Venom (2018)
October 4, 2018 9:06 PM - Subscribe
When Eddie Brock acquires the powers of a symbiote, he will have to release his alter-ego "Venom" to save his life.
I'm halfway considering seeing this with MoviePass. Is it actually so-bad-its-good?
posted by codacorolla at 7:00 AM on October 5, 2018
posted by codacorolla at 7:00 AM on October 5, 2018
Venom: We will eat both of your arms, then both of your legs, then we will eat your face right off of your head. You will be this legless, armless, faceless thing, won't you? Rolling down the street. Like a turd in the wind.
Mugger: What?
Venom: Like a turd in the wind.
Mugger: What does that even mean? Nobody says turd in the wind. Did you mean leaf in the wind?
Venom: No! You mean to tell us you've never seen a turd blowing in the wind?
Mugger: No, that's not really a thing. I mean maybe at the zoo if the monkey throws its poop.
Venom: Yes! See, like that! You will be like monkey poop in the wind.
Mugger: Nobody says that!
Venom: ... Okay, let's try something else. We will eat your arms, and your legs, and no one will find your torso... Until the pigs freeze over!
Mugger: You did it again!
Venom: What?
Mugger: You messed up the saying.
Venom: No we didn't!
Mugger: Yes you did! He did, didn't he?
Store Owner: You did. It is when pigs fly. Or when Hell freezes over.
Venom: We do not understand why you do not get our phrases! This is not rocket surgery!
Mugger: Really?
Venom: Are you correcting us again?! Do not beat a dead gift horse in the mouth!
Mugger: Wow! I think maybe just stop talking. I would be much more terrified if you weren't talking.
Venom: Oh no no no no. You opened this can of worms now lie in it.
Mugger: Please stop.
Venom: CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAKE! AND EAT IT TOO!
Mugger: I'm... I'm done. Just kill me.
posted by kyrademon at 8:31 AM on October 5, 2018 [23 favorites]
Mugger: What?
Venom: Like a turd in the wind.
Mugger: What does that even mean? Nobody says turd in the wind. Did you mean leaf in the wind?
Venom: No! You mean to tell us you've never seen a turd blowing in the wind?
Mugger: No, that's not really a thing. I mean maybe at the zoo if the monkey throws its poop.
Venom: Yes! See, like that! You will be like monkey poop in the wind.
Mugger: Nobody says that!
Venom: ... Okay, let's try something else. We will eat your arms, and your legs, and no one will find your torso... Until the pigs freeze over!
Mugger: You did it again!
Venom: What?
Mugger: You messed up the saying.
Venom: No we didn't!
Mugger: Yes you did! He did, didn't he?
Store Owner: You did. It is when pigs fly. Or when Hell freezes over.
Venom: We do not understand why you do not get our phrases! This is not rocket surgery!
Mugger: Really?
Venom: Are you correcting us again?! Do not beat a dead gift horse in the mouth!
Mugger: Wow! I think maybe just stop talking. I would be much more terrified if you weren't talking.
Venom: Oh no no no no. You opened this can of worms now lie in it.
Mugger: Please stop.
Venom: CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAKE! AND EAT IT TOO!
Mugger: I'm... I'm done. Just kill me.
posted by kyrademon at 8:31 AM on October 5, 2018 [23 favorites]
Venom Is a Bad Movie With Great Cult-Movie Potential (Angela Watercutter for Wired)
posted by filthy light thief at 10:22 AM on October 5, 2018 [5 favorites]
This is a list of things that happen in the new movie Venom: Riz Ahmed, personifying every rich supervillain trope at once, utters the words "God has abandoned us … I will not"; Tom Hardy hops in a restaurant's lobster tank and eats a crustacean raw; the movie's titular character says "on my planet, I was kind of a loser"; and an alien turns into Oscar-nominated actress Michelle Williams. These are the kinds of moments that turn a movie into a cult favorite, or into a total disaster. Venom could be either—if it had any idea what it was at all.But have you seen Venom ... WITH EYES?
posted by filthy light thief at 10:22 AM on October 5, 2018 [5 favorites]
Direct link to the original Tweet where Venom gets blue eyes.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:35 PM on October 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by filthy light thief at 2:35 PM on October 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
The sad thing is the Venom effects look great, if you asked me what Venom in real life would look like, it's that.
Shame that Venom is a holdover from the dark edgy 90s and should have been left in the bin with the likes of Spawn and The Maxx and The Darkness and Pitt and why the fuck were there so many of these?
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:51 PM on October 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
Shame that Venom is a holdover from the dark edgy 90s and should have been left in the bin with the likes of Spawn and The Maxx and The Darkness and Pitt and why the fuck were there so many of these?
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:51 PM on October 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
should have been left in the bin with the likes of Spawn and The Maxx
If you don't know why the Maxx is awesome you need to stay away from comic discussions until requisite homework has been completed
posted by FatherDagon at 6:48 PM on October 5, 2018 [10 favorites]
If you don't know why the Maxx is awesome you need to stay away from comic discussions until requisite homework has been completed
posted by FatherDagon at 6:48 PM on October 5, 2018 [10 favorites]
Honestly it looks so bad, totally 80s/90s direct to video action movies, like The Guyver.
posted by smoke at 6:48 PM on October 5, 2018
posted by smoke at 6:48 PM on October 5, 2018
I haven't seen it, and am not sure that I will, but tell me this if you have: are they going for a Deadpool kind of thing?
