Even though Marvel’s Venom is not in my top five list of favourite superhero movies – or my top five list of Marvel movies for that matter, I still found a scene that I loved.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer, starring Tom Hardy, Jenny Slate, Michelle Williams and Riz Ahmed, I’m not sure that the worst thing about Venom is the performances. For me, the key issues exist in three areas: the story editing/script, the final version of the fully formed CGI embodiment of Venom and Venom’s actual speaking voice. All these elements left me less impressed than I’d hoped to be.

To give an example of my issue with the story, I know that Brock, who later becomes Venom, is supposed to be an antihero, but because of his highly inconsiderate behaviour during the Colton Drake interview early on in the movie, I had trouble fully being on his side after that. He’s still the protagonist, and I didn’t want him to get hurt. Yet I was reasonably annoyed on his girlfriend’s behalf. As a result, it wasn’t actually until the desperate scene in the restaurant that I was most moved; both by how helpless Brock seemed in those moments and by Tom Hardy’s arresting performance.

Along with a less cartoonish looking CGI version of Venom and Riot, I really did expect a far slicker execution from Marvel Studios. One where the finished product hit all the right notes in terms of what makes a good film and, as a result, had me feeling like: ‘Yes! YES! I knew this would be good!’ instead of: ‘Yeah… it’s really not the best. What a shame.’

Watch Venom if you’re curious enough. And if you’re a serious comic book fan, no doubt you’ll have a better time than I did.

For me, the title of ‘favourite superhero movie’ still belongs to The Avengers (2012).

Happy film Loving,

G