Venom Review – Pile of Bodies, Pile of Heads

Venom is an action movie, but it is jam packed with comedy as well.

What Happens in Venom?

Eddie Brock is an investigative reporter, who is best known for exposing people. Upon hearing that the Life Foundation, run by Carlton Drake, just had a rocket crash from space with multiple dead, Eddie wants to investigate and interview Drake. Eddie’s fiancé Anne is a lawyer whose firm work’s for the Life Foundation, and one day Eddie goes on her computer and finds classified documents. These documents show that the Foundation has conducted human trials that have resulted in more deaths. 

When Eddie has his interview with Drake, he confronts him about the deaths after which the interview is abruptly ended. Eddie is then fired from his job, and Anne breaks up with him after she is also fired. Six months later,  Eddie is approached by a doctor who works for the Life Foundation and, who tells Eddie that the rocket that crashed brought alien symbiotes to Earth. The doctor tells Eddie that the human trials have been Carleton Drake trying to find human hosts for the symbiotes. The doctor then takes Eddie to the Life Foundation, where Eddie collects evidence, but while he is there one of the symbiotes attaches itself to him. Now on the run from Carlton Drake, Eddie must figure out what this symbiote is and how to get out of this mess.

Who Are The Characters in Venom?

Both of the main characters in this movie experience drastic changes to their fundamental characteristics. Eddie Brock is an investigative journalist with a passion for exposing rich, crooked people. While he tends to tell the truth, he is known as a loose cannon and a risk to those around him. He does his job as well as anyone, but he ignores the costs of those around him. His journey through the movie gives him a new perspective on the world around him, and the effects his action can have.

Venom begins as a human hungry villain, but over time his views on earth change for the better. Venom is very selfish and irrational at the beginning, but slowly develops an appreciation for Earth. His earthly partnership gives him a new perspective on his new home.

Carlton Drake is world renown for his research involving colon cancer. His research has tripled the life expectancy of his patience. While his research has done many good things for the work, he has skeletons in his closet. These skeletons are what cause his unraveling. He is a very intelligent, charismatic man, but he is also a highly ambitious man, one that does not worry about the costs. This disregard for others becomes increasingly apparent as the movie progresses.

Venom Review

Venom is exactly what you would expect from a movie about one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes. It is a quite fun and very action-packed movie with an interesting premise, good characters and cool fight scenes.  I was not sure what I would think when this movie began, as I was never the biggest fan of giving a villain their own movie because are they really a villain then?

I think this film plays it smart by not taking away Venom’s more disturbing features and qualities, while also not making him too dislikable. He is an anti-hero in this movie, which works perfectly for the story as he can still eat people but he mostly only does that to the bad guys.  

The best part of this movie in my opinion is the relationship between Eddie Brock and Venom.  The way the two interact with Venom mostly just talking in Eddie’s head is cool, and it has some comedy to it, as it just looks like Eddie is talking to himself. It’s interesting to see their dynamic shift from Venom just needing Eddie to survive to more or less friends.

Tom Hardy does a good job making Eddie his own distinct character, one that is not like most protagonists, as well as doing a good job voicing Venom. The side characters are also engaging in their own right, with Anne being formidable and willing to stand by Eddie after seeing what Venom could do as well as working with Venom at one point. Her new boyfriend Dan is decently nice and treats Eddie pretty well considering he is Anne’s ex, and he helps Eddie throughout the film. Carlton Drake is a charismatic villain who easily acquires the trust of others, but you can tell that he is quite cold.

 My only problem with the film is that the evil symbiote Riot is too much like Venom, even in colour, and it would’ve been cool to see something a little more different. My other problem is that this movie is quite short, so it feels as if the movie is on fast forward at times. I would have liked to see more character development as well as more time fleshing out the story, especially the aftermath of the final fight. I felt it ended a little abruptly.

All in all a fun action film that I would recommend to anyone craving cool action scenes and to any Spider-Man fans.