Venom The Official Rate & Review Venom Thread (SPOILERS!!!)

[Stark Bauer]

To me, it's a Venom movie. Don't go to see it expecting to see Iron Man, Eddie Brock isn't Tony Stark. Tony is a genius using his brain and technology to take on corporate or political threats. Eddie punches things, argues with himself and fights other powerful but not intellectual foes. In that regard, the movie delivered. It accomplished what it set out to do, remind long time Venom fans of the comics we read in the 90s. They were light on plot but had lots of action and weird comic book sci fi. It isn't Macbeth and it shouldn't be. I just enjoyed it for what it was, a movie with lots of Easter eggs for long time fans. I'm not saying every Marvel movie should be like this, god no. But it is a good Venom movie.

this is exactly why i gave it a 8-8.5/10 because as a Venom/Anti-hero, Lethal Protector movie, it does EVERYTHING it needs to do. You explained it very accurately in your post.

 

[Stark Bauer]

The Good
The JUMP!!! scene was hilarious, the whole cinema was laughing at that part. Venom's admittance that he was a loser on his planet, now this may have divided some but I thought it fit nice in giving Venom a reason to side with Eddie while not feeling forced, I think that point was reinforced with Riot. He was physically more imposing than Venom, more lethal and more callous so it kind of made sense why Venom didn't want millions more like him. I really enjoyed Riot actually seemed like a more fleshed out character than his host did. Eddie and Venom use "we" from the get go while Riot has to be reminded by Drake's character a little detail that I thought helped to show a huge difference between the two. I couldn't not mention the scene where he took down the SWAT team that was epic especially COPY!!!!.

Can you clarify what JUMP and COPY means? I dont remember these in context with the movie

 

[Lantern Venom]

Can you clarify what JUMP and COPY means? I dont remember these in context with the movie

Those were pretty close in the narrative, IIRC. Eddie breaks into his old workplace with proof of Drake's crimes. When he hears sirens, the symbiote tells him to jump out the window. Eddie refuses, and the symbiote calls him a name that I can't post on the board here.

When the SWAT team confronts Eddie at the door of the building, Eddie says, "Mask!" To which the symbiote replies, "Copy!"

 

[Stark Bauer]

Those were pretty close in the narrative, IIRC. Eddie breaks into his old workplace with proof of Drake's crimes. When he hears sirens, the symbiote tells him to jump out the window. Eddie refuses, and the symbiote calls him a name that I can't post on the board here.

When the SWAT team confronts Eddie at the door of the building, Eddie says, "Mask!" To which the symbiote replies, "Copy!"

Right! I remember now. Thanks! I feel like watching the movie again thanks to your descriptions! What happned in COPY? Was Eddie asking for the symbiote to cover his face in order to protect him from the gas? And did the symbiote say Copy as a joke, kinda like how the military use it?

 

[RetrogradeOrbit]

Got to see this last night, there was nothing about the movie I liked or found entertaining. If I could have voted it a “0” I would have...

 

[m2k]

There were some fun moments for sure. I was surprised of the creativity of using the symbiotes in action choreography and the Eddie/Venom dynamic. Cgi and action was good and importantly, easy to make out.

As a movie though, composition and editing was quite bad. Parts or even sub plot lines felt missing/ignored just to get the movie moving along. Hardy and Annie's relationship and breakup was unconvincing. Drake's behavior and motives was rather unclear and hasty. He doesn't exactly come off as a sinister person but he's killing human subjects left and right? Venom changing his tune/intention with humans, needed way more development. Acting, with the exception of Hardy, was uninspired.
4/10

 

[ludovica]

Drake's behavior and motives was rather unclear and hasty. He doesn't exactly come off as a sinister person but he's killing human subjects left and right?

First sentence, absolutely true.
The not outwardly sinister part though, I'd say it was intentional even if not well executed at all, point being that a lot of captains of industry in history were more or less sociopaths, and they still often are.

 

[m2k]

First sentence, absolutely true.
The not outwardly sinister part though, I'd say it was intentional even if not well executed at all, point being that a lot of captains of industry in history were more or less sociopaths, and they still often are.

Maybe it was intentional from a script and the director's standpoint, but it was definitely executed terribly I thought. If his unassuming demeanor was meant to misdirect his evil innate nature to later create shock value, then why present that he's the bad guy/antagonist from the beginning? It just ended up feeling like uneven, uninspired acting that I mentioned in my post, not saying Riz is a bad actor BTW.
Another thing, why in heavens name would he suddenly agree with Riot to bring the other symbiotes to earth? As a scientist, he was searching for the ultimate human evolutionary form yes, but he knows human deaths/incompatibility are likely as it's still the testing stage. Did Riot rotten his brain enough to where he just didn't give a damn anymore. Lol... I know it's a cb movie but this is why subplots need to be more fleshed out and developed.

