‘Venom’ Review Roundup

Venom is set to kick off Sony‘s Marvel Universe when it opens in theaters this weekend, creating a whole new world entirely separate from the Marvel Cinematic Universe centering around Tom Hardy‘s Eddie Brock. Now, we’re getting a sense of how the film came out.

Reviews are starting to roll in for Venom, and while there’s been a lot of excitement for the Marvel Comics-inspired film, the reviews tend to skew a little negatively with the film apparently struggling to find a consistent tone with much of the film simply not working at all.

That said, there are still things the critics are enjoying about Venom. Hardy’s efforts received some praise and the action sequences won people over as well, offering some genuinely entertaining moments despite what has been described as a “clunky” script. Of course, audiences will decide for themselves how they feel about Venom — but you can read on for a snapshot of the critics’ reviews across the internet to get a feel for what people are saying about Venom.

Brandon Davis – ComicBook.com

The action sequences are very entertaining, often offering a sense of raw terror and grit. Many push the boundaries for the MPAA’s PG-13 rating, as the film also makes full on its quota for colorful language. Fans of the character will also love to see Venom’s wild tongue letting loose in clouds of smoke before he takes out a entire SWAT team. However, the movie could have only thrived if it came before The Incredible Hulk — or about five years before The Incredible Hulk. It not only offers vibes of that decade old Marvel movie in its CGI fights but also feels a bit creatively dated by comparison to today’s super hero epics.

Inevitably, Venom shows clear plans for sequels and expansions, but the studio should take a look at the few bits of Venom which worked and scrap the larger portions which didn’t if they’re going to continue. That said, more of Tom Hardy in this part wouldn’t be the worst thing to come of it.

Full review HERE

Todd McCarthy – The Hollywood Reporter

A significant problem in a film full of them is that Eddie comes off as a dope, an eager dufus hardly convincing as a boundary-pushing journo or someone who can out-think a titan of technology. Whatever his shortcomings as a journalist or a mate, the character needed a deep repository of intelligence and resourcefulness that is nowhere detectable; he’s all Basset Hound and no German Shepherd. Hardy has always had a terrific screen bearing and presence, but this may be his least interesting role and performance.

Read full review HERE

Chris Nashawaty – Entertainment Weekly

Venom isn’t quite bad, but it’s not exactly good either. It’s noncommittally mediocre and, as a result, forgettable. It just sort of sits there, beating you numb, unsure of whether it wants to be a comic-book movie or put the whole idea of comic-book movies in its crosshairs. It never rises above bombastic and busy — which is something I never thought I’d say about a movie starring three aces like Hardy, Ahmed, and Williams. Visually, which is the only thing really going for it, Venom has a stylishly gloomy Nolan-does-Gotham vibe. But Venom, the character, never comes into focus until the last five minutes, when it finally, at long last, starts to get interesting. Until then, he’s just another bit of secondary Marvel IP who scowls and growls, and never shows us why he should be headlining his own movie.

Read full review HERE

Michael Rougeau – Gamespot

Venom has all the ingredients of a decent superhero movie–10 or 15 years ago. With spotty CGI, poorly drawn characters, tonal inconsistency including forced “edginess” and awkward humor, sidelined female characters, and even cringeworthy licensed musical cues, it feels like a relic from the distant, pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe past. That may in part be attributed to the fact that it’s been in production in one form or another since at least 2008. But its problems go way past simply being “old school,” and ultimately, Venom lacks the charm, clarity, and ambition superhero fans have come to expect.

Read full review HERE

Perri Nemiroff – Collider

Bear with me here; Venom the movie is an actual “turd in the wind.” Chop off its legs thanks to a weak first act. Lose the arms because every single supporting character is essentially worthless. The head obviously has to go because Venom is pretty brainless. And, not for nothing, but that leaves us with the heart (or for the sake of this visual, the torso) of the movie, the Venom and Eddie relationship, a component that’s just going where the wind takes us in this downright wacky comic book adaptation.

Read full review HERE

Michael Nordine – IndieWire

Marvel has established such a consistent formula in its cinematic universe that this radically different approach will surely be jarring to some, but the fact that this movie could never exist in the same world as “Captain America: Civil War” despite hailing from the same brand of comics is part of its charm. “Venom” is very much its own entity — one in which, for better or worse, a parasitic alien calls its host a pussy for deciding to take the elevator instead of jumping off a skyscraper and Tom Hardy jumps into a lobster tank in the middle of a crowded restaurant. This leaves the viewer with two choices: reject the parasite or let it take you over. Fight it off and you’ll have a bad time; become one with it and you may achieve a kind of symbiosis.

Read full review HERE

Charles Pulliam-Moore – io9

If anything, Venom’s greatest weakness is actually the way Sony’s marketed the movie. Like Hardy’s accent, it’s seemed as if the studio hasn’t been quite sure just what kind of tone it wants to strike with its advertisements, which send mixed messages about what kind of movie really Venom is. It’s not nearly as dark and bloody or brooding of a film as Sony could have made. Rather, it’s a loud, kind of silly action/buddy cop movie that just wants you to kick back with a bucket of popcorn and have a good time while a space monster licks his chops at you.

Read full review HERE

John Boone – ET

What Venom has going for it is Hardy, rasping and bellowing and acting at a 10. And that’s before he is infected by Venom, when he really lets rip, hamming it up and playing a mix of drunk and demonic and raving mad. There’s one sequence in particular, as Eddie is first adjusting to having an alien cohabitate in his body, when he gets sweatily panicked and crazed, and Hardy really is great in it. Venom segues from there into a more traditional chase through the city, fast and loud and thrilling, but I wish it had lived in that sweet spot of bizarreness, that Hardy had been able to push boundaries further, to go totally nuts, to remind us why, exactly, the world needs another superhero.

Read full review HERE

Meg Downey – CBR

It’s not that Venom doesn’t make an earnest go of carving its own path, but the finished product feels like an unwelcome relic predating the MCU, like Ang Lee’s Hulk or the Ben Affleck Daredevil. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean Venom is a complete wash, but falling as it does so close on the heels of powerhouses like Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War, it’s hamstrung at best.

Read full review HERE

Matt Patches – Polygon

Venom would be another anonymous notch on the superhero movie belt if not for Hardy, whose dedication to batshit nonsense is a saving grace — and reason enough to make a second movie. The pieces are in place for a Venom 2 in which Eddie spends 100% of his time wrapped up with the symbiote; in which Williams, who makes a thankless role so much more than it could have been, has a character whose life extends beyond tracking her animalistic ex’s path on Waze; in which any risks are taken.

But this first installment is a whiffed experiment in the blending of safety-net blockbustering and Tom Hardy’s personalities. There’s just no fighting the power of the latter. “WE are Venom” is a myth. Tom Hardy is Venom, and hopefully will be again.

Read the full review HERE