The comic book character that gave me my video game avatar
name-
VENOM
Director – Ruben Fleischer
CAST- TOM HARDY
(HAVING TO HIDE HIS FACE AGAIN THOUGH NOT AS MUCH), RIZ AHMED, OBLIGATORY STAN
LEE CAMEO AND OTHERS
When I was a kid, Venom was one of my….wait…what’s that you
are saying? What happened to my blog? Where are all my posts? Where was I all
these days? Even if you weren’t asking that, you definitely are asking that
now. Instead of the long and complicated answer which I would love to give,
here is the short and simple one – I wanted a fresh start. The blog was
originally intended not just an expression of my love for movies but also as a
personal writing exercise…something to keep the claws sharpened in between
writing stories (for which I take a lot of time). Then it somehow turned into a
beautiful weekend compulsion. With many people waiting to read and me wanting
get my opinion out there as soon as possible, it had become something that had
to be done. If there is one thing I have realized in my experience of life, is
that if I start doing something as pleasurable as writing out of some
compulsion, then I ‘ll forever loose its magic. It would then become a job and
I personally do not subscribe to the philosophy of making your passion, your
work. I came to the realization, that I am good at writing…I may even be a
writer…but I am not just that. I am many things and writer is just one of them.
In order to break out of that mould, I thought this was necessary. So will the
blog be regular from now onwards? Will it be less frequent? You know what..I don’t
know at this point. I would ideally love to take this forward and maybe turn
this into a podcast or something else… but keep it to something that I enjoy.
Not a compulsion. So consider this sort of a soft reboot.
Speaking of reboots and new directions, when I was a kid, my
only source of super-hero comic book stories was the TV. Particularly when I
was 15-16, the Fox kids show on Star Plus was a major one. It played repeated
episodes of the Spiderman series from the 2000’s and when I first saw Spidey in
a black suit…I was hooked! The fact that it not just makes Spidey look
10000000000000000000000 times cooler but also adds depth and conflict to Peter Parker's character and later to Peter Parker’s fellow annoying reporter friend
Eddie Brock, was the webbing on the cake. The character not only made me love
the word –Venom- which I took on as this pseudonym while gaming or in other
places, but also taught me the meaning of the word 'Symbiosis'. (So you see, comic
books actually teach you a lot of things). In fact Venom made me look at Spidey
in a new light and was one of the only few things I liked about Spiderman 3 when it was released.
So, when Sony (who still owns a few Marvel properties after
finally having sold off Spidey to Disney), released a trailer of a stand-alone
Venom movie…I was kinda excited for it…but again not too much. The concept in
itself is obviously interesting – a powerful dark alien life form takes control
of an out-of-luck reporter and both have to inhibit in one single body- it’s
the parasitic, dual nature of the relationship of the Symbiote with its host which
offers a lot of potential for great story telling. The trailer was interesting…but
after the whole Snyder getting dropped from DCEU…I have become a bit distant
from all comic book movies in general…be it Marvel or DC. Doesn’t mean I am not
gonna queue up first day first show to watch them…but still things are just a
bit different now. Anyway, the trailer starred Tom Hardy and was being directed by the
man behind ’Zombieland’…I was looking forward to it but not out of curiosity or
excitement….just for the fact the source material is damn interesting.
To be honest, the movie is actually pretty good. I mean it isn’t
great…but compared to the last comic book movie I saw – Ant man and the Wasp –
this one is outta this world. Now Venom is a violent and almost horror movie
material character…if this was in the hands of Disney- Marvel…they would have
ensured to tone this down and make it a joke per 10 minutes enjoyable movie.
Thankfully, since Sony technically still owns this character…this isn’t a
typical MCU movie (Am sure the MCU slave-bots are already on the net trying to
trash this movie). While they don’t go and explore the depth and potential of
this character by making this a R rated blood fest as I would have loved…still they kinda keep the creepy horrific vibe of a
parasitical virus eating a person up from within yet manage to still have a lot of humor
as well.
What I liked about the movie was that it takes a bit of time
to get to the action. I mean the drama isn’t as compelling The Dark Knight
trilogy or something, but still it is good to know that movies are taking their
time to establish characters without adding unnecessary humor or action. When
the action starts, it is pretty innovative because the central character is not
entirely in control of his actions. Although even for its concept of an
anti-hero story, the movie sometimes takes the predictable route. It is still a
lot of fun but some unexplained plot points and a shift in tone make the movie
lose on its re-watch potential.
Tom Hardy as report Eddie Brock/Venom is great. Although I remember
Eddie Brock being a much more negative character in the comics, obviously they
had to make him less of an ass-hole in this one so that he is more sympathetic to the
viewers. Even Venom if am not wrong, originally started out as a villain and
due to popularity was made more anti-hero. Still Hardy is charming, he is funny
and also shows great emotion wherever needed. He carried the movie on his broad shoulders and his chemistry with the creature inside him is the soul of the movie. Riz Ahmed as Carlton Drake/Riot
is interesting but honestly a bit generic. It is a character that does not
reflect any other facets than evil and in this day and age of complex villains…doesnt stand out at all.
The movie for a true comic book and movie fan like me, has a
lot of under-utilized potential. What could have been the first comic book
horror/ Body invasion movie or dual personality drama is made into a different
but enjoyable comic book movie with clear heroes and villains. Having said
that, it still beats other overrated Marvel films like Black Panther or Thor
Ragnorak.
In my opnion, the movie is definitely Worth Watching Once.
PS- Did you guys
check out the new Aquaman extended video?? I mean what the fuck!? Its like
Avatar and Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones had a baby Underwater! I really
think James Wan is gonna give us an out of this world visual treat! Check it
out here
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