 

[ludovica]

Maybe it was intentional from a script and the director's standpoint, but it was definitely executed terribly I thought. If his unassuming demeanor was meant to misdirect his evil innate nature to later create shock value, then why present that he's the bad guy/antagonist from the beginning? It just ended up feeling like uneven, uninspired acting that I mentioned in my post, not saying Riz is a bad actor BTW.
Another thing, why in heavens name would he suddenly agree with Riot to bring the other symbiotes to earth? As a scientist, he was searching for the ultimate human evolutionary form yes, but he knows human deaths/incompatibility are likely as it's still the testing stage. Did Riot rotten his brain enough to where he just didn't give a damn anymore. Lol... I know it's a cb movie but this is why subplots need to be more fleshed out and developed.

I think everyone agrees with what you are saying here, even the people who like me enjoyed the movie a lot more than you.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Maybe it was intentional from a script and the director's standpoint, but it was definitely executed terribly I thought. If his unassuming demeanor was meant to misdirect his evil innate nature to later create shock value, then why present that he's the bad guy/antagonist from the beginning? It just ended up feeling like uneven, uninspired acting that I mentioned in my post, not saying Riz is a bad actor BTW.
Another thing, why in heavens name would he suddenly agree with Riot to bring the other symbiotes to earth? As a scientist, he was searching for the ultimate human evolutionary form yes, but he knows human deaths/incompatibility are likely as it's still the testing stage. Did Riot rotten his brain enough to where he just didn't give a damn anymore. Lol... I know it's a cb movie but this is why subplots need to be more fleshed out and developed.

For me it was lretty easyeto figure out. Riot was much more powerful than Venom, so while Eddie and Venom came to agreement in terms of co-existence, Riot was taking over people and bending them to his will from he start. That's how he ended up at the Life Foundation in the first place, by taking over people and making them do what he wanted. Carlton Drake was no different.

At first Venom had lots of control over Eddie also, ("WE can do whatever WE want") but they came to a mutual understanding later, Riot was just a monster who wanted to dominate his subjects to further his own ends.

 

[DocterStrange]

I watched the movie today. I loved it. Tom Hardy was awesome in this role, and Venom looked great.

 

[m2k]

For me it was lretty easyeto figure out. Riot was much more powerful than Venom, so while Eddie and Venom came to agreement in terms of co-existence, Riot was taking over people and bending them to his will from he start. That's how he ended up at the Life Foundation in the first place, by taking over people and making them do what he wanted. Carlton Drake was no different.

At first Venom had lots of control over Eddie also, ("WE can do whatever WE want") but they came to a mutual understanding later, Riot was just a monster who wanted to dominate his subjects to further his own ends.

For me it was lretty easyeto figure out. Riot was much more powerful than Venom, so while Eddie and Venom came to agreement in terms of co-existence, Riot was taking over people and bending them to his will from he start. That's how he ended up at the Life Foundation in the first place, by taking over people and making them do what he wanted. Carlton Drake was no different.

At first Venom had lots of control over Eddie also, ("WE can do whatever WE want") but they came to a mutual understanding later, Riot was just a monster who wanted to dominate his subjects to further his own ends.

I don't know. From what I can remember, the other hosts being the ER Asian lady to the little girl, seemed less life like in behavior. To me, that implies they had limited consciousness, control over their bodies, a non symbiotic coexistence, and Riot reign supreme.

However.. Drake, being Riot's best compatible host, seemed as much in control and self aware of his body just as much as Eddie was to Venom imo. Also, Drake talking to Riot as a separate entity to me suggests they have to coordinate and co-op just as much as Eddie/Venom does to get things done.

From this, I can only conclude that Riot didn't really have total control over Drake. So the decision to bring other symbiotes over was not entirely out of Drake's control. It had to be symbiotic agreement. Riot, being much stronger than Venom and bending others unwillingly before Drake,.. I'm not sure has anything to do with it.

 

[craigaat]

Watched it today. I went in thinking it was a comedy and I thought it was a lot of fun. Some of the characters were undercooked, but there was a lot of laugh out loud moments for me.

7/10

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Between production, acting, and script quality I think I will rate Venom a 6.5/10, or round it up to 7/10.
Acting is notably better than I was led to believe, it's clearly not the level of convincingly good performances, but they are better than wooden. Effects are cheap looking. The story is as people said more than once... so rushed, it feels like it is missing some important parts, mainly in the first 15 minutes and somewhere between the climax battle and the last scene.

I did enjoy this movie enough to feel satisfied with the 1.5 hours of film runtime. Plus those two minutes in the store, and then two more minutes for Carnage mid credits.

Don't let the run time listed on wikipedia fool you, about 15 minutes of the films runtime are credits.

 

[samsnee]

I tried watching this last night but I fell asleep. Tom Hardy/Venom is interesting but the villain was your standard evil corporate scientist who wants to do vague evil things.

