We’ve prepared for the worst. We’ve assumed “Venom” would be the equivalent of a “turd in the wind.” But maybe, just maybe, we were wrong?
The social media embargo has lifted on “Venom,” so you know what that means? Twitter reviews! That’s right, all the critics that will soon give their longer, more nuanced, takes on the superhero film will now condense that all into a “yeah, it sucked” or “OMG, it’s amazing!” tweet.
But before we get to that, Tom Hardy is back to clarify some statements that he made earlier. Remember, the time that the actor was asked what his favorite moments were in “Venom” and he mentioned how his favorite moments were from the 40 minutes of footage that was cut? Well, he misspoke. Or so he says.
“What I’m trying to say is…I had a lot of time improvising and a lot of freedom to play as Venom. Okay? So, in honesty, there’s probably seven hours or more of me playing as Venom and enjoying myself,” Hardy told IGN.
He continued. “And me and the other executive producers know full well that has nothing to do with what’s in that story. Do you know what I mean?…The truth of the fact is that everything we wanted is in the story, and everything I want is in the story.”
Whether you believe that’s what he meant or not, one thing is clear, Hardy loves the film and is happy as hell that it’s finally being released. So, good for him.
Now, onto the tweets. As you might expect, the tweets run the gamut of rave reviews to people declaring it’s the worst thing ever. While this is the same for all the major comic book films, the point of sharing these is to show the similarities between them all, which paints the picture of what “Venom” truly is.
And sadly, it appears that “Venom” is as we feared — horribly dated, but decently fun.
First, the good:
So #Venom.
I went in fearing the worst, BUT I actually liked it quite a bit more than I thought I would. I still wish it was rated R, but it seems like they set up something to cross over into Spider-Man's movies, and it was funnier than I imagined.
— ︽✵︽ ashley ︽✵︽ (@AshleyEsqueda) October 2, 2018
#Venom is like a buddy comedy in which one of the buddies has to prevent the other from biting people’s heads off, which is another way of saying I liked it.
— Michael Nordine (@slowbeard) October 2, 2018
#Venom wasn’t as bad as everyone was saying it was going to be. Tom Hardy is and always will be a great actor, and I laughed a lot — but I’m not sure whether that was intentional or not. Post-credit scene is ????
— Beatrice Verhoeven (@bverhoev) October 2, 2018
Significant chunks of #Venom don’t work *at all* but there is some serious charm to the Eddie/Venom relationship. Not sure I had the intended reactions to some scenes but fun is fun – even when it’s totally ridiculous, right? It’s too bad they didn’t go for the R rating though.
— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) October 2, 2018
Comic fans will like #Venom, as it pulls directly from the comics in many places. Tater tot fans will also like Venom. It’s certainly clunky & not as fluid as some recent Marvel movies, but it’s funny, intentional or not. Don’t take it too seriously, and stay through the credits pic.twitter.com/Llzvtv0fLL
— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) October 2, 2018
Now, the bad…which outnumbers the good, by far:
Action-sequences and Eddie and Venom's odd relationship are the highlights of #Venom but if Sony wants to move forward with a universe, it needs to just keep the few parts that work and scrap the large portion which does t.
— Brandon Davis (@BrandonDavisBD) October 2, 2018
It breaks my heart to say #Venom doesn't work. While the symbiote looks fantastic, the rest of the movie is a mess. Rough CGI, poor story plotting and a schizophrenic tone. Trying to launch this world without Spider-Man is too large of a hurdle. Disappointing. @VenomMovie pic.twitter.com/G5SDLjeCaL
— Sean O'Connell (@Sean_OConnell) October 2, 2018
#Venom is Catwoman level bad, with Tom Hardy's worst performance since This Means War.
DON'T SEE THE MOVIE!— Daniel R (@DanielRPK) October 2, 2018
Social embargo for #Venom is up. I talk about this a lot in my review but this is a movie that somehow slipped through a wormhole from 2004. That's my biggest take. It's a movie that spilled from the pre-MCU era through a crack in time and space.
— The Mothmeg ???? NYCC (@rustypolished) October 2, 2018
I’m *fascinated* with VENOM. The cast seems to all know they’re in a darker superhero movie, except Tom Hardy who is basically remaking Jim Carrey’s Liar Liar. I kinda loved watching this movie, in a Rocky Horror type of way. At one point Tom Hardy and Venom make out.
— Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) October 2, 2018
Tom Hardy's performance in #Venom is either Johnny Depp in the first PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN or Chris Klein in STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI. Either way, it's not boring.
— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) October 2, 2018
Not sure if Tom Hardy's weirdness sabotaged #Venom or saved it, but it has a self-aware cartoonishness, especially in its latter half. It's not "good," but it's better than expected. Doesn't feel like an R-rated film, am guessing the deleted 40min is just Hardy clowning around.
— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) October 2, 2018
Sorry to say that #Venom is pretty much a complete failure – a tonal mess that feels 15 years old, ignoring the storytelling strides that the superhero genre has made in recent years.
A few fun Venom-centric moments aside, it has nearly nothing to offer. Don't get your hopes up.
— Tom Horrorgensen (@Tom_Jorgensen) October 2, 2018
And a special shout out goes to this tweet, from a person who hosts a Venom podcast and Tumblr. It’s fascinating the verbal and mental gymnastics someone will go through to justify something:
#Venom really is a period piece from the early days of Super Hero films, and it’s clear they were aiming for this. I feel bad for anyone that uses this as a negative point because they’re too used to the same flavor of hero movies we have form the MCU and DCEU now.
— Aaron “I didn’t see the movie” Brock (@Bizarnage) October 2, 2018
EXCLUSIVE: Tom Hardy clarifies his comments about the footage cut from Venom: "Everything I want is in it. And more." pic.twitter.com/IyOEo9oNmd
— IGN (@IGN) October 2, 2018