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:44 PM on October 5, 2018
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:44 PM on October 5, 2018
Should the title have been Contractual Obligation: The Movie? That this is coming out the same year as the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse speaks of some weird conflicts in the Sony boardroom, at least to me.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:17 AM on October 6, 2018
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:17 AM on October 6, 2018
Honestly it looks so bad, totally 80s/90s direct to video action movies, like The Guyver.
posted by smoke at 6:48 PM on October 5 [+] [!]
Oh, I loved the Guyver!
posted by eustatic at 6:20 AM on October 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by smoke at 6:48 PM on October 5 [+] [!]
Oh, I loved the Guyver!
posted by eustatic at 6:20 AM on October 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
I watched this film last night with the expectation of seeing a wonderfully bad movie, and all my expectations were met. (Tom Hardy really goes for the role with gusto -- in a Nicholas Cage sense.) The first half is very bad, but the second half -- when Venom starts PROCLAIMING THINGS IN ALL-CAPS -- is often extremely enjoyable.
My movie-going companion is a major, major fan of comic-book Venom as a character (which I did not realize until we discussed the movie afterward), and apparently all of HIS expectations were met as well. He claimed this adaptation was remarkably faithful to the vibe of the comic books. (My reaction was: What?! How?! What are these comics?!?)
So I liked it ironically, and he liked it very earnestly and sincerely.
tell me this if you have: are they going for a Deadpool kind of thing?
I would not consider this very Deadpool-esque. It's more like someone took a sci-fi/horror film from the 80s (some direct-to-video rip-off of Predator, let's say) and introduced some buddy-comedy elements. Parts of it are funny, but it's not particularly joke-filled, and it's not at allllll near Deadpool's satirical mode.
posted by toast the knowing at 9:39 AM on October 6, 2018 [12 favorites]
My movie-going companion is a major, major fan of comic-book Venom as a character (which I did not realize until we discussed the movie afterward), and apparently all of HIS expectations were met as well. He claimed this adaptation was remarkably faithful to the vibe of the comic books. (My reaction was: What?! How?! What are these comics?!?)
So I liked it ironically, and he liked it very earnestly and sincerely.
tell me this if you have: are they going for a Deadpool kind of thing?
I would not consider this very Deadpool-esque. It's more like someone took a sci-fi/horror film from the 80s (some direct-to-video rip-off of Predator, let's say) and introduced some buddy-comedy elements. Parts of it are funny, but it's not particularly joke-filled, and it's not at allllll near Deadpool's satirical mode.
posted by toast the knowing at 9:39 AM on October 6, 2018 [12 favorites]
Mmnnngh you guys are making me want to see it (even though I have a strict "don't encourage them" policy on bad movies).
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:46 PM on October 6, 2018
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:46 PM on October 6, 2018
Was this movie, strictly speaking, good? No. Was this movie a hell of a lot of fun? Yes. Is that the whiskey I spiked my coke with talking? Perhaps.
Seriously though, I found this surprisingly charming, with a core of weird...sweetness? Does that make sense? Like there were a bunch of moments were people (and Venom) were just Good, for no particular personal gain. Eddie was kind to that homeless woman and the shopkeeper, and Jenny Slate's character did the right thing at great personal risk, and Eddie's ex's new boyfriend shockingly did not decide Eddie was a crazy or dangerous person who needed to be arrested but instead helped him and treated him, and Eddie's ex helped Eddie defeat the evil symbiote and that random scientist tried to stop the launch. Even Venom! Not only did Venom decide, hey, maybe let's not take over earth, but Venom either started being influenced by Eddie really early on, or was just surprisingly considerate of civilian casualties, like when he shielded the people in that apartment from bullets.
I don't know, the world is garbage, it was nice that even this dumb escapist movie had people doing the right thing.
posted by yasaman at 9:03 AM on October 7, 2018 [34 favorites]
Seriously though, I found this surprisingly charming, with a core of weird...sweetness? Does that make sense? Like there were a bunch of moments were people (and Venom) were just Good, for no particular personal gain. Eddie was kind to that homeless woman and the shopkeeper, and Jenny Slate's character did the right thing at great personal risk, and Eddie's ex's new boyfriend shockingly did not decide Eddie was a crazy or dangerous person who needed to be arrested but instead helped him and treated him, and Eddie's ex helped Eddie defeat the evil symbiote and that random scientist tried to stop the launch. Even Venom! Not only did Venom decide, hey, maybe let's not take over earth, but Venom either started being influenced by Eddie really early on, or was just surprisingly considerate of civilian casualties, like when he shielded the people in that apartment from bullets.
I don't know, the world is garbage, it was nice that even this dumb escapist movie had people doing the right thing.
posted by yasaman at 9:03 AM on October 7, 2018 [34 favorites]
Jesus H Christ, slams on The Maxx and Guyver? The fuck is this
posted by Brocktoon at 10:21 PM on October 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Brocktoon at 10:21 PM on October 7, 2018 [6 favorites]
Forget it, Brocktoon, it's Filtertown
posted by phearlez at 8:37 AM on October 8, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by phearlez at 8:37 AM on October 8, 2018 [7 favorites]
A+ to the slash article. I really, really enjoyed watching this movie. Going in with a low bar probably helped. It was just ridiculous. That villain! Tom Hardy was adorbs, and the symbionts were so slurpy, and I love the Venom voice and am looking forward to scarying my cats with it.
