VENOM
I
have to laugh, because every year when I write about my “guilty
pleasure”, I always seem to apologise to the film in question for
referring to it as such, because they are usually films that have
been very well made and are entertaining but just haven't been
accepted by critics. This year I have no such qualms because the
film in question is not a good film at all, but it is also so damned
entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Before
my passion turned to cinema, I was heavily into comics.
Interestingly, I was a massive fan of artist Todd McFarlane's work
and his run on “The Amazing Spider-Man” is arguably some of my
favourite stuff from all the comics I collected in my fifteen years
with the hobby. Right at the start of his run came the creation of a
character who ended up becoming almost as iconic as Spider-Man
himself: Venom. The character immediately became a fan favourite and
was a villain who appeared regularly after his debut. Whilst I no
longer collect or read comics, I am aware that the character has gone
through significant changes since starting as an out and out villain.
The first attempt at bringing this character to the big screen in
Sam Raimi's “Spider-Man 3” was nothing short of a disaster.
Played by a totally miscast Topher Grace, what was presented in that
film felt like anything but Venom.
With
the character as popular as he is though, there was always going to
be another attempt, which brings us to 2018's “Venom” directed by
Ruben Fleischer. I have to be honest and admit that I went into
watching this film with the lowest possible expectations. All the
trailers for the film looked laughable and the fact that they were
redefining Venom's origin to not be associated with Spider-Man himself
just seemed a little blasphemous. Looking into my crystal ball, I
was sure that the film was going to be a massive flop and as history
has now shown, I was proved correct. Ok, so the film turned out to
be one of the biggest hits of 2018 but it still was greeted by poor
reviews. Way after the hype died down, I finally decided to make up
my own mind on this sure to be disaster. I was walking into the film
expecting to rate it one star, and walked out absolutely loving every
second of it (and ended up rating the film 3.5 stars). The thing is,
the whole time I was watching the film, I knew that what I was seeing
could in no way be defined as “good”; in fact the film taken as a
whole is more accurately described as “bad”. The story is poor,
the quality of the CGI is even poorer, the action scenes are
ridiculous and blandly staged, and the film has one of the most inept
and boring villains yet to feature in a superhero movie.
What
“Venom” does have though is Tom Hardy. Not only does it have Tom
Hardy, it has Tom Hardy on some sort of hallucinogenic drug or
something like that because his performance as Eddie Brock is totally
insane.......and brilliant. I have no idea how he got away with
this, but his performance is unlike anything you have seen. There
are really no words to explain it, but it totally works and makes the
film as entertaining as it is. He is such a great actor that all of
this insanity just feels so natural and right. Seriously, go see
“Venom” just to watch his performance, because it is worth the
price of admission for sure. The other thing that they get right in
the film is Venom himself. Despite not having his iconic spider
image on his chest, I think they nailed the look of the character,
especially his face and tongue. I love his deep, angry sounding
voice which is perfect and his arguments with Eddie are so funny. I
was not expecting to laugh as much as I did during these scenes. The
final thing that endeared me to this film is that Michelle Williams
is in the cast and plays Eddie Brock's fiance. I adore Williams and
like to watch anything she is in and with “Venom” it is a rare
chance to see this fine actress just let her hair down and have some
fun without the intense emotional baggage she is often noted for in
her usual art-house appearances. While she doesn't have a huge
amount to do in the film (until close to the end.......spoilers) she
is still delightful in the role.
So
there you have it. My guilty pleasure film for 2018 is “Venom”;
a film I was quite embarrassed for loving as much as I did. For once
I am pretty sure too that this film qualifies as a bad film but you
know what, stuff it, it is also very entertaining (thanks to Mr.
Hardy) and I loved (almost) every minute of it and if Hardy is going
to be involved again, I say “BRING ON THE SEQUEL”!
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