least, pushing the boundaries of violence and darkness. After all, Venom is a character known to be quite intimidating in Marvel Comics, given his violent and horrifying nature.

"That's the plan," Fleischer said. "It is not the plan, that's the movie. Our movie wants to honor the comics as close as we can tonally. In the comics, he bites people's heads off and eats brains. It would be weird to make a movie with Venom if he wasn't doing that. We tried to honor it as closely as possible. This is definitely a darker, more violent, more vicious Marvel character than I think anyone's ever seen before."

[The Laughing Fish]

I've noticed that people on social media are hoping Venom fails because it's not part of the MCU. 

I'm not sold on Venom, but I hope it does succeed to spite the mindless bandwagon drones.

[The Joker]

I've noticed that people on social media are hoping Venom fails because it's not part of the MCU. 

I'm not sold on Venom, but I hope it does succeed to spite the mindless bandwagon drones.

Yes, it's predictable at this point, but for some, it's MCU or nothing. Which is weird, cause essentially it boils down to the group think that one has to be so enamored with a "shared universe", that anything related to Marvel that deviates from that gimmick, must not be worth of any quality or value. Where, in my estimation, there have been Fox X-Men movies, that literally trump some entries offered from Disney/Marvel. In addition, the same goes for a couple of the Wolverine/Logan films. Hell, I wasn't a very vocal, or adamant proponent for the Amazing Spider-Man set of films, especially the 2nd one, but after leaving the theater following MCU's Homecoming, I would have gladly taken a ASM 3, or even that proposed Sinister Six movie as a trade any day.

[Silver Nemesis]

I can perhaps see Venom working as a standalone film, since the character is an antihero and has headlined numerous solo comics over the years. But I'm more sceptical when it comes to the other villain movies Sony is planning to make. Can Morbius carry his own movie? What about the recently announced Kraven the Hunter film?

I would love to see a faithful adaptation of Kraven's Last Hunt (one of the best Marvel storylines of the eighties), but I don't see how it can be done without Spider-Man. And I don't think the story can be rewritten to feature Brock or any other character in place of Peter Parker. Not without compromising some of the comic's central themes.

Then there's the Morbius movie. At one point David Goyer had planned to have Morbius be the main villain in Blade II. The Living Vampire even made a brief appearance in the first film's original ending.

I remember everyone expected Morbius to be the antagonist in the Blade sequel. Pairing those two characters was a no-brainer and had already been done successfully in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

But how can they make a Morbius movie without Spider-Man or Blade? Will they have him face Venom? I understand that Sony is still desperate for a shared universe, but have they really thought this through? A standalone Venom film series might work, but a shared universe based around Spider-Man villains – but not featuring Spider-Man himself – could well be Sony's biggest misfire since Feigbusters.

[The Joker]

I understand that Sony is still desperate for a shared universe, but have they really thought this through? A standalone Venom film series might work, but a shared universe based around Spider-Man villains – but not featuring Spider-Man himself – could well be Sony's biggest misfire since Feigbusters.

That outcome is certainly a possibility. Especially given that the shared universe gimmick hasn't always quite worked out so well for studios that fully intended on having them. Over the years, I've grown increasingly less enamored, and at this stage, completely bored with the gimmick. Course it's all subjective, and pretty much boils down to personal taste, but what once felt fresh now feels fairly stale at this point in the game. Personally, I would be curious if the studio mindset on shared universes might change if Wonder Woman 1984 and Joker are proven successful. As both, from what I can tell, are more or less relying on concentrating on being a stand alone film, rather than another episode in the assembly line of modern shared universe serials we typically get now. Essentially, the old school approach in transitioning comics into a cinematic endeavor. Which, after being worn down by shared universes, I've kinda grown to miss.

As far as Sony's hope of Spidey characters having movies that are not Venom, I just don't see it. Unlike Kraven and Morbius, whether it be Eddie Brock or Flash Thompson, Venom has proven to be a title that can carry itself as a comic book series, and assuredly has more name recognition than Krav and Morb. I kinda agree that adapting Kraven's Last Hunt with Eddie Brock as a stand in for Peter Parker isn't the ideal situation, but on the other hand, I also think about all the liberties taken with continuity/characters in Marvel Studio's Spider-Man Homecoming and think it's possible it could be achieved. Course one studio gets a pass on liberties, and the other simply isn't, and hasn't gotten that sort of reception with anything Spidey related since, say, 2007.

[The Joker]

Final Venom movie posters.

And a pretty good brief summary video for Venom noobs.

[The Joker]

[The Joker]

** SPOILER REVIEW **






Alright. So how is VENOM 2018 starring Tom Hardy? Well, that's going to depend on one's interest and any pre-conceived notions going in. For me, it's nothing more than a decent film at best, but overall, I had a good time. The script is pretty rough around the edges, and really could have used another pass or two, but whats there is atleast servicable.

Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock was especially entertaining, though still not entirely accurate to the comic book counterpart. Obviously we're still not getting the Eddie Brock that sports a flattop, and is big, and buff. If anything, Hardy resembles Eddie Brock from his time as Anti-Venom, but character wise, it's perfectly conveyed that he's very much a flawed, but overall decent person. Instances where we as the audience see that Eddie, as a journalist, isn't above doing shady things (like using his fiance's password and snooping into her account) in order to get 'the story' is very much a Eddie Brock thing to do. There's also a scene where he purposely stays out of sight during a convenience store hold up. Which made Eddie seem more 'real', as making him heroic right off the bat would have, I think, been a bit too much. Yes, he does get fired and goes into a depression, similar to the comics, but in this case, he gets fired from his own viral show called, "The Brock Report". Making him more successful as a journalist than the comic book version. During a date night with his fiance, Anne, the "Daily Globe Incidient" in New York is mentioned as something Brock doesn't want to discuss, which left the impression that he was possibly fired before moving to San Fransisco. A nod to the comics I assume.

Eddie's relationship with Anne was alright. It's definitely a different than the Marvel Comics version, but it's decent. Personally, I think she worked better during the 2nd half than she did the 1st. However, you get the impression that prior to the Venom symbiote coming into Eddie's life, the relationship between Eddie and Anne was awkwardly cute, yet obviously messy like a real couple.. Thus, making them seem more realistic in a psychological sense.

The relationship between Eddie and the Venom Symbiote came off strong, and is flat out the highlight and driving force of the movie. Was it my preferred interpretation? Not really. The juvenile nature of the Venom symbiote got on my nerves, along with, I thought, too many MCU humor-type jokes, but atleast there's something there establishing the psycological bond and co-dependance between Eddie and Venom. Which was something sorely lacking in Raimi's SM3. For people who only have a very scant knowledge of the character, I believe they would like the interactions between Eddie and Venom more than a die hard fan, but it's serviceable.

Does the origin work without Spider-Man? Well, yes. I wouldn't say it's executed particularly well, but it works fine with what we are given. Similar to the 1990's Spider-Man animated series, the symbiotes are brought back to earth by a spcae shuttle mission, and we get that one of the astronauts aboard the ship carrying the symbiotes is named, "Jameson", but that's about it. No idea on his fate whatsoever, and he appeared worse for wear. One thing I did appreciate, is that the film essentially focused entirely on itself, rather than trying to set up a 'shared universe' that we've seen time and time again. I didn't spot any Morbius, Black Cat, Silver Sable, Kraven the Hunter references whatsoever, and was thankful for it. If that's something that harkens back to a late 1990's-early 2000's approach in storytelling, then count me in as giving it a big thumbs up.

The biggest flaws in the movie are without a doubt the unconvincing villainous threat that is Drake/Riot; In the case of Drake/Riot, both just came across as your very run-of-the-mill villains wanting power. The rushed plot points; noticeable quick editing (yes, think Suicide Squad); the ironically heatless final battle. However, during the final battle there were a couple fantastic slow motion shots with Venom versus Riot that looked like they were straight out of the comics come to life, which was appreciated. Actually, I dug the hell out of those graphic images. The action for the most part I thought hit it's beats. The humor? Not so much. The movie's atmosphere actually felt seedy in it's presentation, which worked for me, but unfortunately there was also a camp factor as well. Once again, VENOM 2018 isn't the dark, and gritty body horror movie I would have preferred, but thanks to Hardy's enthusiastic performance, I found the movie entertaining. If you don't buy the Brock/Venom dynamic then there really isn't much to bite into here to be perfectly honest.

With that Woody Harrelson/Cletus Kasady scene. Well, I thought the head full of red curly hair was .... interesting. But what little we're given, I'm sure Harrelson would do just fine as Carnage. Given how different the origin story of Eddie Brock bonding with Venom was (no, we don't get Eddie about to commit suicide and begging for forgiveness at a catholic church when Venom first bonds with him), I am curious just how the Carnage symbiote will get ahold of Cletus in the sequel. I sincerely doubt it will be anything like the comics version, as Harrelson's Cletus Kasady appears to be about as dangerous as a Hannibal Lecter. Essentially, not someone who's going to have a cell mate anytime soon.

Now the 'critics' who compared VENOM 2018 to Catwoman 2004 can suck my symbiote because this movie, despite having it's fair share of issues, was overall decent and entertaining. Overall, I liked it well enough. I don't need movies to be flawless masterpieces. They're not THAT important. Personally, I think this is an example of shills wanting Non-MCU Marvel movies to bomb so bad, that they will automatically b*tch and moan in order to keep the tired narrative alive of "ONLY THE MCU CAN DO GOOD SUPERHERO MOVIES." 

A flawed but entertaining movie? I'll take that over alot of the cookie cutter MCU stuff. The hell with group think.

6 1/2 to 7/10 for me. Similar to Suicide Squad, I could see this movie being better given better editing, pacing, and a more mature presentation, but Tom Hardy ... yeah, I liked him here. The Venom/Brock relationship is the highlight of the movie and their banter/bromance carries the film.

Yeah this movie was way better than Homecoming. 

[The Joker]

Venom⁠ reaches $822M at the worldwide box office

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