It was also the emptiest I've ever seen my favorite fabulous 500+ seat theater.
posted by esoterrica at 10:16 AM on October 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
It was also the emptiest I've ever seen my favorite fabulous 500+ seat theater.
posted by esoterrica at 10:16 AM on October 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
It reminded me a lot of Who Killed Roger Rabbit in the way it was a movie that went one way, then swerved another and didn't quite know what it wanted to be but still had a lot of warmth inside it. Eddie's fundamental kindness and generosity - that he gets infected because he immediately tries to rescue his friend, with his earlier caution in a safer situation for the shopkeeper and all of them still - was really well done. He's like a big sweet goofy guard dog.
My hands down favourite line was Venom's hopeful "pile of heads here, pile of bodies there?" as an interior decorating pitch. Just had me giggling on and off throughout the next few scenes.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 4:15 PM on October 8, 2018 [6 favorites]
My hands down favourite line was Venom's hopeful "pile of heads here, pile of bodies there?" as an interior decorating pitch. Just had me giggling on and off throughout the next few scenes.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 4:15 PM on October 8, 2018 [6 favorites]
I actually enjoyed this. I went to see it with expectations of an entertaining action movie that I could use to kill some time on Sunday until the new Doctor Who comes on TV, and I was pleasantly surprised at how charming it was.
Venom is hilarious. I have to remember the line again, but something he said cracked up the whole theater. And weirdly the chemistry between him and Brock just worked. It definitely turned into a buddy comedy action movie for me, and I just went along for the ride.
Everything was overacted and full of schlock (Riz Ahmed really played up his character), and about the only ones with any nuance was Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate, only because their characters required it to contrast everyone else. But it was fun!
I did also enjoy that most of the characters were just fundamentally good, like yasaman said. I kept waiting for the new doctor boyfriend to be a total dick, but him being such a great guy seemed to further annoyed Eddie because it showed how much of a loser he was. I think on that level, Venom was able to bond with him because of how he's also a loser.
My memories of Venom are from the Amazing Spider-Man cartoon from the 90's, and I think this matched up with that. He was basically a jerk who wanted his host to live however they want, and obviously Peter Parker wouldn't have that, but Eddie Brock, he disgraced reporter, would. The difference was that at their lowest point, animated Eddie Brock embraced the dark side, while this one still wanted to do good. It's an unexpected turn if you were expecting him to go bad, but I think it made for a better story for him to be kind of an anti-hero.
posted by numaner at 11:31 PM on October 8, 2018 [5 favorites]
Venom is hilarious. I have to remember the line again, but something he said cracked up the whole theater. And weirdly the chemistry between him and Brock just worked. It definitely turned into a buddy comedy action movie for me, and I just went along for the ride.
Everything was overacted and full of schlock (Riz Ahmed really played up his character), and about the only ones with any nuance was Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate, only because their characters required it to contrast everyone else. But it was fun!
I did also enjoy that most of the characters were just fundamentally good, like yasaman said. I kept waiting for the new doctor boyfriend to be a total dick, but him being such a great guy seemed to further annoyed Eddie because it showed how much of a loser he was. I think on that level, Venom was able to bond with him because of how he's also a loser.
My memories of Venom are from the Amazing Spider-Man cartoon from the 90's, and I think this matched up with that. He was basically a jerk who wanted his host to live however they want, and obviously Peter Parker wouldn't have that, but Eddie Brock, he disgraced reporter, would. The difference was that at their lowest point, animated Eddie Brock embraced the dark side, while this one still wanted to do good. It's an unexpected turn if you were expecting him to go bad, but I think it made for a better story for him to be kind of an anti-hero.
posted by numaner at 11:31 PM on October 8, 2018 [5 favorites]
Did anyone else stay through the credits for a preview scene of the animated Spider-Man movie? At one point near the end of the credits there's a song that sounds very much like one of the soundtrack songs from The Matrix: Reloaded. I've been listening to that album trying to remember which one was it I heard in the credits but some of them are pretty similar so I've no clue. I hope someone else remembers!
posted by numaner at 12:07 AM on October 9, 2018
posted by numaner at 12:07 AM on October 9, 2018
Yeah, wow, just saw this last night. I wouldn't say it was good, but I can't say I didn't enjoy watching it.
As others have said, this was kind of tonally all over the place. At first it's like sci-fi/horror. Then like an action comedy. Then they try for the epic superhero 3rd act CGI fight which is just terrible and unnecessary (Venom was nowhere near as good as Wonder Woman, but they have this in common).
One thing I really appreciate is that different characters are almost acting as if they're in different movies, but still really giving it their all. Brock's homeless friend from outside the bodega is both terrifying monster and its victim. His ex is effortlessly quipping like a 90s action sidekick just after learning about malevolent alien parasites.
