It's time to revisit the lovable anti-hero who has proved to be many a fan favorite when it comes to his Spider-man antagonist role, or when he branches out to seek his own brand of justice in other adventures. He wasn't done nearly enough justice when he was portrayed by Topher Grace in Sam Raimi's Spider-man III (side note: apart from the bad casting in that movie, having too many villains and multiple story arcs to balance basically tanked the movie; however, one of my guilty pleasures is watching the beautiful dance sequences set to the jazzy music.)
Speaking about music, as if it was a bad omen, this movie was book-ended by some of the worst music I've ever heard. First up was a musical montage for the movie "Small Foot" set to the song "Moment of truth" by Cyn. This is about the cheesiest bubble-gum pop number you could ever concoct with the most cheesy repetitive millennial whoop chorus ever. I can picture parents just being tortured by their impressionable offspring who get this tune stuck in their heads. The song just seriously messed up my mojo. Next up was Eminem's "Venom": this was just a terrible song; never have particularly liked the combination of his nasally voice combined with the slurring of his lyrics, which is on full display here. And it seems like we got a 2-for-1 special on cheesy chorus day because the chorus is an assault on the senses. Seems like that Rap God nonsense is getting to his head.
A little tangent there. So basically, this was a chance to do something different (read: better), and to carry the character in a new direction. It was going to be quite the uphill task getting things done because this time around they tore out Spider-man's part from Venom's origin. A common part of that origin has been Spidey rejecting the symbiote, which then proceeds to bond with a dejected Eddie Brock who's similarly peeved at Spidey. Sans such a back story, the movie attempts to give us an extensive overview of Eddie thriving after suffering a previous setback while he was in New York; he's reinvented himself in San Francisco and made quite the name for himself, until he decides to tangle with The Life Foundation and gets shown exactly how far down the rock bottom path he can be taken.
People have complained that the first part of the story is a slow-burn. Apart from Eddie Brock's re-imagined history, we have the introduction of the symbiotes played out like the movie Species II (which is about all I could say without descending into serious "Spoiler" territory). In the end though, even with the explanations about the symbiotes, the movie still leaves you with some questions about things like the hierarchy suggested in symbiote society. Perhaps they're saving that part for the planned sequel, and we'll just have to wait on it.
This movie really is a mixed bag. That very intro to the symbiotes sees them establish a horror-like tone for the movie, but since they decided to make this a PG-13 movie (16+ down here in Kenya) they can't really commit to the horror element of things. I noticed that in the trailers, you have Eddie Brock walking down the street "communing" with Venom: in some trailers he tells Venom that he can't just go around HURTING people; in other trailers he tells Venom that he can't just go around EATING people. So, lo and behold, for some people not familiar with the comic book lore, the symbiotes (which sometimes act like parasites feeding off their hosts) are at times downright capable of consuming people. Now, you wouldn't be able to tell that from this movie, because whenever Venom's long tongue and chompers do a dirty deed it's basically hidden from the cameras. How do they expect to have a universe in which brutal characters like Venom and Carnage are meant to exist, and then assault us with these PG-13 type shenanigans?
The action is also a mixed bag. Eddie remains oblivious of his augmentation initially, but circumstances don't allow him to process it. Eventually, in a full on confrontation with some mercs, Venom bubbles to the surface, and basically commandeers Eddie's body like a vehicle and basically ensures their self-preservation. The effects held up for this extended sequence and are enjoyable. The Eddie/Venom dynamic provides by far the most interesting bits of the movie. However, the last symbiote vs. symbiote fight will just leave you confused. Having 2 dark sometimes amorphous bodies of goo going at it, at breakneck speeds means that you'll miss out on a lot of what's happening. Honestly, set against the dark palette of the night time scenery, you will miss out on a lot of detail, and you'll be begging for some Slow-mo to get yourself centred.
Tom Hardy gets a lot of praise for his work, and he deserves it too. At least he went with an accent that we can make sense of (yeah, Bane's accent was atrocious!). Most of the actors do their parts well, but I feel like the writing is what lets them down, especially with regards to the villain. I don't know what it is about movies trying to plug in Mark Zuckerberg-esque type villains these days (must be a millennial trend!) It certainly didn't work out with the disastrous BvS's Lex Luthor Jr. (Jesse Eisenberg) from Justice League, and it just didn't gel even with Riz Ahmed's take on "Carlton Drake" in this movie. Let's just stick to the established old menacing rich guys for a change.
