The 4 Biggest Reasons Why Audiences and Critics are Divided on the Film
With Venom now officially in theaters everywhere, the critical consensus is in and it wasn’t kind to the razor-toothed alien, as the film scored a paltry 31% on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 35 from Metacritic. Despite many critics lamenting the poor screenplay and confused tone, this doesn’t seem to be halting the film’s path to financial success, as Venom has secured the highest opening of any film released during the month of October with an astonishing $80 million gross. Although box office returns, especially those from the first week, aren’t always indicative of favorable reception, the B+ CinemaScore from general audiences indicates that most moviegoers are pleased with the quality of the antihero origin story. This begs the question, “Why is there such a discrepancy regarding the film’s reception?”
Here are the 4 biggest reasons why general audiences had an overall positive attitude towards Venom:
1. “Fun” and “Happy” MCU Superhero Fatigue
While Venom is indeed produced by Marvel, it is an adjunct series, meaning the characters and setting don’t exist within the much larger and already established Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite overwhelming critical and box office reception for the MCU films, there is a segment of fans who find the family friendly exuberance unappealing. This group is likely to have loved Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and when asked about the MCU, they state how they miss superhero films that were of a more serious or dark tone. In all likelihood Venom’s shift from the squeaky-clean tone of the MCU may have been so refreshing to audiences that any other issues with the film were mild by comparison.
2. Novelty of the Antihero Faithfully Headlining a Film
Venom is arguably one of the most popular characters from Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, so the novelty of not only featuring the character on the big screen, but devoting the entirety of the film’s runtime to the antihero may have been rewarding for fans. Regardless of most critics’ issues with the film, the moral ambiguity of Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote pal lived up to the trailer’s promise of not being overly heroic, and fans left the theater satisfied that the film had hit all the right notes.
3. Disappointment with Previous Portrayal of the Character
Venom’s popularity as Spider-Man’s nemesis is the very reason the character found himself being shoehorned into the final act of Sam Raimi’s 2007 Spider-Man 3. Fan reception to the concluding chapter of the original Spidey trilogy has grown to be mixed overall, however, the portrayal of the Venom character by Topher Grace was almost unanimously criticized. Many took particular issue with the physical stature of the character and his scant amount of screentime, as well as the character consistently not having his iconic mask on.
Regardless of any other factors related to the film, it is undeniable that Tom Hardy’s take on journalist Eddie Brock and his Venom alter ego were more faithful in terms of physicality and personality. Seeing the beloved character possessing the hulking physique and otherworldly voice alone most likely justified the price of admission for moviegoers.
4. October Typically Lacking Superhero Tentpole Releases
Although the trend of reserving the Summer for big studio tentpoles has been recently changing, it is still a rarity to witness a film steeped in comic book lore with a reported $100 million budget premiering at the start of October. With the last superhero film being released a little more than 3 months ago, as well as no other being available until December with Aquaman, fans of the genre were probably overjoyed to have the viewing option. Additionally, of all the current major releases, Venom is the only PG-13 action adventure option available to moviegoers, meaning it has virtually no competition. The fact that only 36% of Venom’s audience was 25 years or older supports the idea that the film was the only option for younger viewers.
Conclusion
Regardless of where you stand on the quality of Venom, there’s no denying that the film has connected with moviegoers on some level. The record-breaking box office success serves as further evidence that the idea of clustering studio’s biggest bets for certain times of the year is a missed opportunity. Although the next week could experience a massive drop at the box office, the lack of alternative options and seemingly positive word of mouth indicates that the film will continue to thrive.