The movie seems to clash with itself a lot (almost like a host and its symbiote) and I won't pretend to know if they pulled it off, but I'm really glad they tried it. I'd rather watch this than the last two Avengers movies anyway. And certainly more than the most of DC's latest stuff.
posted by ODiV at 10:05 AM on October 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
As others have said, this was kind of tonally all over the place. At first it's like sci-fi/horror. Then like an action comedy. Then they try for the epic superhero 3rd act CGI fight which is just terrible and unnecessary (Venom was nowhere near as good as Wonder Woman, but they have this in common).
One thing I really appreciate is that different characters are almost acting as if they're in different movies, but still really giving it their all. Brock's homeless friend from outside the bodega is both terrifying monster and its victim. His ex is effortlessly quipping like a 90s action sidekick just after learning about malevolent alien parasites.
The movie seems to clash with itself a lot (almost like a host and its symbiote) and I won't pretend to know if they pulled it off, but I'm really glad they tried it. I'd rather watch this than the last two Avengers movies anyway. And certainly more than the most of DC's latest stuff.
posted by ODiV at 10:05 AM on October 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Oh hey, did you see the fucking SIZE of Eddie Brock's "shitty" apartment? When he's unemployed! In San Fransisco!
(I mean ok maybe he has savings or something, but you can tell they were trying to make it look like he was down and out with the set decoration and the place was pretty big with nice floors.)
posted by ODiV at 9:34 AM on October 11, 2018 [2 favorites]
(I mean ok maybe he has savings or something, but you can tell they were trying to make it look like he was down and out with the set decoration and the place was pretty big with nice floors.)
posted by ODiV at 9:34 AM on October 11, 2018 [2 favorites]
he needs all that space for Venom's piles of heads
posted by numaner at 10:41 AM on October 11, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by numaner at 10:41 AM on October 11, 2018 [5 favorites]
Venom, Subtext, and the Race for On-Screen LGBT+ Representation
posted by homunculus at 10:17 PM on October 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by homunculus at 10:17 PM on October 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
oh my god this movie was so dumb and I loved it SO MUCH
sometimes a family can be a grimy twitchy sub vlogger & his dom alien chompy goo husband & their pragmatic lawyer ex-girlfriend & her chipper doctor boyfriend, and I just think that's beautiful
posted by nicebookrack at 2:01 PM on October 12, 2018 [18 favorites]
sometimes a family can be a grimy twitchy sub vlogger & his dom alien chompy goo husband & their pragmatic lawyer ex-girlfriend & her chipper doctor boyfriend, and I just think that's beautiful
posted by nicebookrack at 2:01 PM on October 12, 2018 [18 favorites]
THANK YOU, VENOM, FOR NOT EATING THE CAT
I seriously let out a small shriek in the theater as soon as Anne mentioned a cat because oh god Mister Belvedere was so cute and fluffy and sitting there like a Chekhov's Venom-snack waiting to be chomped.
But the kitty lived!!
posted by nicebookrack at 2:04 PM on October 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
I seriously let out a small shriek in the theater as soon as Anne mentioned a cat because oh god Mister Belvedere was so cute and fluffy and sitting there like a Chekhov's Venom-snack waiting to be chomped.
But the kitty lived!!
posted by nicebookrack at 2:04 PM on October 12, 2018 [4 favorites]
}}He claimed this adaptation was remarkably faithful to the vibe of the comic books. (My reaction was: What?! How?! What are these comics?!?)
ahahahaha YES, 100% agreed‼
Honestly I really hope that the greater narrative scrutiny brought by the Venom movie finally percolates the realization of true facts through the heads of some comics bros:
1. Power-fantasy bro Eddie Brock has always been a grimy self-righteous loser prone to melodrama.
2. Eddie & Venom's relationship has always been coded as romantic and queer as fuck.
(oh god, so many internet flamethreads from comics jerkboys arguing "It's not gay because symbiotes don't have gender!" as though romancing a nonbinary goo alien makes it LESS queer)
If you haven't read a lot of Venom comics, the recent completed run by writer Mike Costa is a pretty great jumping-on point for looking at Venom & Eddie's relationship (they're in love and had a baby).
posted by nicebookrack at 3:10 PM on October 12, 2018 [8 favorites]
ahahahaha YES, 100% agreed‼
Honestly I really hope that the greater narrative scrutiny brought by the Venom movie finally percolates the realization of true facts through the heads of some comics bros:
1. Power-fantasy bro Eddie Brock has always been a grimy self-righteous loser prone to melodrama.
2. Eddie & Venom's relationship has always been coded as romantic and queer as fuck.
(oh god, so many internet flamethreads from comics jerkboys arguing "It's not gay because symbiotes don't have gender!" as though romancing a nonbinary goo alien makes it LESS queer)
If you haven't read a lot of Venom comics, the recent completed run by writer Mike Costa is a pretty great jumping-on point for looking at Venom & Eddie's relationship (they're in love and had a baby).
posted by nicebookrack at 3:10 PM on October 12, 2018 [8 favorites]
When I note the comics Eddie/Venom as longtime queer-coded, I should also point out that this was usually coded as a bad thing, especially early on; making their relationship ✨sexy✨ gave Venom an extra frisson of kinky Bad and Wrong for a villain.