Something is just off about this movie, but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe somewhere in this hodgepodge of ideas was a great movie, but it is executed in a most dastardly manner. Perhaps, it's because of a certain time jump that randomly gets plopped in this movie; or maybe even in the manner in which some character motivations (and changes) are just randomly glossed over and accepted. I also keep thinking back to one of the trailers where it seemed like something telekinetically shoved people away from their desks, and that seemed menacing as hell. However, in the finished product, (teased in later trailers with completed CGI) seeing the symbiote Riot supposedly fashion massive blades from his hands, and then proceed to gut people in so sanitized a manner with barely anything askew just tipped me beyond the suspension of disbelief scale.
I'd give this movie a 60% rating (probably something like a C+), and would recommend that you'd rather watch this at home. I just feel discombobulated.
People have complained that the first part of the story is a slow-burn. Apart from Eddie Brock's re-imagined history, we have the introduction of the symbiotes played out like the movie Species II (which is about all I could say without descending into serious "Spoiler" territory). In the end though, even with the explanations about the symbiotes, the movie still leaves you with some questions about things like the hierarchy suggested in symbiote society. Perhaps they're saving that part for the planned sequel, and we'll just have to wait on it.
This movie really is a mixed bag. That very intro to the symbiotes sees them establish a horror-like tone for the movie, but since they decided to make this a PG-13 movie (16+ down here in Kenya) they can't really commit to the horror element of things. I noticed that in the trailers, you have Eddie Brock walking down the street "communing" with Venom: in some trailers he tells Venom that he can't just go around HURTING people; in other trailers he tells Venom that he can't just go around EATING people. So, lo and behold, for some people not familiar with the comic book lore, the symbiotes (which sometimes act like parasites feeding off their hosts) are at times downright capable of consuming people. Now, you wouldn't be able to tell that from this movie, because whenever Venom's long tongue and chompers do a dirty deed it's basically hidden from the cameras. How do they expect to have a universe in which brutal characters like Venom and Carnage are meant to exist, and then assault us with these PG-13 type shenanigans?
The action is also a mixed bag. Eddie remains oblivious of his augmentation initially, but circumstances don't allow him to process it. Eventually, in a full on confrontation with some mercs, Venom bubbles to the surface, and basically commandeers Eddie's body like a vehicle and basically ensures their self-preservation. The effects held up for this extended sequence and are enjoyable. The Eddie/Venom dynamic provides by far the most interesting bits of the movie. However, the last symbiote vs. symbiote fight will just leave you confused. Having 2 dark sometimes amorphous bodies of goo going at it, at breakneck speeds means that you'll miss out on a lot of what's happening. Honestly, set against the dark palette of the night time scenery, you will miss out on a lot of detail, and you'll be begging for some Slow-mo to get yourself centred.
Tom Hardy gets a lot of praise for his work, and he deserves it too. At least he went with an accent that we can make sense of (yeah, Bane's accent was atrocious!). Most of the actors do their parts well, but I feel like the writing is what lets them down, especially with regards to the villain. I don't know what it is about movies trying to plug in Mark Zuckerberg-esque type villains these days (must be a millennial trend!) It certainly didn't work out with the disastrous BvS's Lex Luthor Jr. (Jesse Eisenberg) from Justice League, and it just didn't gel even with Riz Ahmed's take on "Carlton Drake" in this movie. Let's just stick to the established old menacing rich guys for a change.
Something is just off about this movie, but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe somewhere in this hodgepodge of ideas was a great movie, but it is executed in a most dastardly manner. Perhaps, it's because of a certain time jump that randomly gets plopped in this movie; or maybe even in the manner in which some character motivations (and changes) are just randomly glossed over and accepted. I also keep thinking back to one of the trailers where it seemed like something telekinetically shoved people away from their desks, and that seemed menacing as hell. However, in the finished product, (teased in later trailers with completed CGI) seeing the symbiote Riot supposedly fashion massive blades from his hands, and then proceed to gut people in so sanitized a manner with barely anything askew just tipped me beyond the suspension of disbelief scale.
I'd give this movie a 60% rating (probably something like a C+), and would recommend that you'd rather watch this at home. I just feel discombobulated.
