I have seen people say that Venom feels like a movie that should have come out twenty years ago, and there is some truth in that.
The movie on the whole feels dated, comparable to the 2002 Spider-Man movie, or 2018 DC movies. It is certainly not as polished as Marvel‘s current crop of movies.
That said I did enjoy Venom, and would cautiously recommend going to see it.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Good
Tom Hardy is easily the best part of the movie.
I would say his reactions are not far off what you’d expect from a man who suddenly finds himself the host of an alien symbiote, if somewhat over the top.
While the movie does take itself seriously, which is a nice change from Marvel’s movies, Tom injects an element of levity into his role.
The rest of the actors in this movie perform their roles adequately, but they are somewhat forgettable.
The Bad
The plot for this movie is pretty standard “superhero origin” fare.
The lead gains superpowers, spends some time learning about how they work, then battles the villain with similar powers to their own. As seen in Iron Man, Black Panther, and Ant-Man. Even Man Of Steel and Batman Begins, to an extent.
There is nothing wrong with the formula, provided it’s done well, but Venom feels pretty much by the numbers.
The Ugly
It feels like most of the Venom movie is set at night, with a lot of CGI (as you’d expect when the main character is an anthropomorphic slime). There are some interesting sequences, as when the two Venoms are fighting each other, but it ultimately did not feel entirely polished.
Conclusion
It was never going to be easy to establish Venom without Spider-Man to play off. I think that the cast and crew of Venom did manage to create a reasonable if formulaic, movie.
I do think Venom is worth watching. I give Venom three out of five tongues.