Lots of internet discussion over whether it makes sense to separate a film Venom origin story/series so completely from the character's notorious entwinement with and hate-on for Spider-Man. I'm in favor of separating them, in large part because Spider-Man 3's deranged loser stalker Venom (I still like him, as I'm sure almost dozens of people do) was also a largely comics accurate portrayal of Venom, and in this Year Of Our Lord Twenty-Eighteen I hope that you cannot present a violent stalker as the anti/hero of your blockbuster movie, even if that reduces his overall scariness as a character. One element that made comics Venom such a memorably creepy Spidey antagonist was his fondness for forcing interaction with Spidey/Peter out of costume in front of vulnerable witnesses, forcing Peter to fake normality to cover and underscoring how much knowledge of and power over Peter's life Venom had. You cannot do this using the Sony/MCU big-eyed baby Tom Holland Spidey without losing audience sympathy for Venom forever!
Also of course Sony/MCU Spidey is a tiny infant baby child, and Venom is always good with kids.
posted by nicebookrack at 3:55 PM on October 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Lots of internet discussion over whether it makes sense to separate a film Venom origin story/series so completely from the character's notorious entwinement with and hate-on for Spider-Man. I'm in favor of separating them, in large part because Spider-Man 3's deranged loser stalker Venom (I still like him, as I'm sure almost dozens of people do) was also a largely comics accurate portrayal of Venom, and in this Year Of Our Lord Twenty-Eighteen I hope that you cannot present a violent stalker as the anti/hero of your blockbuster movie, even if that reduces his overall scariness as a character. One element that made comics Venom such a memorably creepy Spidey antagonist was his fondness for forcing interaction with Spidey/Peter out of costume in front of vulnerable witnesses, forcing Peter to fake normality to cover and underscoring how much knowledge of and power over Peter's life Venom had. You cannot do this using the Sony/MCU big-eyed baby Tom Holland Spidey without losing audience sympathy for Venom forever!
Also of course Sony/MCU Spidey is a tiny infant baby child, and Venom is always good with kids.
posted by nicebookrack at 3:55 PM on October 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
nicebookrack, I think part of what so pleasantly surprised me about movie Venom was that I was very much expecting the usual edgy take on Venom where he's a funny, creepy asshole and very much a monster. So I was constantly taken aback to find that Venom was actually kind of...nice? In the movie? Honestly the worst thing about Venom in the movie is his apparent bad impulse control and desire to eat people, and most everything else is understandable as, well, Venom being an alien on a new planet who can't survive on said planet without a host.
I can't entirely tell if the movie did all that on purpose. Are we the audience supposed to believe that Venom killed Riot just to keep the rest of his kind away, and keep Earth as his own playground? Or are we supposed to believe that Venom developed a conscience? Or that Venom just got that attached to Eddie?
posted by yasaman at 4:25 PM on October 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
I can't entirely tell if the movie did all that on purpose. Are we the audience supposed to believe that Venom killed Riot just to keep the rest of his kind away, and keep Earth as his own playground? Or are we supposed to believe that Venom developed a conscience? Or that Venom just got that attached to Eddie?
posted by yasaman at 4:25 PM on October 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
Venom made it clear that Eddie is the reason Venom turned on his own species, and in the absence of compelling counter-evidence that Eddie offered, like, persuasive ethical commentary or something, we basically get to assume "love at first sight." Reading the Eddie/Venom (SymBrock??) relationship as non-romantic actually makes the plot make less sense.
posted by nicebookrack at 5:24 PM on October 12, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by nicebookrack at 5:24 PM on October 12, 2018 [6 favorites]
Noting for posterity that Tom Hardy ad-libbed jumping into the live lobster tank. Because of course. The sequel movie should just be "film Tom Hardy improvising Venomously" and the original movie writers should be fired. Confused, feverish, starving symbiote-Eddie is flailing around a fancy restaurant? Of course he's going after the lobsters!
posted by nicebookrack at 5:52 PM on October 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by nicebookrack at 5:52 PM on October 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
I usually hate the "love at first sight" trope but it makes so much sense here. Like, Venom is arguably a pretty nice guy, right? And he comes from this race of super violent conquering machismo assholes. He's considered a loser on his planet because he's kind of a nice guy. Of course he's going to immediately fall in love with the first nice human he meets (who would on his planet also be considered a loser, but now they can be losers together!), and of course he's going to want to stay on a planet where most people are, comparatively, pretty nice! So he kisses his face and settles down with him. What else would you expect a lonely, bullied, affection-starved symbiote to do when shown the barest of human decency?
posted by brook horse at 7:39 PM on October 12, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by brook horse at 7:39 PM on October 12, 2018 [7 favorites]
Venom is a romantic. Venom believes in a perfect match. Venom believes in partnership and true symbiosis. Venom is the alien symbiote equivalent of humans who earnestly, deeply believe in soulmates.
god, I can't believe Venom (2018) is a touching, weirdo interspecies love story of a man and his alien symbiote
posted by yasaman at 11:24 PM on October 12, 2018 [15 favorites]
god, I can't believe Venom (2018) is a touching, weirdo interspecies love story of a man and his alien symbiote
posted by yasaman at 11:24 PM on October 12, 2018 [15 favorites]
Sony's official Chinese Weibo account shared adorable art of the Venom symbiote as a sweet, supportive boyfriend. "It’s interesting the teratophilia surrounding #Venom has him marketed as a 暖男 Nuǎn Nán Protector to target female audiences in #China. Nuǎn Nán (lit. “warm male”), net speak for the sensitive, caring male partner who does the housework and looks after the kids."
posted by nicebookrack at 9:23 AM on October 13, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by nicebookrack at 9:23 AM on October 13, 2018 [5 favorites]
Hypothesis: Venom as screwball comedy, Y/N?
posted by nicebookrack at 12:15 PM on October 13, 2018
posted by nicebookrack at 12:15 PM on October 13, 2018
Just got back from seeing it this afternoon. The part that bugged me is that it felt like a whole lot of the Eddie/Venom relationship building was left on the cutting room floor. The line about Venom being a loser like Eddie felt like it came sort-of out of nowhere (aside from the entire first act being a setup of how much of a "loser" Eddie is supposed to be, though really it seemed like they set him up as an archetypical "Vice News Bro-porter", which, I mean... I guess?!?!?). There was literally zero character base-line for Venom as a character, aside from Eddie fighting against him eating cops or something, which felt like such a throw-away line at the end of that fight scene. Oh, also, who the hell trained that SWAT team? "Let's all stand in the middle of the room in a big mob and point our guns at one guy." (I know, I know, it's just a movie. But still)
There were also a ton of plot points that they just left hanging. Did his old boss actually do anything with the pictures Eddie left him? Does it matter, since the evil bad man and his symbiote are exploded all over the bay?
The bond between Eddie and Venom just felt like it needed at least one scene where they argue more. Something to set up Eddie as wanting to be a "good person" and Venom giving more of a reason to want to stay other than "I'm a loser, just like you". Maybe because I haven't read the comics in decades, I felt like I wanted a better introduction to the character of Venom, but they couldn't come up with anything that would work on the big screen for this mess of a movie. The pacing was seriously off and felt seriously hacked up in post production (but I repeat myself).
posted by daq at 8:29 PM on October 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
There were also a ton of plot points that they just left hanging. Did his old boss actually do anything with the pictures Eddie left him? Does it matter, since the evil bad man and his symbiote are exploded all over the bay?
The bond between Eddie and Venom just felt like it needed at least one scene where they argue more. Something to set up Eddie as wanting to be a "good person" and Venom giving more of a reason to want to stay other than "I'm a loser, just like you". Maybe because I haven't read the comics in decades, I felt like I wanted a better introduction to the character of Venom, but they couldn't come up with anything that would work on the big screen for this mess of a movie. The pacing was seriously off and felt seriously hacked up in post production (but I repeat myself).
posted by daq at 8:29 PM on October 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
Apparently there's about 30-40 minutes of cut footage around, and when it's restored to the uncut blu-ray I hope it's entirely scenes of Eddie and Venom bonding over singing karaoke together. If serious plot-related scenes were cut then no one cares.
This movie could definitely function as "origin story over, moving on now" proof-of-concept for future movie Venom, like how The Incredible Hulk brought Bruce Banner into the MCU and then was never spoken of again. Harry's delightfully weird performance may make Venom harder to gloss over but make audiences more willing to do so for more gonzo Hardy. (I LOVE Venom but Hardy's casting was the only reason I saw the movie in theaters.)
posted by nicebookrack at 11:38 PM on October 13, 2018
This movie could definitely function as "origin story over, moving on now" proof-of-concept for future movie Venom, like how The Incredible Hulk brought Bruce Banner into the MCU and then was never spoken of again. Harry's delightfully weird performance may make Venom harder to gloss over but make audiences more willing to do so for more gonzo Hardy. (I LOVE Venom but Hardy's casting was the only reason I saw the movie in theaters.)
posted by nicebookrack at 11:38 PM on October 13, 2018
Did Eddie really break into a skyscraper to leave his ENTIRE PHONE on his news editor's desk instead of just emailing the photos??
posted by nicebookrack at 5:36 PM on October 14, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by nicebookrack at 5:36 PM on October 14, 2018 [6 favorites]
it's been pointed out to him that "for a smart guy, you're pretty stupid"
posted by numaner at 8:34 PM on October 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by numaner at 8:34 PM on October 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
On the other hand, it took Riot six months to make a 20-hour flight from Malaysia to San Francisco, so maybe getting possessed by a symbiote drains all the critical thinking chemicals from the human brain.
posted by nicebookrack at 1:49 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by nicebookrack at 1:49 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
She actually got into the airport in Singapore (there were signs all over that it was Singapore), and there's only one international airport there, Changi Airport. During the prologue one of the screens that Life Foundation people were looking at said "Hutan Simpanan Borneo", which is translated to be a fictional "Borneo Forest Reserve". It's also stated that the reserve is somewhere in Sarawak, Malaysia. So she would have to figure out a way to get to Singapore across the sea. I'm not sure why they didn't have her go to Kuching International Airport, but I could venture this guess: she would have to survive by attacking and eating people along the way. And maybe all that attention made it hard for her to get to Kuching, and she figured there would be more passengers going to America from Singapore. Granted, Riot could've jump bodies to find one that knew a quicker way to get there, but maybe she was a really good host, which leads to the huge plot hole of either she's a perfect host but Riot still wanted another one, or that she's not but her body didn't deteriorate like the others in captivity at Life Foundation. The director, Ruben Fleischer, admitted as much.
posted by numaner at 1:01 PM on October 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by numaner at 1:01 PM on October 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
From numaner's link, Fleischer: "I like to think that old lady was going around murdering all throughout Malaysia, and she was just having a good old time just shooting shards through different people in Malaysia.”
