I was thinking that Han Solo’s solo movie was going to be the biggest embarrassment of the year. Sure the trailer wasn’t too shabby but switching out directors and only now releasing a trailer, I’ve got a bad feeling about that. Then we get to what is the most arbitrary film of the year, a film that could still surprise, but is given off the expected impression it will not. Tom Hardy’s solo Venom movie has just gotten its first trailer and… well, it didn’t let me down in letting me down.
Even if the teaser was super cool and Venom, one of Spider-Man’s greatest and scariest enemies was whipping up chaos as well as his tongue, it would still feel hollow when you realize the context of Sony’s first superhero film in four years. For one, Spider-Man is not part of the movie, even though a story involving Venom is only as good as Spidey’s presence. He was created to be a dark, sinister reflection of the webslinger’s abilities and persona. Essentially, what if J. Jonah Jameson’s perception of Spider-Man was correct?
Without him, Venom and Eddie Brock don’t have the same narrative power and frankly, there doesn’t seem to be much to look forward to save I suppose for a possibly decent anti-hero tale with Eddie trying to make the dark symbiote that makes up Venom into a force for good rather than mayhem.
Delving into the actual merits of the trailer, it not only leaves much to be desired, for those unfamiliar with the Marvel character, you may not entirely be sure what the movies is even about. What you can observe from the preview is that Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock narrates that he has personal demons to confront, something happens to him that puts him in the hospital and at the end, we see a small glimpse of black tendrils or blackened blood veins crawling up Brock’s neck as he wiles out much to the favor of those who meme online. For all the speculation of what Venom would even look like and if he would be better or worse looking than Topher Grace’s ill conceived take from Spider-Man 3, you aren’t getting it yet.
My prejudice from the project even existing at all notwithstanding, nothing about the trailer piques my interest. It looks and feels generic, something that a film starring an entity like Venom shouldn’t come across. It spells more uncertainty for a film that was already being written off. Many still,up until now, doubted Sony was serious about the movie existing at all. Spider-Man, thanks to Tom Holland’s excellent performance, has successfully been reborn in the universe he always belonged to: Marvel Studio’s. We would all rather let Sony accept defeat and let the black webslinger have has run in with Holland’s in the MCU proper. Instead, more bad decisions weigh down a company that seems much better equipped to handle the games industry and act self- destructive to their cinematic practices. The last good film I remember watching from Sony’s line up? Star Trek Beyond,from two years prior, and even then I would be hard pressed to declare that a financial win.
Sony isn’t entirely screwing up in my eyes. There is that neat computer generated animated film coming out this Fall, after Venom. Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse. I would much rather Sony only do that little number than prevent Feige and Co. over at Marvel Studios from doing the Spider-Man symbiote film
Above Image property of Empire Online
we deserve, rather than a project that feels superfluous rather than super.
Originally posted 2018-02-09 23:02:11.