VENOM LACKS ANY BITE
IN nature, venom is a perfectly engineered toxin, which enters the body of unsuspecting prey and impairs vital functions, leading to paralysis or, in some circumstances, death.
On the big screen, Venom is a toxic origin story torn from the pages of Marvel Comics, which bludgeons the senses of unsuspecting cinemagoers with digital effects, leading to confusion or, in some circumstances, death by boredom.
Director Ruben Fleischer’s big budget spin-off from the Spider-Man universe crashes and burns in spectacular fashion as it introduces audiences to one of the webslinger’s most fearsome adversaries.
The script lacks compelling characters and is tonally uneven, injecting snarky humour into a bloodthirsty central character with razor-sharp teeth, who gets his kicks by biting the heads off terrified victims.
Fleischer’s film earns a 15 certificate with graphic violence, fruity language and simulated scenes of fluffy animals being devoured.
Tom Hardy, who was mesmerising as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, is submerged beneath swirling computergenerated trickery as the eponymous alien parasite takes control of his body and goes on the rampage in San Francisco.
Oscar nominee Michelle Williams is squandered as a love interest, whose sole purpose is to twiddle one knob on a console in the messy final act.
Thankfully, Riz Ahmed brings a tightly coiled menace to his villain, a man of science and questionable ethics. He plays Carlton Drake, director of the mysterious Life Foundation, who harvests amorphous extra-terrestrials from a comet.
The aliens, which Life Foundation christen symbiotes, fuse with their host and slowly devour the body from within.
Journalist Eddie Brock (Hardy), whose girlfriend Anne Weying (Williams) works for the legal firm which represents Life Foundation, investigates Drake and consequently loses his job and the girl. Soon afterwards, Eddie gets the proof he needs to expose the foundation’s dubious morals. In the process, Eddie has an uncomfortably close encounter with one of the symbiotes and a creature called Venom melds with the reporter’s body.
The award-winning cast is powerless to tease subtle emotions from the bombastic sensory overload. The title promises pain and, regrettably, Venom delivers.