As much as I like Riz Ahmed, filming this would've made a 300% more entertaining movie. It's not like Drake was super-bulked-up as a supervillain. Give us Murder Granny Riot!
I admit I didn't even notice Riot was in the Singapore airport, because A)I was trying to decide why Riot was still in the same host and B)why would he go to Singapore first?? Why are the Malaysian scenes not subtitled or spoken in English, other than to make them feel more foreign and Far Away? Why even have Riot escape Far Away then take months to arrive instead of lurking around California for months munching on tech bros? Oh, fun dumb movie, I must ignore as much of your plot as possible.
Maybe Old Lady Riot swam from Malaysia to Singapore, eating whales along the way.
Overall I was pleased to see more POC in speaking roles, but also annoyed that most of them were killed as cannon fodder and/or were incidental to the plot, so that once again the the big confrontation came down to nice white heroes (Eddie, Anne) versus evil POC villain (Drake). That said, please bring back Mrs. Chen for the sequels as Eddie's secret keeper friend who keeps an extra stash of dark chocolate bars in stock for Venom.
posted by nicebookrack at 2:38 PM on October 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
As much as I like Riz Ahmed, filming this would've made a 300% more entertaining movie. It's not like Drake was super-bulked-up as a supervillain. Give us Murder Granny Riot!
I admit I didn't even notice Riot was in the Singapore airport, because A)I was trying to decide why Riot was still in the same host and B)why would he go to Singapore first?? Why are the Malaysian scenes not subtitled or spoken in English, other than to make them feel more foreign and Far Away? Why even have Riot escape Far Away then take months to arrive instead of lurking around California for months munching on tech bros? Oh, fun dumb movie, I must ignore as much of your plot as possible.
Maybe Old Lady Riot swam from Malaysia to Singapore, eating whales along the way.
Overall I was pleased to see more POC in speaking roles, but also annoyed that most of them were killed as cannon fodder and/or were incidental to the plot, so that once again the the big confrontation came down to nice white heroes (Eddie, Anne) versus evil POC villain (Drake). That said, please bring back Mrs. Chen for the sequels as Eddie's secret keeper friend who keeps an extra stash of dark chocolate bars in stock for Venom.
posted by nicebookrack at 2:38 PM on October 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
[CW: suicide] A really dark, subtle comics reference in the movie that I missed on first viewing: the scene after Eddie has lost everything, when he's standing on the Golden Gate Bridge at night staring out over the water...then he calls Dr. Skirth to say he's changed his mind about investigating Drake. That leads immediately to Eddie breaking into the lab and getting possessed by the Venom symbiote.
The Golden Gate Bridge is the suicide capital of the US. In the comics, Eddie Brock first encountered the symbiote when Eddie was preparing to commit suicide.
posted by nicebookrack at 2:14 PM on October 18, 2018
The Golden Gate Bridge is the suicide capital of the US. In the comics, Eddie Brock first encountered the symbiote when Eddie was preparing to commit suicide.
posted by nicebookrack at 2:14 PM on October 18, 2018
(Not one of the (manymanymany) actual Eddie/Venom pieces, more of a political thought piece that made me giggle)
When the People have Nothing to Eat (1073 words) by Skull_Bearer
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Venom (Movie 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote
Characters: Eddie Brock, Venom (Marvel)
Additional Tags: Murder, Climate Change, Climate crimes, Murder Husbands, American Politics, Eating, Cannibalism
Summary: Eddie and Venom decide to make dinner time political.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 1:08 AM on October 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
When the People have Nothing to Eat (1073 words) by Skull_Bearer
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Venom (Movie 2018)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote
Characters: Eddie Brock, Venom (Marvel)
Additional Tags: Murder, Climate Change, Climate crimes, Murder Husbands, American Politics, Eating, Cannibalism
Summary: Eddie and Venom decide to make dinner time political.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 1:08 AM on October 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I suspected strongly (and correctly) that we'd get an end-credits scene involving Cletus Kasaday, ginger-haired serial killer and future host for the Carnage symbiote ... but I did not anticipate seeing Woody Harrelson there in a dang Annie wig!
posted by D.Billy at 8:51 PM on October 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by D.Billy at 8:51 PM on October 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
I finally got to see it, and it was just as everyone said: the pre-Venom part takes forever, and lots of things don't really make sense, but what the hell, it was great fun and I too am looking forward to seeing if the cut scenes help a bit. One thing that may just be an Easter egg or something more: the astronaut who survives is called "Jameson." That would be John Jameson, astronaut son of the infamous J. Jonah Jameson (Spider-Man's non-super enemy in the comics, and in the Raimi movies, but not in the next batch nor in the MCU Spidey's continuity, at least yet). I'm pretty sure that he died when Riot moved to the EMT host, but any bets on his possibly being resurrected for a Man-Wolf picture? Sony is already moving on doing a Morbius the Living Vampire movie with Jared Leto...
