"Venom" is really funny, despite what the trailers say

Whatta goofball.
Photo: Sony Pictures Digital Productions Inc.

A few months ago, the director Ruben Fleischer tried to convince the world that his future starting from super-franchise, Venomit's something that's really not. Addressing crowds crowded at the San Diego Comic-Con, he said the main protagonist would be a "tougher, more down-to-earth, complicated character" and that there was "no heroes in this film". The first highly watched trailer – in which Tom Hardy, the main leader, grumbles through a monologue about life, the universe and everything we experience while we are subjected to scenes of anguish and brutality – we have also launched a fast. The public relations campaign resulted in a film that mixed too many superheroes, psychological torture and visceral horror. But in retrospect, we should not have been fooled. This is Fleischer, after all – the guy who did Zombieland. Get out of Venomyou will realize that it works primarily as a comedy. And an intentional, to that.

To be honest, most of the film's laughs are not deliberate. During the media screening in New York last night, the first big jesters arose during the first titles, when the famous Marvel book page animation completed around the world, is over and has been enlarged to reveal the Marvel logo with the slightly pathetic warning "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" above (this is a Sony picture, not an image of the Disney / Marvel Cinematic Universe). There were also bursts of laughter when, a few minutes after establishing that Eddie (Tom Hardy) and Anne (Michelle Williams) are passionately in love, the latter returns her engagement ring cheerfully and emotionlessly after missing a thing. Part of the overworked and superficial dialogue of the evil Carlton scholar (Riz Ahmed) also provoked a laugh at his expense; for example. a scene where he looks at a human test subject and says, "Such a mediocre design," to which a lab technician responds, "I'm sorry?" and Carlton adds, "Human beings."

But I would say that such moments are minor. The film contains a great wealth of laughter that emanates from some sort of action comedy slapstick that I did not really know that Tom Hardy had in him. "In him" is the key phrase, because we have to wait about a quarter of the time of the photo for a disgusting live-in to get in and make it work. For those who do not know the configuration of the entire Venom concept, dating back to the 1980s Spider-Man comics, it's relatively simple: there is this extra-terrestrial organism called "symbiote" (Side note: Filmmakers must have seen the reaction to the "sim-bye-oat" pronunciation of the first trailer and some dialogue recordings, because in the finished product, everyone is talking about "sim-bee- oat "or the traditional Spider-Man-media" sim-bee-uht ") that takes hold of people's bodies and speaks to them in their brains. The symbiote, whose extraterrestrial name is translated as "Venom", is generally quite violent in its philosophy and fears for the consumption of flesh. In the film, Eddie becomes his host reluctantly.

Once the two are linked, their life together becomes a kind of monumental comedy for a pal – and a delightful one. It is a beautiful shift: Eddie the cerebral pacifist and Venom the bloodthirsty marauder. Eddie needs Venom because he is a wanted man: the sinister Life Foundation of Carlton has made symbiotic experiments and wants to recover his property, after which they will be trapped in poor Eddie. So, Venom launches into a vicious CGI fight with the bad guys, exerting extreme force and waving his Protean black guy appendages to stab and throw people here and there. Venom speaks like a voice in Eddie's head and Eddie is constantly trying to get Eddie to ease the bloodshed a little, or at least explain what's going on.

The result is Hardy, not one but two from his signature of strange vocal performances – Noo Yawk grunted and moaned at Eddie and Venom's loud screaming mega-murmur – starting a series of dialogues with himself. They are often fantastic. I do not want to spoil all the good exchanges, because they are on the whole perfectly synchronized and often surprising, but some examples will suffice. "You are a loser, Eddie." Venom tells him at one point. Eddie answers, "Are you going to eat someone else?" And Venom says, "Most likely." Later, while he was trying to escape from henchmen in a big building, Venom yells at Eddie, "Jump!"- we then cut to Eddie choosing to take the elevator. There is a time. Then Venom simply hums, "Pussy". My personal favorite comes at a tender time between Eddie and Anne, when Venom says very seriously: "Aww. That's good." So, not all of them work on paper, but an important part of what allows them to land is the expert rhythm of sound corrections and readings of Hardy's clever line.

But if you like Hardy's voice, you'll have love his physical work. This aspect certainly can not be written down, but I will do my best. Rarely has the bodily possession been transmitted with such a delightful quirk. The Thespian has those moments when he totally controls his muscles while Eddie tries one thing while the symbiote makes another one; For example, once he raises his hands to go while Venom goes down to attack, then to surrender, then to attack, etc. You can see Eddie's deformed face in shock that none of this is happening, which sends a message to his attackers, telling him that he is as confused as themselves. ( 'You make us look bad!Silently shouts out the symbiote.) Or there are many times Venom craves food and Eddie goes to a piece of meat or another and shoves it in his face while his eyes tell us he has not no idea what's going on. It's like watching Robin Williams at his peak.

Oh, and speaking of eating: reader, consider lobster. The film's comedy might arrive at a restaurant that Eddie / Venom burst into a posh establishment to ask her questions to Annie and her new boyfriend Dan (a perfect casting, Reid Scott, whose mere presence provokes fans of Veep laugh at his comforting smarm). He is hungry and continues to take other guests' food against his will, holding a steak at some point and shouting "It's dead!"But none of that is enough, and he eventually climbs into a lobster pond and sits there with a sigh of comfort, as he entered a bubble bath. He digs under himself, grabs a lobster and just tearing the poor thing. The frantic look on Hardy's face is worth the price of admission.

Like the opposite atmosphere of attraction of its double performance, in general. Most of the time, the picture falls flat, but the dynamic Eddie / Venom is based on aces and is up to expectations. Zombieland heritage. Unless Billionaire Boys Club-Level flop, a Venom the rest is inevitable. As long as Hardy and Hardy are back, I'll pay a few dollars to see him. I can always use a laugh or two.