I try my best to avoid any kind of reviews before I watch a film so that when I watch it I go in with a clear mind and no expectations. However, in this world of social media this can be a difficult task, especially when it comes to a film such as Venom (2018) which continue us down the path of the never-ending comic book era we seem to be stuck in. And that isn't to say that I dislike superhero films, on the contrary in fact, but I haven't yet been sucked into the whole MCU hype that has taken over the world and so for me it is just an endless barrage of trailers or film news about a universe that I have little connection to. And so, when Venom was released to largely negative reviews I couldn't avoid them, they were everywhere I looked. I didn't think that a Venom film could get as bad a reception as the Spider-Man 3 (2007) version of the character but that was seemingly what was happening. So, I went into the film with my expectations on the floor and expecting to be sat wanting to scratch my eyes out. My reaction was the exact opposite. Don't get me wrong the film is not very good and is stupidly ridiculous but I think that works in its favour. It starts a little slow but once it picks up it becomes very entertaining film which is a couple hours of fun. It is never going to win any awards or gain critical praise, but then again it is not that kind of film. The story follows Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), a successful and popular reporter with his own show that focuses on taking down controversial characters and 'bad guys'. However, after going against his bosses wishes and going off script in an interview with Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), a business mogul who is working in medicine and space exploration, Brock loses his job and his fiancé, Anne Weying (Michelle Williams), and becomes an isolated shell of his former self. When he is offered a chance to expose Drake for the evils he is committing he takes it and in doing so is infected with the Venom symbiote, which Drake has been experimenting with using vulnerable people who all ended up dead. The film then follows Eddie as he attempts to adjust to life with this infection inside of him which speaks to him, morphs his body into its own image and controls his motions often against his will, all while being pursued by Drake who wants to use Eddie for his research.
The film, as I have already mentioned, is far from being perfect, and in respects to the actual story and pacing of the story the film is very, very poor. Eddie goes from having a great life to having a shit one in the blink of an eye and it is really kind of jarring. It happens with no build up, we don't see any prior conflict within his relationships or any arguments or anything, he just goes from everything being perfect to everything being crap and it is really, really rushed. This is not even the most rushed character development in the film either as the motivation for Venom to go from attempting to take over the world to deciding to save it is so rushed and forced that it is pretty laughable. He literally goes from using Eddie to help him control the world to deciding that he likes Eddie enough to save humanity and start a new life on earth as an extension of Eddie. Although the two are shown to have comradery there is no way near enough of a good relationship built to earn this change of character. Literally a few minutes before this moment in the film Eddie manages to get the symbiote out of him and verbally says that he is glad to be rid of it, and yet moments later they are seemingly the best of friends? It is bullshit and it is really, really poor screenwriting. The technical side of the film is okay at best. There are a couple of really nice-looking shots but is mainly just standard direction and cinematography with very little style to it. The CGI throughout is good, especially the Venom CGI which is well done, but again its nothing mind blowing, and overall the technical side of the film is just fine.
What makes this film enjoyable for me is the performances, especially Tom Hardy's performance. Everyone in the film puts in a performance worthy of the kind of stupid film they are in. They're are obviously not going for Oscars, but they are also all clearly having fun and that sense of fun translates into the audience. Michelle Williams is good as the estranged fiancé, especially towards the end of the film where she becomes much more of a helpful character. Riz Ahmed is an actor who I really like, and I enjoy him in this film also as he plays an obvious villain character with very little depth and made of cliché, but he does it in an entertaining way. But it is Tom Hardy who steals the show, even with that batshit accent he is putting on. He puts in a decent performance before he is infected with the symbiote but once he is infected and becomes Venom he absolutely steals the show. The writing in these moments is very funny and works brilliantly with the two personalities of Eddie Brock and Venom at odds with each other. The Venom character itself has the best few lines in the film, including one line that got a very loud laugh from the audience I was with, and of course I include myself in that. The action scenes are a lot of fun and are shot in a way where I always knew what was going on, which is often not the case. Basically, when the film called Venom actually has Venom in it is brilliantly fun and this is down to the performance of Tom Hardy who seemingly just hits every role he has out of the park. These scenes are reminiscent of buddy cop films and I could honestly do with that. If Sony came out with a two-hour long film of just these two-stopping crime with little story, plenty of action and good back and forth dialogue between the two I would not complain.
From a critical standpoint Venom is not a good film. The story is very weak and rushed and it is filled with clichés and tropes we have seen a thousand times before. But the performances and the character work of Hardy and the special effects team behind the Venom character takes this film from being a terrible film to being a film that is simply just a lot of fun, and I think that is exactly what this film as attempting to be. It doesn't attempt to be anything more than a fun comic book blockbuster that you can go to with your friends or family and have a good time with. It doesn't attempt any deeper meaning or philosophical questions that really excellent superhero films often do, but what it does deliver in is being very entertaining and a lot of fun and is a film I can easily seem myself going back to. It is very stupid and for that I love it, and if the mid credit scene is anything to go by the sequel is going to be fucking ridiculous, and I would be lying if I said I was anything but excited for it.