tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post6195227023154454926..comments2024-03-18T21:20:17.786-04:00Comments on Doux Reviews: VenomBillie Douxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17141769005175631213noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-90154324712572071542021-09-01T02:50:51.037-04:002021-09-01T02:50:51.037-04:00I watched this movie when it came out, and I remem...I watched this movie when it came out, and I remember saying to my friend as we walked out the theater: "What do you think Tom Hardy was <i>trying</i> to do there?" Neither of us knew the answer.<br /><br />I remember reading your review, too, CoramDeo, and feeling like it clarified a lot of the backstory. I have no idea why I didn't comment on the review at the time; it's really good.<br /><br />Anyway, I rewatched this movie last night, and I think I've figured out why I felt so puzzled by it. (And now I think I like it a lot more.) <br /><br />Here is my TedTalk:<br /><br />The average superhero, at least in the MCU (because I'm not really familiar with the DCEU) can be summarized in one sentence or less. Dr. Strange is "asshole surgeon who wields mysticism like a scalpel." Captain America is "good defender." Captain Marvel is "third-wave feminism, but with alien bits." Etc, etc.<br /><br />But Eddie Brock/Venom is:<br /><br />--A charmingly dopey mensch. He makes awkward jokes about ET. He complains about heights and feeling damp. He doesn't seem to know how to cook. (We get that info from his dialogue and the shots of his refrigerator.)<br /><br />--A hard-hitting investigative journalist who fights for the little guy. (We get that info through exposition and other characters' dialogue.)<br /><br />--A classic Bay Area "bad boy" type with the tattoos and the man-bracelets and the t-shirt with the name of a punk club (the Fillmore). The kind of guy you expect to know the entire Black Flag catalogue by heart even though he thinks Henry Rollins sold out. (Most of this is communicated through costuming and styling. Oh, and the bike.)<br /><br />--A character played by Tom Hardy, who ooze that indefinable Tom Hardiness I've discussed elsewhere. (This element is communicated by Tom Hardy.)<br /><br />But that's, like, too many things! Or, rather, it's more things than we expect from a superhero movie, especially when you consider that Eddie acquires a fifth personality characteristic:<br /><br />--A symbiote named Venom who talks like Bane and is very decisive. (This element is communicated by...the movie.)<br /><br />For an actual person, being a good, slightly awkward guy with punk-rock interests who is actually good at his job is not too many things. It's a well-lived life. <br /><br />But that level of complexity doesn't translate well to movies in general, especially not superhero movies.<br /><br />And yet: why not? <br /><br />And also: how badly has the MCU trained us to expect simple, easy to digest characters? Why can't characters be a bit messy?<br /><br />Read in that light, I think this movie still doesn't succeed at whatever it was trying to do, but I think I have a better sense of what it was trying to do, and I like it much, much more for that effort.<br /><br />Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.Josie Kafkanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-85291533047083181522018-10-22T13:46:00.761-04:002018-10-22T13:46:00.761-04:00I feel like a modern Venom movie would have been b...I feel like a modern Venom movie would have been better if it were the Flash Thompson “Agent Venom” incarnation better. Would be a lot easier to setup your main guy as a hero who is used by his government and an alien that’s driven insane by the same government through experimentation finding a common bond and becoming better. Then you’d even have your hero character that you could spin the rest of the Spider-Man villains Sony has access to around Venom as the protagonist now. <br /><br />It just very much feels like someone’s stuck in the 90s incarnation of a character and forced a dated story to be told without updating it. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-727824270764467312018-10-22T09:30:49.999-04:002018-10-22T09:30:49.999-04:00JD, I would agree that the horror/action bits were...JD, I would agree that the horror/action bits weren't used to their full potential, but I feel like, because of the nature of the film, those were the elements that should have been central. The comedy was more entertaining, yes, but it felt out of place for the film. I think it would have been more focused and better driven if the filmmaker had stuck to the action/horror. If the comedy had been cut, it might have given them more time to spend making the action/horror better. The big comedy thing that bugged me was Venom's slang. That stuck out like a sore thumb every time I heard it. When I could understand what Venom was saying, that is.CoramDeohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14510669006452859585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-45648433475363884392018-10-22T09:25:14.149-04:002018-10-22T09:25:14.149-04:00Nick, that's very interesting. The quotes of F...Nick, that's very interesting. The quotes of Fleischer I saw all reveled in the gore that is Venom's comic tradition.CoramDeohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14510669006452859585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-88969154711727911342018-10-22T07:33:53.152-04:002018-10-22T07:33:53.152-04:00Nice review CoremDeo, I totally agree that this wa...Nice review CoremDeo, I totally agree that this was a movie of tow halves, and one side didn't work. I would argue though, it was the action movie/horror elements that didn't work for me. Instead, it was Eddie and his interactions with Venom that made it both fun and interesting. Venom worked, but nothing else did. The villain was both stale and stolid, the romance stilted, and the action occasionally silly. Yet whenever Venom/Eddie is involved it is at least entertaining. <br /><br />To be clear, this was a bad movie, but somehow fun. As for the horror elements, they are never actually scary, maybe effectively creepy. The movie never gives over to the horror elements like it does action. The humor, while in my opinion the best part, doesn't land half the time. It was a mess of clear corporate interference and a lack of direction. But it could've been a lot worse.Samantha M. Quinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02340568293992559934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-41122611930267708772018-10-22T02:15:44.700-04:002018-10-22T02:15:44.700-04:00According to this, https://www.polygon.com/2018/9/...According to this, https://www.polygon.com/2018/9/30/17918008/venom-r-rated-cut-violence, the director always intended it to be non-R rated. <br /><br />So much for the theory about it being filmed for R rating and then cut. (If he is to be believed, that is)Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08658615945692097009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-67225441085129875862018-10-21T18:52:13.519-04:002018-10-21T18:52:13.519-04:00And I loved your rating.And I loved your rating.Billie Douxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17141769005175631213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-91398363242328016722018-10-21T18:51:57.844-04:002018-10-21T18:51:57.844-04:00CoramDeo, I'm relatively certain I will never ...CoramDeo, I'm relatively certain I will never watch this movie (horror movies freak me out), but I thought your review was a terrific, interesting read. Thank you. :)Billie Douxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17141769005175631213noreply@blogger.com