Venom

Actually, investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is supposed to conduct an assignment interview with young self-made billionaire Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), with uncomfortable questions being taboo. But when he secretly snoops through documents belonging to his girlfriend Anne (Michelle Williams) and gets on the trail of an outrageous scandal, he messes with Drake during the interview - with drastic consequences: Eddie loses his job, his good reputation and his relationship. But he is to get another chance to restore his good reputation: A close confidante of Drake's reveals to Brock that her boss is conducting lethal experiments on the homeless. When Eddie sees this for himself, he is infected with an alien parasite that henceforth becomes a part of his personality and gives him unimagined powers. Perhaps as Venom, Eddie is now powerful enough to put a stop to Drake.

11 years ago, comic book anti-hero Venom first appeared as Peter Parker's antagonist in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3, but failed mercilessly with fans. But that was less because of the character nor Topher Grace, who played Eddie Brock at the time. Rather, it was the somewhat loveless way in which the inherently beloved comic book character was squeezed into an already overstuffed story. Now Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer is attempting to give Venom the box office success that the character deserves in his own right after all.

by many critics, however, his work has been slammed. Even if there are some aspects, at which there is quite justified reason for criticism, the nevertheless very harsh reviews are badly exaggerated. Because all in all Venom offers one thing: really good entertainment. And a leading actor who can convince both in the more serious moments, as well as with delightfully quirky humor. It's not a masterpiece, and it's far from the best comic book adaptation to hit theaters this year. However, it is all in good fun.

The two biggest criticisms are the CGI effects, which are simply used too excessively in many scenes and are only partially convincing. Sure, the whole thing is a comic book adaptation after all. But the many computer-generated effects seem too sterile and tiring in the long run. Here, less would definitely have been more. It's a completely different story when it comes to the target audience. The film was obviously adapted to a lower age rating. And that hurts the overall impression noticeably. If the makers had had the courage to orientate themselves more towards the target group that brought the two Deadpool films a total of over 1.4 billion dollars - not counting the home cinema exploitation - this would have guaranteed a significant increase in entertainment value. As it is, the whole thing feels like a tired compromise in some scenes that lacks a certain something.

So there's a lot to criticize. However, Venom is not a total failure. Ruben Fleischer has staged entertaining popcorn cinema, which falls short of its potential, but still provides nearly two hours of good entertainment. And that there might be a harder and longer version for home cinema is something Fleischer has at least hinted at as a possibility in interviews - hope dies last! For this hand-tame Venom, however, there is also a satisfied: worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp