Aaron J. Pruett
pruetaar@gmail.com
Venom is rated PG-13 and is directed by Ruben Fleischer. The film stars Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams and Riz Ahmed. Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is a journalist who is caught in the middle of Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), a man willing to do anything for power beyond this world, and the alien life that would give him that power.
If you were wanting more depth from this film, you will be sorely disappointed. The crux of the plot is fairly simple, though, at times, enjoyable. Do you enjoy horror? Comedy? Romance? Or superhero films? If you like any one of those genres you’re in luck because the tone and genre of the film change almost every ten minutes so if you’re not enjoying what you’re watching hold on because, in ten minutes, it will feel like a brand-new director and writer has taken over. The tone could have been easily focused with an R rating, a rating that the film would have greatly benefited from.
The film’s pace is also all over the place. The first act feels very slow and at times downright boring and it makes you question if anything is ever going to happen in the film. By the second act, however, the pace goes into double time. Although the second and third act are at times very fun to watch it also doesn’t feel like there is a lot of weight or substance to the story to make you care about any of these characters.
In the end, it felt like ripping the arm off of your favorite action figure. Is it fun to see how tough the plastic is? Absolutely, but after you break it you can never play with it the same way again until you buy a new one. That’s why if I were this movie’s parent I would likely take away it’s toys until it could figure out how to take care of them.