Venom
“Pile of bodies, pile of heads.”
Summary:
Eddie Brock is an investigative reporter who is best known for his exposing of different 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 who’s firm work’s for the Life Foundation and one day Eddie goes on her computer and finds classified documents that show human trials that the Foundation has conducted that have resulted in more deaths. When Eddie has his interview with Drake he confronts him about the deaths after which the interview is ended. Eddie is then fired from his job as well as Anne breaks up with him after losing her job thanks to him. 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 and 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 takes pictures as evidence but while he is there one of the symbiotes attaches itself to him. Now on the run from Carlton Drake, Eddie must find out what this symbiote is and how to get out of this mess.
Characters:
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.
Austin: 9.1/10
This movie was super entertaining. I found it highly enjoyable and highly captivating from start to finish. The visual quality was stunning, with nearly no imperfections. It was impossible to tell it was a computer generated image.
The characters are very well written. The writers have developed a strong cast of characters with different roles and strengths that allow for a smooth flowing plot. Characters such as Venom and Eddy compliment each other well, and it is a privilege to watch them grow and change throughout the movie. The dialogue is also super funny, providing a well timed relief from some of the more emotional, serious moments of the movie. Nothing better than a laugh to relieve tension.The growing relationship between Eddy Brock and Venom is just one reason I am excited for the next movie in this franchise.
The plot is quick. At only 1 hour and 52 minutes running time, it is not a long movie in Marvel/Sony terms. Even so, there is a ton of content and information jammed into that period of time, and it kept me engaged throughout. The emotional highs and lows that are found in this movie prevents it from becoming complacent or boring.
This is a great first movie in the Venom franchise. There are very few things this movie doesn’t do well and it is a super easy movie to watch. I would recommend this movie to anyone, especially if you are a fan of Venom from previous comics and movies.
Sebastian: 8.2/10
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 dislikeable. 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 Eddi his own distinct character 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 as well as helping Eddie throughout the film. Carlton Drake is a charismatic villain that you can see how he gains people’s trust but you can tell that he is quite cold in general.
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 surprisingly so it feels as if the movie is on fast forward at times and I would have liked to see more character development as well as more time fleshing out the story a bit 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.
Nathanyal: 8.0/10
Venom was an enjoyable movie to watch with intense action scenes and interesting scientific exploration. The main strength of this movie was the development of Venom, the alien symbiote that landed on Earth. Alone, Venom is weak and unable to form any shape beyond a blob. However, alongside Eddie Brock, the two were able to bring out each other’s strengths. This budding relationship, along with quips and jabs from Venom, create an unexpected friendship between human and symbiote. Another aspect that was enjoyable to watch was the mystery of the symbiote. After the opening scene, the mysterious symbiote that escaped the crash of the spaceship by possession of human hosts brought upon a layer of suspense and darkness to the movie. The only weakness of this movie was the exploration of how Venom and Eddie came to work together and the reason they would cooperate.
All in all, the movie was enjoyable to watch with intense action scenes and a fun protagonist.
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Fleischer, Ruben, director. Venom. Marvel Entertainment, 2018.
