Venom is actually quite funny, and is usually so unironically. The character is true to his comic book portrayal and delivers several good lines. Other characters have their moments, but they fall in the un-ironically funny category. Additionally, Tom Hardy is...just...the best. He's not my favorite actor (although he is up there), but you'd be hard-pressed to find a misfire performance of his. Also, Woody Harrelson is in this movie, and I love me some Woody Harrelson. Although, he's only in the post-credit scene, so it's not like he actually adds anything to the film. (By the way, you know the Hunger Games movies are bad when neither Jennifer Lawrence nor Woody Harrelson can save them.)
Venom is an extremely violent character and his movie portrays him as such. And for those of you who know me, you know that I love violence in movies. The issue with Venom, however, is that the action/fight scenes are completely bloodless. I don't believe that all movies need to be violent to be good, and I don't believe that unnecessary or unrealistic violence adds much to a film (even though it's usually a lot of fun). However, I do believe is that violence in movies should be portrayed accurately and grittily. I understand that Sony wanted a PG-13 rating to reach a wider audience, but Venom literally bites people's heads off in this movie; heads of which are apparently resting upon bloodless bodies. Look, when your title character regularly stabs hearts, slits throats, and decapitates, it looks incredibly stupid and cartoony without blood. Venom would definitely have benefited from an R-rating.
I will say, though, that several fight scenes were choreographed quite well. One chase scene in particular, while it did last too long, was a lot of fun to watch. Tom Hardy ironically looked bored in a few cuts, but he's probably just used to wearing masks for his roles. Although, the editing (particularly during the final battle) left plenty to be desired. It wasn't consistently bad, but it wasn't consistently good, either. Regardless, even though they were ridiculous in many ways, the action scenes were (mostly) well-done
Outside of Venom and Eddie Brock, not a single character had an arc, nor did any other character contribute anything of substance to the film. Eddie Brock's character development was quite minimal, but something is (usually) still better than nothing. His 'girlfriend' acted as nothing more than a plot device, and would literally transport him from scene-to-scene. She minimally served as a motivational factor behind Eddie's acquisition of the symbiote, but that's about it. On a similar note, the villain's motivations are lazy, incoherent, and are executed through an extraordinarily vague and ridiculous means. Sony just can't write characters.
Regarding the movie as a whole, I have to say that the first act is just dreadful. The entire movie's pacing is just bad (more on that later), but the first 45 minutes is the worst culprit. The introductory exposition and rising action are so forced and unrealistic that you have to just laugh. At one point a character says that their situation "just feels wrong," and they are exactly right. Furthermore, the final act is so rushed and haphazard that I almost felt surprised that I had just watched the film's climax. The characters' motivations were so lackluster and the stakes seemed so low that everything felt very empty; which largely due to the fact that the final fight lasted about 10 minutes, but it's mostly the other stuff. The second act is paced fairly well, though, so--you know--one-for-three in that regard.
The biggest blunder, however, is the lack of originality. That shouldn't be a surprise in a broad sense, but this level of unoriginality runs deeper. Almost everything about it--everything--is a textbook play-by-play re-do of Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man. Which, if you remember, sucked. Seriously, though, I'm not kidding. After you see Venom, think about the plot of The Amazing Spider-Man, and tell me that I'm wrong. I'm honestly amazed that nobody else seems to be talking about this.
Venom has many problems, but it could have been a lot worse. The tone was consistent, many jokes were funny, Venom's character was entertaining, and it was definitely quite fun. I fully understand how a lot of it just doesn't land, but most normies will be able to look past most of the flaws and have a good time. In this case, I'm willing to be more generous than most folks, so I'll give it 49%; which means that it's nothing special, but it's worth watching on
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