Venom (Ruben Fleischer)

[Ivan Drago]

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/PoQAAOSwwY9bYZfs/s-l640.jpg

IMDB (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270797/) / Wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venom_(2018_film))


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLCn88bfW1o

[Ivan Drago]

No.



Full thoughts will come when I've processed this disaster.

[kuehnepips]

We loved it madly!

[Dukefrukem]

You're drunk.

[TGM]

The most notable thing is that they actually went back and fixed the pronunciation of “symbiote” from how they were saying it in the original trailer. Otherwise, hoo boy, this was retarded.

[Skitch]

Projected 60 mill for the weekend.

[TGM]

The most notable thing is that they actually went back and fixed the pronunciation of “symbiote” from how they were saying it in the original trailer. Otherwise, hoo boy, this was retarded.

That said, this is a movie I can totally understand if anyone finds enjoyment out of it. Hell, if I had seen it maybe about 10 years ago, there's a good possibility I would've liked this a hell of a lot more than I presently do.

[Irish]

$60 mil seems like a lot for a movie with that shitty a trailer

[Ivan Drago]

I don't know where to begin with this after coming off the excellent high that Widows was....but I'll give this spoiler tags for safety.

For a movie with a tagline of, 'Embrace your inner anti-hero', it's disappointing that these writers failed to give Eddie Brock any shades of grey. Rather, they elected to give him the inner monologues of both Peter Parker and Deadpool to appalling results. The symbiote constantly asks for food like an animal would to Dr. Doolittle, while its control over Eddie's body forces him to do things embarrassing for an Academy award nominee. It doesn't help that the entire ensemble looks lost and out of their element; Jenny Slate is miscast as a scientist working under Riz Ahmed's boring pharma-bro villain who spews nothing but exposition, and even Tom Hardy's performance ranges from cheesy and cartoonish to flat and phoned-in. Even the talent behind the camera is wasted; there's only three scenes that truly showcase Matthew Libatique's talent as a cinematographer, but those are few and far in between in a film that ultimately looks dull and generic. The CGI in the action sequences looks hokey and messy, the tone is inconsistent and a nonsensical character turn toward the end leads to something so ludicrous, one second-guesses if it actually happened.

As for the positives, well, as I said, there are a few scenes that do something dynamic visually, the end credits look cool, and the Eminem song is good.

That's about it for this hack job.

[TGM]

But hey, I got a free comic book for seeing it at AMC, so it wasn't a complete bust. :p

[Dukefrukem]

$60 mil seems like a lot for a movie with that shitty a trailer

$60 is impressive for a 2nd tier spider-man villain spin off.

[Skitch]

$60 is impressive for a 2nd tier spider-man villain spin off.

In October, too.

[Stay Puft]

I thought the Eminem song was bad, too.

Somebody tried to hand me a free comic on the way out and I said no.

What a movie.

[Ivan Drago]

I didn't get a comic afterwards because I saw it at an advance screening. :(

At least I didn't spend money on it.

[Irish]

$80 mil opening. What the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

[Skitch]

$80 mil opening. What the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Yaaaaaaaasssssss.....

(says the guy that drafted it in the movie league)

[Pop Trash]

The script mostly sucks. The CGI mostly sucks. The cinematography is off, like the DP needs to lower his camera's ISO since everything seems a notch too bright. The editing is haphazard. The last half-hour is a computer generated ejaculation.

However, I was entertained? Tom Hardy in particular is doing some bizarre, awesome stuff here. He seems to be on a wavelength with early Johnny Depp or Crispin Glover, in the sense that he is hell-bent on working out sort of a batshit Stanislavski schizo performance inside expensive B-movie level material. Weirdly, he reminds me of 80s era Bobcat Goldthwait. Meanwhile, Venom's voice sounds like Destro from the GI Joe cartoon. My 8-year-old self would have loved this.

[Ivan Drago]

$80 mil opening. What the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

My reaction (spoilered for anyone who hasn't seen Evil Dead 2)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sid_jtqrtww

[TGM]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aaYkBfEQa4

I love these Pitch Meetings videos. Anyone else here watch ‘em?

[Peng]

What even is that first 30 minutes? An origin story so rushed, bland, and cliche that even Tom Hardy can barely make it interesting ("E.T. phone home? Aliens, yeahhh"). Once Venom enters the scene though, Hardy's weird energy supercharges and this turns into a perversely entertaining buddy comedy, with Hardy as a most nervous tics-ridden straight man. The scene where he barges in on Michelle Williams and her boyfriend in the restaurant is one of the hammiest, funniest scenes of the year.

Quality of action scenes vary on whether how much Hardy and Venom are allowed to interact during them ("No! We do NOT eat policemen!"), so the more effect-heavy ones suffer from monotonous tedium, which makes the climatic fight's visual gobbledygook the most incoherent offender. That's why I'm a bit mystified at some using this film's "difference" to club MCU with it, since that difference comes alive in less than half the film, surrounded by an MCU's origin template done worse than any of them, and with a climax far, far exceeding any of MCU's usually complained action scene incoherence too (For actual unique, distinctive “difference” done the whole way through, see Spider-Man 3, which I kinda hated on first theatrical watch but has been slowly gestating in my mind favorably over the years, especially after Webb’s entries). Still, Tom Hardy showing why he has always been such a magnetic presence even in a mtaerial this bad ensures me I’ll be there for the sequel if he’s in. 5/10

[Dukefrukem]

It plays like a 90s comic book movie with 2010 VFX. It's unabashedly blunt with the content- the car chase in particular or the T2-like SWAT attack, none of it really flows together and its just there because the movie needs SOME action. The exploding drones was a hoot. I'm really shocked they didn't actually make Venom look like Spider-man more with him swinging from buildings. Or maybe I shouldn't be because it's supposed to be far and away from the MCU. The relationship between Eddie and Anne makes little sense towards the end. And yet somehow I'm oddly excited for the introduction of Carnage.

