MOVIE REVIEW: Venom (2018)

Investigative journalist, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is very serious about his principles and exposing the bad guys. His number one target is Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), a scientist with questionable ethics. Unfortunately Eddie is also a bit of a selfish coward and when he goes too far he ends up losing his job and his relationship with Anne (Michelle Williams).

Meanwhile Drake is experimenting on melding aliens with human hosts and it’s not going very well until accidental exposure leaves Eddie “infected” with Venom. Venom likes nothing more than biting the heads off annoying humans, kicking the shit out of Drake’s hired hoods and eating live lobsters. It’s a match made in… well somewhere weird.

Now Eddie and Venom will have to find a way to share a body and work together using each other’s strengths to save the world from both an invasion and Carlton’s general bonkers plans.

On one hand Venom is a rollicking ride of utter madness. When the lid is off and Hardy is embracing Venom’s relentless appetites it’s both exciting and hilarious. Hardy is very good at playing a bit off the wall and the role really suits him. The effects are great, which is important when you’re playing a shape shifting ball of fibres.

On the other hand all the rest of the characters are a bit flat. Hardy and Williams have some chemistry but Anne’s motivations are not very clear. It’s hard to understand why a journalist obsessed with exposing human rights violations would get into a relationship with a lawyer working for major corporations. Ahmed is not charismatic enough to pull off a character as ruthless as Drake and I had all but forgotten his associate with a conscience, Dora Skirth (Jenny Slate).

Overall it’s a fun superhero movie that doesn’t require you to think too hard, which has its pros. Apparently Venom 2 is coming as part of the next round of the Marvel Universe. Do we need more Venom? Meh.

3/5