Movie Review Rewind: Venom (2018)

Share This Post

VENOM

3 out of 5 stars – Brandon Vick

Director Ruben Fleischer’s gusto is gone with a PG-13 rating, some lamebrain ideas, and idle execution – refraining our favorite freaky tongue parasite from becoming violently vicious. He undeniably has a movie with a serious identity crisis, yet the action sequences are solid and, whether intentional or not, there are plenty of laughs. As with quite a few origin stories, the first part takes too long to get to the good stuff, though a man and his symbiote do make for a fun bromance comedy that we never see coming. And while leaving itself open to mockery, Tom Hardy and the anti-hero are a match made in heaven. It’s a one-man show with Hardy’s off-kilter performance being a blessing in disguise for this cuckoo comic book blockbuster.

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

3 out of 5 stars – “Big Natural” Stoney Keeley

My feelings on Venom are complicated. On one hand, “i enjoyed it” – that was the general consensus. I felt like I kept saying that over and over, whether it was just to convince myself or not is debatable. But, overall, I thought it was fun. I certainly see the comparison to early 2000s super hero movies. Hardy played a good anti-hero, and the roots of the origin story were the best part to me. For the first hour or so, I thought, “how could you hate this? this is awesome” but then it just got too zany. The dog scene was too much. Michelle Williams was too much.

But, I can see the vision – Hardy could be the center of this expansive universe, and if they continue to get heavy hitters on board, they might have something here. If they’re going to get Venom going, maybe they should consider a different team behind it?

Ultimately, the way the 1st Captain America felt like “hey, let’s just get through this to set up The Avengers,” Venom feels like, “hey, let’s just get this origin story out of the way so we can get to Venom vs. Carnage.”

It could’ve been much worse.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley

Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Get updates and learn from the best

More To Explore