Venom

It's always fun when a film like Venom is released. A film people have had the knives out for since it was announced. Yet another comic book film in an already oversatured market. A film about a Spiderman villain in which Spiderman won't be appearing. A character who's last appearance was 11 years ago in the putrid Spiderman 3. Then rumours started appearing a few weeks ago that the film was being retooled for a younger market in the hopes that someday in the future it could tie into the uber lucrative Marvel cinematic universe. All along we had been told the film was getting an R rating in the states meaning it was going to be a gritty and adult comic book movie like Deadpool or Logan and now it was getting a PG-13 release meaning it would be pruned of all it's gooeyness. Then this week it's lead actor Tom Hardy went on record saying a tonne of material had been cut from it, up to 40 minutes worth. It had to be a disaster right? Well no, it's far from the best comic book movie this year but there's plenty of good in there.

Eddie Brock is a freelance reporter in San Francisco looking into the deaths and disappearances amongst the city's indigent population. Carlton Drake is a mega rich scientist looking into ways of helping the human population survive into the future. During his research he acquires an extra terrestrial parasite and when Eddie investigates him he becomes infected with the parasite which causes some very strange things to happen to him mentally and physically.

I went into this with very low expectations. An hour or so into it I was sitting there laughing and enjoying the hell out of it, all the while wondering why all the hate? Then the final third of the film kicked in and then whole thing turned into a mess. Character motivations went out the window, things happened that made no sense, plot lines appeared from nowhere and it went full CGI. Oh, so this is why everyone is complaining. It had all became very jarring and shoddy. The extensive pruning and rejigging suddenly became very apparent. Yet I can't bring myself to hate it because that first hour was so much fun.

I've never been a Tom Hardy fan. Do not get the love at all but he's very entertaining here. His Eddie is a shambolically likable presence who becomes totally unhinged when the outer space parasite decides to say hello in it's oddly posh accent. Like all origin stories it's great fun seeing him realising the powers he has and director Ruben Fleischer shoots it like a comedy crossed with a dose of Cronenbergian body horror. Lobsters, disembodied sarcasm, motorbikes, metal loving neighbours, disposable bad guys and some manky chicken turn the film into a laugh riot and for a while it's easily as much fun as Fleischer's 2009 slice of brilliance Zombieland. Then the last third of the film kicks in and ruins the fun. It's a fuckin nuisance when that happens ain't it.

Once again the fantastic Michelle Williams is wasted. This is the second time this year she's taken a big backseat to a male lead (The Greatest Showman being the other). She tries but here her role seems to consist of looking concerned for Eddie and somehow being able to control high frequency medical and space travel equipment despite being a lawyer. Maybe a lot of her part was cut away, that would explain a bit of what she gets up to. Riz Ahmed as the Elon Musk-ish baddie is another dud bad guy but he's at least he's a bad guy for our age. Spluttering "fake news" when his shenanigans are called out and using his philanthropic image to cover up his dodginess. His villainous ways also play on our modern day fears of GM science and of Big Pharma, it's just a pity he's a bit of a weed.

I'd love to see the full version of this. I've a feeling it could have been cool. As it is it's a pretty entertaining bit of silliness with a hilarious leading role that's ruined by a terrible final third. Nerdier fans will get a kick from some of it, an astronaut with a familiar name, a Wilhelm scream, the expected cameos and post credit sequences but most people won't be able to get past that ending. It's a wasted opportunity, a film ruined by a studio's need to get a more family friendly certificate and more showings packed into the day. Going balls out did wonders for Wolverine and Deadpool. They should have more faith in their product. 

Shame.