This morning I went to the movies and saw “Venom” starring Tom Hardy. 

Right now, the reviews, added to the advanced screening reviews, are not great. I can say that although it is not as bad as the accumulated score on Rotten Tomatoes would lead you to believe. Its not that great either. 

I did not hate this movie. I was quite entertained. But it is not that impressive or noteworthy. It was well acted. It had some exciting parts. It just did not have enough of them. And, I thought the humor was a little heavy handed. 

One thing I was disappointed with was that the studio had promised to make this an R-rated film. Seeing as how R-rated superhero movies proved that they could be profitable (Logan, Deadpool 1 and 2, The first two Blade films). But, they buckled under the desire to cast a wider net and try to get as many people into the theaters as possible. Maximizing profit by having Venom turn away from the camera before biting someone’s head off or having Riot form blades and kill a whole room full of people without a single drop of blood. 

If it had been R-rated, not only would the fight scenes have been gorier, but the “body horror” aspect of the story could have been more gruesome. Especially when the symbiotes rejected their hosts. And the scene where Venom fought the swat team would have been an excellent showcase for gore. But its not PC to kill cops in movies. Even the crooked ones. 

I have been waiting for this movie since I was a kid. Reading Venom comics and seeing him mess up some bad guys. I did love seeing Anne as She-Venom. And Riz Ahmed did a great job as the mad visionary, billionaire villain. He was almost as slimy and two faced as Musk or Bezos. 

On top of all this I got a complementary comic book with my ticket. Yay. 

Overall, this is not the Venom movie I wanted it to be. I wanted it to be way better, yet it does the character way more justice that Spider-Man 3 did. Its baby steps leading to hopefully something better. Kind of how The Purge just existed for the far superior sequels to be made. Hopefully this film will earn enough to justify other Venom films. 

Stay after for a mid-credits sequence. And after the credits, there is an extended preview of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse.