Venom - reviewed.

I remember everyone groaning when it was announced that Sony was making a Venom movie.

Then they saw the trailer and got excited. I was kind of in the ‘meh’ camp until I heard Tom Hardy was on board to play Eddie Brock.

He did such a great job as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises that I figured he’d be a great hero/anti-hero in Venom. And he did!

His portrayal of Eddie Brock was very interesting. Always likable but definitely a character with flaws.

He was someone you were rooting for even when he was messing up. The symbiote storyline isn’t one that’s been told in this way before.

Sure, Venom was in Spider-Man 3 but it doesn’t even compare to this version, honestly. This one was much better. It was done in a more comedic way.

The only negative I have is that the comedy almost made the movie a little too cartoonish. Just a little.

It felt like Venom could’ve been a little more diabolical. His lines were delivered in a way that seemed like they were supposed to be punchlines instead of being authentically humorous.

It was as if Venom knew, 'There's an audience watching and listening so now I need to say this in a goofy voice and have a goofy interaction with Eddie Brock so they laugh at me.'

That can be forgiven though.

There was seriousness to go along with the humor. The storyline with Brock’s girlfriend (Michelle Williams) felt real enough to make one care about it. It wasn’t one of the great romances of all time but it was relatable.

I cared more about that relationship and dynamic than several other super hero romances.

The action scenes were great. Venom’s unique powers made for some awesome action sequences! Definitely an upgrade from Spider-Man 3.

The movie was released in October in time for Halloween, but the dark character wasn't that grimacing.  It wasn't a horror movie by any means.  Definitely a PG superhero movie. 

I guess it could've been darker and more adult, but Tom Hardy made it work as it was.

After seeing Venom in Venom, I want to see Venom interact with Deadpool and The Avengers and Wolverine.

I know that won’t happen due to the large amount of contract negotiations that would have to happen between Fox and Sony and Disney and Marvel, but in this day and age of superhero team-up movies we are spoiled so I still want it.

The villain in this movie was coming from a good intention — kind of like Thanos. He was trying to solve the issue of overpopulation.

But he lost himself somewhere along the way and traded in his morals for his end goal. He was a good choice for the villain.

He wasn't physically imposing, but sometimes those with misguided plans and no remorse for lives lost along the way make the best villains.

There was even an evil (or more evil?) symbiote. There were just enough different things going on to tell a good story and not too many to get lost in the shuffle.

Overall, this wasn’t a masterpiece. It probably won’t win any awards. But it was fun. A lot of fun.

If you’re a fan of Spider-Man or that universe, you should enjoy this one.

There is a mid-credits scene.  Post-credits scene was about the animated Spider-Man movie, but the mid-credits scene points to a possible sequel.


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