Review: Venom is an achievement in “so bad it’s good” filmmaking

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Writers: Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg, and Kelly Marcel

Starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, and Reid Scott

Runtime: 1 hour and 52 minutes (112 minutes)

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for language)

As a massive Spider-Man fan, I totally expected to have nothing but total disdain for Venom. That said, Venom isn’t good. It’s an otherwise unattainable level of bad. Something so rare that it’s a marvel to behold, something so bad it’s… wonderful.

Venom is like a really ugly significant other but you love them because they’re fun to be around, they know how to live life to the fullest. This anti-superhero film follows the famous Spider-Man baddie without his heroic counterpart as this is totally unconnected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is a reporter living in San Francisco who finds himself caught up in a conspiracy surrounding Life, a corporation making big steps in space exploration.

Life has supposedly captured something from outer space and is using it to experiment on people which inevitably results in death. Brock’s quest for answers eventually leads him down a path of self-destruction and he ends up becoming embedded with the toxic goo that Life is toying with.

As he learns to cope with this evil force raging inside of him known only as Venom, he begins to bond with it and seeks to not only expose Life but destroy them entirely. This film is nothing short of astonishing in its lack of care for approval from the audience or critics, like Venom himself, it seeks to be chaotic, loud, and unabashedly stupid.

To its credit, the film mostly manages to be coherent and competent. The story is pretty straight forward, there are a few questionable choices in terms of the narrative but the issues mostly stem from the dialogue, editing, and special effects.

When we cut away from Eddie Brock and Venom, the movie does feel like it’s dragging and isn’t super engaging as Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) spouts angry exposition and recites his need to find Eddie Brock ASAP. His arc isn’t anything to write home about, it’s rather dull but it’s serviceable for the story being told.

One of the only jarring elements of the story comes from an arc that begins in the first scene in the movie. A space ship carrying the symbiotes crashes in East Malaysia and one of them latches on to an ambulance driver. The driver than carries it to a bustling market where it infects someone else and it continues to spread to new hosts as it makes it way to San Francisco.

These scenes are ultimately a waste of time and feels like padding, creating very uninteresting scenes that don’t do much to develop or distinguish this particular symbiote. Its ultimate goal is just to get to Carlton Drake and… do something generic and evil that’s never fully explained. It feels like the movie felt the need to cram in a bad guy as opposed to just developing one organically or focusing exclusively on the relationship between Venom and Eddie Brock.

As I walked out of the theater, I asked the person I saw the movie with what the plan of Riot, the opposing symbiote, was. Neither of us had any idea and just shrugged it off. When the film isn’t trying to extend the runtime with the villain, Venom is stupidly fun.

These moments of glory come in all different forms like Venom’s wacky antics, bombastic action, and Tom Hardy truly giving it his all in a film that really doesn’t deserve his immense talent. There were moments where I found myself grinning ear to ear simply because I was enthralled by the cojones this comic-book film had. I won’t spoil what those particular moments are but there’s no question that everyone involved with this movie was probably having a blast making it.

Even during some of the scenes which feature dated dialogue that is either super cliche or incredibly cringe-worthy are enjoyable. Questionable editing and acting help create moments that were reminiscent of the cult-classic 2003 film, The Room. These sequences help the film reach that “so bad it’s good” status, something that I haven’t seen achieved on this scale in a long time.

The action in Venom is surprisingly well-done. The anti-Spider-Man is always using his wide array of powers to keep the moment to moment action fresh, exciting, and fun. Whether that’s taking on a heavily armed group of SWAT team members in a smoke filled room, fighting another symbiotic creature, or helping Eddie stay alive during a tense car chase, the set-pieces are always keeping your eyes glued to the screen.

Sometimes the special effects during these scenes feel a bit off but Venom himself always looked up to par. The particular effects lacking polish mostly came from the individual extensions of Venom like large fists or other special abilities.

The Verdict:

I unironically adore Venom but that doesn’t mean it’s good, it’s really not. If you have even the slightest interest in this movie, it’s worth seeing because movies like this are as rare as a total solar eclipse. Sure, you’ve got some frequent bombs like Fantastic Four but that was dreadfully bland and an unenjoyable trainwreck. Venom is like if that wrecked train was carrying confetti and a joyful mariachi band to score the locomotive’s demise.