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:49 PM on October 27, 2018
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:49 PM on October 27, 2018
Werewolf astronaut >>> Vampire Jared Leto, get with the program, Sony
posted by nicebookrack at 2:39 PM on October 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by nicebookrack at 2:39 PM on October 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
The “We” vs. “I” Debate For Couples Has a New Example in Venom. Together, we are Venom
posted by homunculus at 9:31 PM on November 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by homunculus at 9:31 PM on November 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Mister Belvedere was so cute and fluffy and sitting there like a Chekhov's Venom-snack waiting to be chomped.
I was relieved that no animals were shown being harmed. However, I think we can all agree that one of the film's wrong turns is in showing animals acquiring symbiotes and failing to give us Venom-Bunny or Venom-Dog.
posted by MrBadExample at 10:08 PM on November 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
I was relieved that no animals were shown being harmed. However, I think we can all agree that one of the film's wrong turns is in showing animals acquiring symbiotes and failing to give us Venom-Bunny or Venom-Dog.
posted by MrBadExample at 10:08 PM on November 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
Now that my romantic FPP of Symbrock: when a grimy human disaster and a chompy goo alien are in love has been archived (RIP), this is the perfect thread memorial: to announce Venom's home video release, Sony released "a new trailer for the Tom Hardy superhero-horror project that reimagines the entire film as a holiday rom-com. Can this crazy mismatched pair of investigative journalist human and human-consuming alien find true happiness…together?"
It is a real trailer on the official Sony YouTube account
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
posted by nicebookrack at 10:28 AM on November 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
It is a real trailer on the official Sony YouTube account
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
posted by nicebookrack at 10:28 AM on November 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
that is the best thing ever
posted by numaner at 12:09 PM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by numaner at 12:09 PM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
THANK YOU, VENOM, FOR NOT EATING THE CAT
Not gonna lie. The second they mentioned the cat I was checking out doesthedogdie.com just to make sure.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:33 PM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
Not gonna lie. The second they mentioned the cat I was checking out doesthedogdie.com just to make sure.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:33 PM on November 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
I finally got to see this last night (thanks, iTunes). I've never been a Marvel reader, so I came into it with little-to-no knowledge of the character (I think I remember seeing Spidey-Venom comic book covers way back in the day, maybe)?
Lemme say - I liked it. It's a good punch-em-up, it's spiked with good humor, and the Eddie / Venom interactions are kinda priceless. The SFX are gold. The story itself, pretty solid, even if a few things are super-over-telegraphed.
But... wow, I hated Tom Hardy's delivery. And I generally expected better of Michelle Williams - this was not a good display of her usual amazing acting chops.
posted by hanov3r at 11:13 AM on December 17, 2018
Lemme say - I liked it. It's a good punch-em-up, it's spiked with good humor, and the Eddie / Venom interactions are kinda priceless. The SFX are gold. The story itself, pretty solid, even if a few things are super-over-telegraphed.
But... wow, I hated Tom Hardy's delivery. And I generally expected better of Michelle Williams - this was not a good display of her usual amazing acting chops.
posted by hanov3r at 11:13 AM on December 17, 2018
I finally saw this and it's the most Nic Cage movie ever to not feature Nic Cage and I mean that in the best way.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:09 PM on December 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 7:09 PM on December 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
I just watched this because it came out on iTunes and I got to follow along as the wonderful Amal El-Mohtar live tweeted it and it's the absolute best way to experience this movie as she goes from skeptical to super into it. Link
Guys this film is totally grimdark Steven Universe!!!!!!posted by Space Coyote at 6:16 AM on January 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
“I won’t let you destroy this planet”
I WON’T LET YOU HURT MY PLANET
I WON’T LET YOU HURT MY FRIENDS
I enthusiastically reject the idea that "grimdark steven universe" are words that make any sense together.
posted by phearlez at 9:44 AM on January 7, 2019
posted by phearlez at 9:44 AM on January 7, 2019
All of this. It started out a little slow and I wasn't sure if it was going to just be Marvel's version of grimdark, but then Venom turned it into a buddy comedy and while I could've done without the typical superfight at the end, I'm not sure what the alternative is? I wish someone would figure something else out... The transition from Serious Spideyverse Movie in the beginning to buddy comedy was a little jarring, and I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be making a turn, but just relax to it, it's fun.
But yeah, definitely worth a rental if you aren't completely burnt out on hero movies.
(I only sortakinda know about Venom in the way anyone even vaguely comic book adjacent couldn't avoid picking stuff up, but I never read it, so I wasn't sure if Venom was good, bad, alien, somewhere in between, so I was never _quite_ sure where the movie was going to end up tonally.)
posted by Kyol at 11:13 AM on January 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
But yeah, definitely worth a rental if you aren't completely burnt out on hero movies.
(I only sortakinda know about Venom in the way anyone even vaguely comic book adjacent couldn't avoid picking stuff up, but I never read it, so I wasn't sure if Venom was good, bad, alien, somewhere in between, so I was never _quite_ sure where the movie was going to end up tonally.)
posted by Kyol at 11:13 AM on January 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
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Venom is slash fic. posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:16 AM on October 5, 2018 [7 favorites]