Venom

Having featured in 2006's disappointing Spiderman 3, the Marvel character Venom had unfortunately left a sour taste in everyone's mouth and when Sony launched the first trailer to Venom the general consensus was concerned. The Marvel franchise was, and still is, in full swing so why complicate things with a seemingly unrelated origin story? Money of course! But the casting decision to put Tom Hardy in the lead role as Eddie Brock caught a lot of interest and while the critics were tough on this, Venom ended up as one of the most successful films of 2018. However, is this one origin story too far for Marvel?

Hardy's Eddie Brock is your likeable investigative reporter for his own Youtube channel but his life takes a hit when he's caught using his girlfriend's (Michelle Williams) keycard to expose Riz Ahmed's crooked experiments on the homeless people of San Francisco. Not only dumped, he also picks-up a mysterious virus in the labs and to no surprise it's Venom inside him. Eddie wants to make things right with his ex and Venom wants to stop Ahmed's villain from completing his diabolical plans so the two work together in a story that is so short, the credits almost start before the 90 minute mark.

Venom wisely chooses not to overcomplicate itself and the film is fun to watch but it does suffer from a forgettable final act when the CGI explosions come into play. Where the film shines is during Hardy's transition phase as Venom takes control of his body while being hunted during a series of comical moments. Hardy is great in the lead but sadly this suffers from a lot of studio interference with a large portion of the film on the editing floor. The action sequences almost seemed as if they were going for a bloody Deadpool vibe but are unfortunately edited with a younger age certificate in mind. Tom Hardy even confirmed that his favourite moments that featured dark humour were part of what was removed.

I wouldn't call Venom the mess critics would have you believe but this still isn't everything it could be. I hope this turns into a series that is allowed to take the Deadpool route as there is certainly a lot of potential here to do better but when a film can be torn apart in the edit and still be successful, this is something of a concerning sign for fans of the series. Ultimately Venom is still fun to watch but doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel. Fun but forgettable in other words.