 

[Prettyricky]

Watched it last night too for the first time and i was bored and it played out like I expected it too. I can see why marvel studios doesnt want this mixed in there universe. You take away tom hardy from this movie and its unwatchable on the levels of daredevil and catwoman. With hardy its on the level as 2007 ghost rider in all around quality which is passable in my eyes.

I feel like they wasted the first hour on getting to venom and bonding with him. Riot was a complete rush job and had no build up to him outside of changing bodies for 4 months on the streets and somehow it took him 4 months to reach san francisco from the crash site.

The final riot venom battle was terrible because it iust a bunch black goo and oil rolling around on screen.

2/5 because of tom hardys acting chops

 

[SM71]

Glad to hear the user reviews on here are more positive and encouraging! Can I ask how were venom’s VFX? Did the cgi look awesome or was it very cartoony? How were the action and fight scenes?

CGI was spot on to me Never once did I think, 'Oh that was CGI' or did the visuals stand out or distract me. I actually can't believe how good the CGI was and how real Venom looked. They knocked it outa the park imo

 

[Manasrepublic]

CGI was spot on to me Never once did I think, 'Oh that was CGI' or did the visuals stand out or distract me. I actually can't believe how good the CGI was and how real Venom looked. They knocked it outa the park imo

Thanks for the reply SM71! Great to hear about the CG. That’s awesome and I really want to check out the film at some point. Unfortunately I missed this in the theaters but will look to buying the bluray. I really hope for awesome special features!

 

[shinlyle]

Well, I have select few people to which I listen to their opinions on movies. My buddy watched it this past weekend, and he said a lot of what mirrors the rest of what I've read, "It's actually not that bad. The first hour, you get the gist that Eddie is the world's worst reporter, and it's just about unbearable. Then the symbiote shows up, is awesome, and Venom is awesome. So, yeah, it's decent."

FYI- This guy, like myself, LOVES Venom. So, I may just pick it up on Blu-Ray next week, and I might enjoy it!

 

[Hand Banana]

Watched it a couple of days ago. Thought it was okay. My major problem with the film is Venom’s change of heart was too sudden. Might be the result of a scenes being cut.

6/10

 

[Dark Raven]

Finally watched Venom. It's like a bigger budget TV pilot from the 80s or 90s where it's telling the story of Venom but it's completely disconnected from anything else. It's as if some guy who happens to be named Eddie Brock gets powers because of a parasite.

In these pilots, the character often gets powers a different way to the comics and no-one else from the comics is involved.

Don't know how come it was so successful. It also took a while to get going and for him to even become Venom. Afterwards there didn't seem that many action scenes. And the trailer gave away far too much.

 

[SM71]

Thanks for the reply SM71! Great to hear about the CG. That’s awesome and I really want to check out the film at some point. Unfortunately I missed this in the theaters but will look to buying the bluray. I really hope for awesome special features!

No problem! Some people may disagree with me, but that was just my personal opinion on it. Hope you get/have gotten a chance to check it out, and if so, enjoyed it!

 

[SM71]

Well, I have select few people to which I listen to their opinions on movies. My buddy watched it this past weekend, and he said a lot of what mirrors the rest of what I've read, "It's actually not that bad. The first hour, you get the gist that Eddie is the world's worst reporter, and it's just about unbearable. Then the symbiote shows up, is awesome, and Venom is awesome. So, yeah, it's decent."

FYI- This guy, like myself, LOVES Venom. So, I may just pick it up on Blu-Ray next week, and I might enjoy it!

Let us know what you think!

 

[Lantern Venom]

Don't know how come it was so successful. It also took a while to get going and for him to even become Venom. Afterwards there didn't seem that many action scenes. And the trailer gave away far too much.

It made so much money because it was able to bring out the key elements that have sustained Venom as a stand-alone character. Eddie and the symbiote are each characters with complex moral codes. When they come together as Venom, their relationship is very much a difficult affair of affection. Sony finally realized what they needed to make the character come alive.

 

[shinlyle]

Okay, it took me a little longer than I thought, but I saw it. Walked by the rack in Wal-Mart, and they had the version with the action figure, so my 7 year-old and I begged for it until the missus caved in.

It was actually pretty good! Eddie is the world's worst reporter, boyfriend, and fiance. Michelle Williams felt like total dead weight. She was neither attractive enough to be eye candy, nor talented enough to command any sort of presence on screen. The bad guy was just...well...he was eerie, and the thought of him burning in a rocket at the end was his redeeming quality. However, the VENOM/EDDIE scenes were worth it! Venom was totally AWESOME! The symbiote as a character was what SM3 was missing. As an amorphous evil goo, it was weak...as an independent entity with a voice, it was a character with some very interesting thoughts. It's turn to loving humanity was a little forced, but I'll let it slide in order to see Venom smash things and eat people's heads.

Would it have been better with Spider-Man in it? NO. Not this film. They gave some nice Spidey Easter eggs with Jameson and the Globe, so there are seeds planted. I'll take it.

Also, yes, I want a sequel. I want Carnage. Like...now.