Venom

Venom > Spider-Man. Change my mind...

Spider-Man has had 6 stand-alone films in total so far, counting Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and most recently, Tom Holland. While the contest for "best" Spider-Man is a topic for another day, we've been ignoring a shadow in the corner: Venom. Like "Solo: A Star Wars Story", nobody really asked for a Venom stand-alone film. If anything, we were expecting the famed villain to be paired with Tom Holland's Spider-Man in the near future. As entertaining that would be, I am very pleased that Sony partook in the making of "Venom". When I think of Venom (Symbiote) as a character, he is this ghastly parasite from alien origins and is a disgusting and monstrous version of Spider-Man; you can immediately tell by his non-human teeth and long tongue. Essentially, it's hard to envision Venom as a hero, let alone an anti-hero because of his reputation in the comic books and in Tobey Maguire's "Spider-Man: Web of Shadows". However, setting aside all the criticisms, Sony managed to put an intriguing spin to the stereotype that villains cannot save the day and turned the Symbiote into one of those characters that you could genuinely have a beer with.

The simplest and most colloquial (and frankly, the most suitable) description for Venom is that he is "chill". Yes, the frightening parasite from outer space that penetrates the human body for its own benefit alone is "chill". And which host is the parasite having a "friendly" relationship with? That would be Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), an inquisitive journalist who is forced to share one body and somehow work together with Venom. Unfortunately, the fall guy in this "Ren and Stimpy" style relationship is, of course, the host. And like most diseases, we notice Eddie slowly losing his mind like an overdose patient and becoming a monster in the process. In this regard, Hardy is so immersive with his acting that the parasitic effects of the Symbiote eating away at his body are almost tangible on screen. Even so, the story-line continues to be more engaging as Venom rampages the city with his snark and sadistic tendencies while Eddie is literally being dragged along for the ride, leading up to a menacing yet comedic duo. And without a doubt, this is the component that makes "Venom" such an entertaining film. As a result, the chemistry between Eddie and Venom alone is incredibly exotic and should be enough to separate this film from other mainstream titles.

As far as Venom's superhero abilities are concerned, it's unlike anything we've seen in previous superhero films. So far, we recognize a plethora of super-abilities from Iron Man, Batman, the Wolverine, Superman, Hulk and so on. But it is a first for me watching a protagonist practically manhandling SWAT soldiers, smashing through walls like a mad rhino, swinging cars around with tentacles and climbing up the tallest skyscraper of San Francisco in a matter of seconds. Simply put, there is no one else other than the Wolverine who whips out moves as unusual, aggressive and brutal as Venom's, let alone biting a person's head off. Appearance-wise, Venom looks convincingly freakish and is rendered with pretty good CGI, which some thought was going to be a problem before the release. A few quotes from the film are also directly pulled out verbatim from the comic books, which is an appreciated effort to embody the character as comic-accurate as possible. In general, the portrayal of Venom is fairly satisfying and should sufficiently appeal to many Spider-Man fans. And when paired with Tom Hardy's impressive performance as Eddie Brock, they become a duo that is a combination of cool factor, violence, silliness, and friendship.

With all that said, however, the negative reviews from the "certified critics" are not ridiculous claims. The most alarming shortcoming of "Venom" is pretty much everything else besides the protagonist. I can first talk about the uneven pacing. Especially in the beginning, the story rushed the progress of Eddie as a normal human being and failed to allocate attention to subplots such as the development of the villain. And speaking of the villain (in my opinion, the most important component of a superhero film), he tries to be way too many things at once. The complaint that the villain is too similar to the hero is not significant, as such is the case for virtually all of Venom's enemies in the comics. However, this supposedly genius inventor aimlessly drifts along the lines of being intelligent, corrupt, menacing, and covetous while lacking even a single stand-out trait that makes him a memorable villain. It is most likely a character written badly, but I'm also inclined to raise an eyebrow at the actor, Riz Ahmed, who I felt could have acted better during certain parts of the film. In fact, the same could be said for virtually all other supporting characters.

But by far, the biggest complain about "Venom" is its PG-13 rating (in Canada). The marketing decision to expand the audience to younger ages may have compromised Venom's "true" character. Once again, it should be of no surprise to anybody that Venom is a violent monster; his physical appearance alone gives it away. And logically, a violent thing does violent things. But how can violence properly manifest in PG-13? To me, the restrictions are extremely pointless from a creative perspective, because slapping a PG-13 label onto Venom is virtually the same as stripping away all violence from Wolverine or Deadpool. "Logan" and "Deadpool" as PG-13 films would be unbelievably awkward with fluctuating tones and fail to adopt the popular semblance and aura of the characters. It just doesn't work. Nevertheless, given Sony's reputation as a mediocre handler of superhero licenses in films, the decision to drastically tone the horror down and attract a wider demography is really a safety net for a future crossover with the family-friendly Spider-Man than anything else. If Sony braved the process, "Venom" could have competed with "Logan" and "Deadpool" as far as the graphic and entertaining natures go. Yes, the Symbiote is really a character with that type of potential and we definitely see flashes of it in the film. Being concerned about a possible crossover with Spider-Man and sacrificing a huge chunk of Venom's portrayal already shows me Sony's preoccupation for franchising this film and milking the cash out of it rather than honoring a comic-accurate representation of a fan-favourite anti-hero. Well, it's a corporately logical direction but at the same, let's put some respect on Spider-Man's greatest nemesis.

From top to bottom, I am personally still very satisfied with how "Venom" turned out. Despite the immense pessimism from many fans left and right, there is no denying how fun the dynamic is between a parasite and a host in a superhero setting. And somehow, it managed to be Spider-Man without Spider-Man. Sony may have simply hit the jackpot or deserve credit for portraying Venom differently than mainstream superheroes, but the benefit of the doubt is their's to keep for now. That being said, the demarcation between the opinions of fans and "critics" reflects Sony's lack of credibility in producing films. From a production standpoint, "Venom" definitely does not deserve a thumbs up for reasons mentioned previously and more that this review cannot cover. But so far, this film has garnered enough numbers to encourage Sony to move onto a sequel and as a fan, I am both encouraged and discouraged by this. On one hand, it signifies a sequel with Carnage, another notable villain in Marvel (although, good luck with making it PG-13). On the other, this could also mean that Sony will most likely refrain from completely selling the rights to Venom to more reliable studios in terms of quality, such as Marvel Studios. It is at Sony's financial advantage to franchise Venom on their own in this economically-driven market of ours. But what can I say? I enjoyed watching Spider-Man's classic nemesis hoarding the spotlight despite everything else, and this is perhaps the first film which I would go through all the painfully mediocre production just to experience the Symbiote and Eddie Brock again. Move aside, Spider-Man. There's a new hero in town.

Venom: We R Venom.

Sony: No, you are PG-13 Venom.

- Yocha (YouTube)