Venom

I really believe that Marvel Studios has made the vast amount of money because they have tapped into potential storyline material that continues: comics. With this, those comics continue allowing many films with many characters to tap into. No surprise that Marvel has a vast majority of franchises. With all their other films based on their comics, they now have offered us "Venom" to sink our teeth into--pun intended.

 

Investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) attempts a comeback following a scandal, but accidentally becomes the host of an alien symbiote that gives him a violent super alter-ego: Venom. Soon, he must rely on his newfound powers to protect the world from a shadowy organization, headed up by Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), looking for a symbiote of their own. Although Brock's alter-ego, Venom assisted him in his search to uproot the corrupt organization, Brock's ex-girlfriend, Anne Weying (Michelle Williams) and her newer boyfriend, Dr. Dan Lewis (Reid Scott) attempted to help Brock as much as they could.

 

Others to round out the cast are Scott Haze as Security Chief Roland Treece, Jenny Slate as Dr. Dora Skirth, Melora Walters as Maria, Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady, Peggy Lu as Mrs. Chen, Malcolm C. Murray as Lewis Donate and Sope Aluko as Dr. Collins.

 

This was cleverly directed by Ruben Fleischer ("Zombieland" '09, "30 Minutes or Less" '11, "Gangster Squad" '13, "The List" (TV movie) '13, "Spaced Out" (TV movie) '17) plus TV and shorts. I say cleverly because when Brock became the host of this parasite, he was a regular joe, albeit a reporter, but a regular guy--not in the military or the like. So when he's trying to deal with this thing inside of him, there were almost some comedic moments of Brock's disbelief of what was happening to him and this is talented directing. The emotion and Hardy's facial expressions were priceless even though the film was quite violent. If you liked the film "Zombieland", his "Zombieland 2" is in pre-production for a 2019 release. It was adequately written by Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg and Kelly Marcel based on a story by Pinkner and Rosenberg which is based on Marvel's Venom character created by Todd McFarlane and David Michelinie. This was certainly a screenplay that kept me riveted, however there was a certain amount of choppiness and a certain lack of continuity. Some areas weren't expressly delineated well. What actually made this film was Hardy. The ensemble cast was effective, but it was Hardy that was amazing in this role of an anti-hero who has a severe problem with accepting and melding in with his alter-ego Venom. The visual effects predominantly created by Double Negative and SPI (Sony Pictures Imagery) were seamless as they were a creative aid to the storyline.

 

With all the Marvel franchises out there, this one will find its audience as the others have done. Oh, and there will be another one. Com'on, is that really a shock? Marvel, like other companies will keep making installations of franchises as long as the money keeps rolling in. You can see this in IMAX, 4DX and 3D which all should look good in whatever format you choose.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                 Rated: PG-13                                       112mins