Venom (2018) Movie Recap-Criticism and analysis
Journalist Eddie Brock is trying to take down Carlton Drake, the notorious and brilliant founder of the Life Foundation. While investigating one of Drake's experiments, Eddie's body merges with the alien Venom -- leaving him with superhuman strength and power. Twisted, dark and fueled by rage, Venom tries to control the new and dangerous abilities that Eddie finds so intoxicating.
I might have even loved it. At a time when every superhero film tries to (a) serve as either the springboard for or the continuation of a cinematic universe, (b) bog itself down in ponderous self-importance a la "The Dark Knight" or (c) do both of those things, it is refreshing to watch a movie that tells a self-contained story — fully aware of the fact that by virtue of its genre it is going to be braindead and cheesy — and as a result is just plain fun.
Indeed, if "Venom" wasn't based on an iconic superhero character (the antihero Venom, who was first seen on the big screen in "Spider-Man 3"), it could pass for a legitimate body horror action comedy. It tells the story of Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), an ambitious reporter who inadvertently destroys both his career and his romantic relationship with Anne Weying (Michelle Williams) when he hacks into his significant other's computer so he can confront an Elon Musk-esque billionaire, Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), about his various shady business deals. Six months later, Brock is a loser barely able to keep his life together, and that is how he would have remained had not one of Drake's employees (Jenny Slate) found him to explain that his suspicions about Drake were correct all along. This prompts Brock to break into Drake's super-secret science lab and, as these things often go, the whole situation ends with Brock being infected by an alien symbiote named Venom who gives him superpowers while communicating with him in his head.
This isn't quite the standard cinematic template for the superhero genre, although one could be forgiven for thinking that given the plot description. The Venom/Brock hybrid isn't exactly a hero; for most of the film's running time, they're focused primarily on self-preservation, and it isn't until Venom realizes that he is also a loser like Brock that they team up to save the planet in the name of naked self-interest.
That said, the fact that "Venom" tries to liven up the superhero formula by making the titular character into an antihero doesn't automatically mean that the movie works. Like all genre pictures, "Venom" lives or dies by the execution of its standard parts rather than by its originality. While in this regard the movie is hardly perfect, it has more good elements than bad.
Foremost among these positive variables is Hardy's performance. As Brock, he is appropriately swaggering when at the top of the world with his career, self-pitying when his life has been seemingly destroyed and utterly terrified when he realizes that he has been tur
Journalist Eddie Brock is trying to take down Carlton Drake, the notorious and brilliant founder of the Life Foundation. While investigating one of Drake's experiments, Eddie's body merges with the alien Venom -- leaving him with superhuman strength and power. Twisted, dark and fueled by rage, Venom tries to control the new and dangerous abilities that Eddie finds so intoxicating.
I might have even loved it. At a time when every superhero film tries to (a) serve as either the springboard for or the continuation of a cinematic universe, (b) bog itself down in ponderous self-importance a la "The Dark Knight" or (c) do both of those things, it is refreshing to watch a movie that tells a self-contained story — fully aware of the fact that by virtue of its genre it is going to be braindead and cheesy — and as a result is just plain fun.
Indeed, if "Venom" wasn't based on an iconic superhero character (the antihero Venom, who was first seen on the big screen in "Spider-Man 3"), it could pass for a legitimate body horror action comedy. It tells the story of Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), an ambitious reporter who inadvertently destroys both his career and his romantic relationship with Anne Weying (Michelle Williams) when he hacks into his significant other's computer so he can confront an Elon Musk-esque billionaire, Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), about his various shady business deals. Six months later, Brock is a loser barely able to keep his life together, and that is how he would have remained had not one of Drake's employees (Jenny Slate) found him to explain that his suspicions about Drake were correct all along. This prompts Brock to break into Drake's super-secret science lab and, as these things often go, the whole situation ends with Brock being infected by an alien symbiote named Venom who gives him superpowers while communicating with him in his head.
This isn't quite the standard cinematic template for the superhero genre, although one could be forgiven for thinking that given the plot description. The Venom/Brock hybrid isn't exactly a hero; for most of the film's running time, they're focused primarily on self-preservation, and it isn't until Venom realizes that he is also a loser like Brock that they team up to save the planet in the name of naked self-interest.
That said, the fact that "Venom" tries to liven up the superhero formula by making the titular character into an antihero doesn't automatically mean that the movie works. Like all genre pictures, "Venom" lives or dies by the execution of its standard parts rather than by its originality. While in this regard the movie is hardly perfect, it has more good elements than bad.
Foremost among these positive variables is Hardy's performance. As Brock, he is appropriately swaggering when at the top of the world with his career, self-pitying when his life has been seemingly destroyed and utterly terrified when he realizes that he has been tur
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