[Scar]

Maybe it’s the Christmas beers talking, or the ridiculously low expectations, but I had fun with this one.

[Dukefrukem]

My god. This almost made a billion dollars WW?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCcS8wrNZos

[Pop Trash]

My god. This almost made a billion dollars WW?


Don't underestimate word-of-mouth. The crowd I saw it with was audibly into it. Those nerds even clapped at the cameo of you-know-who at the end. I think the same thing is happening with Bohemian Rhapsody (which is at 200M and counting b/o) which apparently a lot of rank-and-file audience members are loving while critics and more discriminating viewers seem to hate it.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Also, China.

[Ezee E]

$213 million USD.
6 weeks in the top ten.

I had no idea.

[Irish]

I think it benefited enormously from its release date. There was literally nothing going on when this movie came out.

Considering the costs, the domestic return wasn't good.The best market for studio films is still North America, because that's where the studios take the biggest cut.

It was also soft in bigger western markets that are usually good bets for American movies (Germany, France, the UK, Mexico).

Foreign box office is vastly overrated by Box Office Mojo and the trades, where they pretend every foreign ticket has the same value as an American one. They love to talk about big Chinese numbers, but never mention the studios might only see half of that projected box office, if that.

Massive distribution definitely saved this movie's ass, but bear in mind 5 years ago "Amazing Spider-man 2" posted similar numbers (https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=amazingspiderman2.htm). Nobody talks about that movie as a success today.

This is the game now. It's pretty silly.

[Skitch]

Can anyone find a solid answer to how many screens are in Asia? I know Aquaman killed over there, but I can't find the article now and I remember reading that it opened on like 40,000 screens or some insane number. Thats bonkers. I remember when opening on 2,000 here was a huge deal.

[Dukefrukem]

I know China has a billion people, but no way they have 40K screens.

[Irish]

By January 6, 2014, there were 18,195 screens in the country. Greater China has around 251 IMAX theaters. There were 299 cinema chains (252 rural, 47 urban), 5,813 movie theaters and 24,317 screens in the country in 2014.

I read some months ago that they've been building new theaters like crazy. So I'd expect those numbers to have grown significantly over the last 5 years.

ETA: Annnnnd ...


China had fewer than 20,000 cinema screens in 2013, but it has now surpassed the U.S., which had 40,759 indoor and drive-in screens as of July [2016], according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Theatre Owners. As of Dec. 20 [2017], China had 40,917 screens, according to the national film bureau.

https://apnews.com/3557293fa36d455bac2eba603523fd 2c


According to data released by China’s film bureau, the number of movie theaters in mainland China was 9,965 as of March, 2018. These 9,965 movie theaters offer 54,165 screens, pipping the United States, which had about 45,000 screens as of 2017. 88% of the screens can show films in 3D, and 502 of them are IMAX screens.

http://chinafilminsider.com/headlines-china-china-now-10000-movie-theaters/


China had 41,056 cinema screens compared to 40,928 in the US, according to PwC's Global entertainment and media outlook 2017-2021. By 2021, the country will have more than 80,000 screens, nearly twice as many as the US. “Cinemas will continue to be built in China at a phenomenal rate.

https://www.pwccn.com/en/press-room/press-releases/pr-160617.html

[Skitch]

I mean holy shit. If anyone wonders why Hollywood targets Asia, boom. My prediction continues to move forward. (In 100 years, the only US export will be entertainment. All of our resources will be used to make and sell entertainment for the world, and everyone will work for that purpose in some fashion.)

[Dukefrukem]

Oof. I stand corrected.

[Skitch]

Heh, I liked this. Sure its all over the place and weird, but I was amused by it.

[Grouchy]

Heh, I liked this. Sure its all over the place and weird, but I was amused by it.
This is pretty much where I stand as well. This movie has no right being as entertaining as it is. Sure, a lot of it is Tom Hardy's uniquely hilarious performance (and I don't feel it was embarrassing of him to make a scene inside a fishbowl munching on a live lobster - I thought he was rocking it) but for all its flaws, Venom is also reminiscent of a time when writing and character development were a bigger part of Hollywood movies and it shows.

[transmogrifier]

But, the writing and characterization is abysmal. Like, embarrassingly so.

[Grouchy]

Heh, on one hand, I agree the characters are inconsistent. But not more so than in other more prestigious movies. The dialogue is actually pretty fun and it cracked me up often - not only with the "turd in the wind" line. I meant more that this movie takes forty minutes to establish motivation and character that other recent blockbusters are too lazy (or too afraid to lose the younger audiences) to take. I mean, I understand something like Spider-Verse is aimed at people accustomed to YouTube videos and it must move briskly, but that movie, as fun as it is, could have used some time for feelings and situations to sink in.

[megladon8]

This is on tv and my god...it is AWFUL.