The chance that during one year two movies are released, which are both about a man whose relationship comes to an end, where his body is taken over by an intelligent entity and the main characters both look like Tom Hardy (and one actually is Tom Hardy), is extremely small. But it happened this year. After the fantastic Upgrade was released earlier this year, Venom is the one after. The big enemy of Spider-Man, who now has his own standalone movie where there’s no sight of Peter Parker.
The film is about Eddie Brock (Hardy), who is a journalist and likes to talk to people who have something to hide. He finds out that the Life Foundation, run by Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), does not care for rules when it comes to the safety of test subjects. When he interviews him and asks questions about it, he’ll come to regret it later, losing almost everything. Yet he finds someone from the company who wants to give him information. Due to circumstances, however, he becomes infected with a parasite called Venom. And whether he wants it or not, he will have to survive together with him.
Fans of superhero films have had little to complain about in recent years. The quality is generally very high and that naturally creates high expectations for every new title that comes out. Compared to a recent film like Black Panther or Infinity War, Venom certainly does not reach the same level, but that does not mean that there is nothing to enjoy. Hardy is fun to watch in his role and acts out his symbiosis with Venom full of amazement and humor. He manages to sell the movie making it a fun watch. Not everything is worked out equally well (the relationship with his fiancé is an example of this), but it is certainly not a disaster to watch. If you compare the film, because of its similarities, with Upgrade, this film is worse. Fortunately, you do not have to make that choice, of course, and seeing them both offers the opportunity to see how an equivalent plot can be executed differently.
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