Venom, the Spider-Man villain from Marvel Comics has received his own solo movie to join other superhero films. Venom was met with negative reviews from most critics, earning 30% on Rotten Tomatoes and 35% from Metacritic. Marvel and Spider-Man fans were not surprised by this as several Sony produced Spider-Man projects have had similar abysmal reviews.
EBHS Sophomore Casper Godlewski backs these reviews, saying “the only person who cared was the guy who played Brock. There was potential, but it was wasted”, criticizing it for points like how “the first time Venom took Eddie over, [Eddie] should’ve lost control, allowing for Venom to properly maim and maul people like the comics”.
Another EBHS student, Ian Artenstein (Sophomore) says that he “liked it a lot but [didn’t] think it was a good film”. He thought the comedic aspects were admirable but also that “too much time was spent developing the antagonist rather than strengthening Venom’s connection to human life”. Artenstein’s comments demonstrate the mixed opinions of the film. People excuse the inaccuracies to the comics and flaws of the movie but focus on the positives: comedy, special effects and the Venom/Brock ‘relationship’.
Overall, opinions are decidedly mixed, though the more positive reviews shine though. With more positive reviews and a domestic box office gross of $175,314,542 (as of October 24, 2018), rumors have begun to spread about a sequel. Director Ruben Fleischer has hinted about plans for a sequel but no official announcement has been made.
For fans looking for more Venom content, some of the best storylines in the comics include Spider-Man: Birth of Venom, Venom: Lethal Protector, Agent Venom, Spider-Man #300, Maximum Carnage, Venom: Planet of the Symbiotes, Venom: Space Knight and Venom: Dark Origin.
This article was originally published in the East Brunswick High School newspaper “The Clarion” in October, 2018.