Venom (2018)

Venom arrived in 2018 as Sony's attempt to launch a standalone Marvel universe built around characters from the Spider-Man catalogue, operating entirely outside the MCU and without Spider-Man himself present. Ruben Fleischer directed, coming off the considerable commercial success of Zombieland (2009) but having done little of note in the intervening years. The film draws on the long-running Marvel Comics character, who first appeared as a villain in the late 1980s and accumulated a devoted fanbase over decades. With a $116 million budget and no Avengers-level safety net, the project carried genuine studio risk, yet it performed spectacularly, grossing over $856 million worldwide and catching almost everyone off-guard, critics included. Tom Hardy, characteristically committed to odd physical and vocal choices, took the lead role, with Michelle Williams and Riz Ahmed rounding out a cast rather more distinguished than the material perhaps warranted.

Tom Hardy as a journalist bonded to an alien symbiote should be more fun than it is but Venom never quite lives up to its chaotic potential. It’s loud, it’s messy, and it tries desperately to be edgy, but ends up feeling like a watered-down superhero film stuck between tones. Is it a horror? A comedy? A dark action thriller? It can’t decide, so it settles for being none of them properly. The result is just average, another mid-tier entry in the ever-expanding, increasingly tired superhero slog. Hardy, as ever, commits fully, talking to himself, shifting accents mid-sentence, and bouncing off walls like a man possessed. There’s a strange charm in his chemistry with the gooey, wisecracking Venom (also Hardy, via voice), and the film leans into the odd-couple dynamic with some genuinely funny moments. But the plot is paper-thin, the villain underdeveloped, and the action is a blur of CGI darkness where you can barely see what’s happening. It’s all so dimly lit and chaotically shot that the big set pieces feel weightless. It’s not offensive, just forgettable. No real stakes, no emotional depth, and nothing to say about power, identity or responsibility that hasn’t been done better elsewhere. It’s superhero slosh, glossy, noisy, and instantly disposable. Worth a watch if you’re bored and fancy something loud, but don’t expect anything more than Hardy doing his best with a script that never fires on all cylinders. Solidly mediocre.

Rating: ★★½  | Year: 2018  | Watched: 2025-08-17

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