Early Impressions Of Venom Are As Ugly As Venom Himself
Last weekend Sony Pictures’ Venom was screened for the first time at an exclusive Los Angeles theater. Attendees were instructed to keep their opinions quiet for a few days as a condition of being allowed to see the flick early. Now the embargo is up, the tweets are live, and……yikes. Over half the tweet-reviews for Venom describe it negatively, the harshest comparing it to Catwoman.
One of the most common comments is that Venom feels like “a tonal mess that feels 15 years old, ignoring the storytelling strides that the superhero genre has made in recent years.” Someone else put it more succinctly: “This is a movie that somehow slipped through a wormhole from 2004. That’s my biggest take. It’s a movie that spilled from the pre-MCU era through a crack in time and space.”
“It’s…not a complete disaster? At least I was never mad watching it? But it is an excruciatingly surreal experience. The humor, the story beats, everything right down to the Eminem theme song feels like it emerged Kimmy Schmidt style from a sealed off early 00s bunker.”
There were those who had a positive experience, though most of their compliments tend to include words like “funny” — perhaps not what fans of the Lethal Protector want as a prominent element. “#Venom was surprisingly funny!” gushed this person. “I had a freaking great time watching it. Despite some problems, it did right by its main character.”
“Not sure if Tom Hardy’s weirdness sabotaged #Venom or saved it, but it has a self-aware cartoonishness, especially in its latter half. It’s not “good,” but it’s better than expected.” said someone else. “I’m *fascinated* with VENOM,” says Mike Ryan. “The cast seems to all know they’re in a darker superhero movie, except Tom Hardy who is basically remaking Jim Carrey’s Liar Liar. I kinda loved watching this movie, in a Rocky Horror type of way. At one point Tom Hardy and Venom make out.”
Middle-of-the-road opinions are rare, but there IS this: “I can definitely say it’s only slightly less gooder than The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” At least it’s a better comparison than Catwoman.