Venom
You know that feeling you get when you leave a movie and it's just so crazy, insanely wonderful that you shout into the cold night air to the surprise and fear of fellow movie-goers, "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!" Eventually the emotion subsides, of course, and you're either left with a deep appreciation for a well-written story or no small amount of disdain for a plot of emotionally manipulative tricks.
Only now, though, I'm realizing there's a third option, where a week later, the aforementioned shout echos repeatedly into the abyss because I legitimately do not know "WHAT JUST HAPPENED [LAST WEEK]?!"
Venom finds our anti-hero, journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), investigating a shady corporation. Upon becoming an unwilling host to an alien symbiote, he must learn what good can come from the worst in himself.
First off the bat, I like that premise. Typically I'm a little leery of the anti-hero, dreading the nihilism seemingly endemic to it. Perhaps you're thinking I am one of those people who think only stand-up sort of superheroes can save the day. Not particularly, but I do happen to find the concept of a bad guy doing good work in an ultimately meaningless world utterly devoid of rational motivation and semblance of logic.
But I digress.
Perhaps it's the term "anti-hero," with a connotation seemingly denoting a person/being who is "anti" hero (some might call those the antagonists). It would seem more accurate, in one sense, to relegate heroes to a spectrum of cynicalness and/or assorted personal demons. As in, the range between "super" hero and "not-so-super" hero. All heroes struggle with something; perhaps it's pride, perhaps it's naiveté, perhaps it's even their own nihilism. Before the credits roll, it comes down to whether or not, regardless of obstacles internal or external, they choose the good.
All heroes struggle with something; perhaps it's pride, perhaps it's naiveté, perhaps it's even their own nihilism. Before the credits roll, it comes down to whether or not, regardless of obstacles internal or external, they choose the good.
It comes down to a choice and I give superhero films a fair amount of leeway in regard to "Oscar-like excellence," inasmuch as they recognize this. And so, when it comes down to it, that's where "Venom" fails.
To be fair, "Venom" is set up as though it's the choice that matters. The first half of the film is its biggest strength. We find the obligatory evil corporation doing the bad things an investigative journalist like Brock is a magnet to. Once inside the corporation's lab, a well-meaning act of heroism thrusts him onto a dangerous path.
With me so far? In most films, this would be called the "call to action." There are moments throughout the ensuing rising action where heroes (and main characters in general) accept or reject this call in part, but it always culminates in the "climax" of the story where the the choice must be made, for better or worse, without reservation.
This is what gets me about "Venom." We spend the entire first half of the movie really trying to get at what it means for Eddie Brock to fully become Venom, to allow this alien symbiote to use him as a host. We go through the health aspects of it (as it turns out, aliens inside you? Not so good for the old ticker), we go through what it means for his relationship to his lady love (just let her go, Eddie), we go through what it means for his humanity (fun fact: aliens eat people; I'm not certain this doesn't count as cannibalism).
Awesome. All these themes put pressure on the choice you know is coming: will Eddie choose a symbiotic relationship with an alien, to the detriment of his health, relationships, and humanity. Will he choose the good that can come from the worst in himself?
[SPOILER ALERT]
Nope. Straight out of a dramatic scene, we'll cut to Brock, inner-monologuing it up with his parasitic alien, randomly deciding they're both fine with the arrangement. Literally. That's the choice and it's not actor Hardy's fault it has no emotional pay-off. If the filmmakers wanted Eddie's choice to be the story (you know, the choice they had set up throughout the entire rest of the film), it should have been the climax; not something you get out of the way quick before the showdown. That is the showdown. Not the fight with the bad guy, but the fight with himself.
The filmmakers have accomplished something quite marvelous here. I don't know that there's a better way to make a final fight as utterly useless as this one than taking out any emotional punch or consequences it might have had. To be fair, though, they did add fire. Because fire is dope.
I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. If you've joined me in shouting, "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!" after struggling through this stream of consciousness, wait until you see the movie. Godspeed.
Take my $5 dollars, Sony Pictures (in association with Marvel). Buy yourself a backbone.