Welcome back to Sound Off!, a semi-regular column where members of Speculative Chic gather together to chat about the latest BIG THING in entertainment. This time, release your oily alter-ego and discuss Venom, which premiered in the United States on Friday, October 5, 2018.
Sound Off! is meant to be a reaction, but not necessarily a review. After all, while we are all individuals, even mutual love of something (or hate) can come from different places: you may find everything from critique to fangirling to maybe even hate-watching.
Now, join Nicole Taft as she talks about Venom. [Note: Spoiler-free!]
Nicole: Like most people, I originally wondered just how they were going to make a Venom movie without Spider-Man. After all, even for me, who never read any of the comics, Spidey was my first introduction to Venom and his eventual perma-host, Eddie Brock (thanks to all those Marvel cartoons I watched). Even older, I knew next to nothing about Venom except that he was a serious badass and who eventually lead to the creation of similar badasses like Carnage and Toxin. The claims were that Venom would be an anti-hero, but that’s pretty hard to pull off. Likewise, the trailer didn’t do the movie any favors when one of the scientists said the word “symbiote” with the English pronunciation (as many of us Americans learned later), but without even a hint of an English accent. All it did was make them look ignorant — not something you want to do when trying to prove to the Marvel-loving world that you haven’t royally screwed up one of the more memorable Spider-Man villains.
But as the reviews started to fall in (and not from critics, because they’re typically useless), the consensus was that Venom, for what it was, was actually a fun movie. And you know what?
They were right.
I wondered most of the time how Venom was going to go from “Let’s trash everything” to “Guess I have to save everything” or some variation thereof. And in fact it takes a good chunk of time for him to even appear on screen. I do kind of wish it was a little earlier because I love seeing bad guys like him enjoy themselves in their own…special way, but some of the banter he has with Eddie before fully revealing himself is pretty entertaining. In fact, Venom himself is surprisingly articulate (I’m not sure if that’s really the right word to use, but I’m going with it) as well as polite. For example, at one point Venom makes sure Eddie doesn’t die (which, to be fair, is often because it is also in Venom’s best interests his host doesn’t expire), to which Eddie says, “Thank you.” I didn’t expect a reply, or if there was one, it would fully disregard Eddie’s thanks. But instead we’re treated to, “You’re welcome.” I also laughed quite a bit because not only was I enjoying myself, but Venom is a snarky asshole and I dig it.
Venom’s motivations, once revealed, make total sense. While sitting in the theater during an epic chase scene, I thought, “Going from being stuck on an asteroid to this? Why do I get the feeling that Venom is having a damned good time?” I can’t even slate this movie under Dumb But Fun where I put things like Demolition Man. Rather, this one falls into another category of mine: Fun for Fun. You don’t watch it for deep meaning or to get those feels. Instead you watch it because, like Venom, you want to have a damned good time. And I love how Eddie understands that he can’t always fully control Venom and accepts that sometimes Venom is just going to eat people. I respect that.
My only real qualm is that I’m not a fan of the actor teasing the bit about Carnage (I’m not spoiling anything — we were all wondering when Carnage would come into play because, with Venom, it was only a matter of time). My sister suggested Jackie Earle Haley instead (Rorschach from Watchmen), which I think would have been an infinitely better choice.
Until then, go see Venom. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go buy the soundtrack.
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