Venom
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: October 5, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
35
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 46 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
28
Negative:
14
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Abraham RiesmanOct 3, 2018
Much of the picture falls flat, but the Eddie/Venom dynamic is aces and lives up to the Zombieland legacy. Read full review
60
Total FilmJamie GrahamOct 3, 2018
Fleischer made a better comedy-horror with Zombieland, but Venom’s a decent buddy actioner. You might even laugh your head off. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyOct 2, 2018
Venom isn’t quite bad, but it’s not exactly good either. It’s noncommittally mediocre and, as a result, forgettable. It just sort of sits there, beating you numb, unsure of whether it wants to be a comic-book movie or put the whole idea of comic-book movies in its crosshairs. Read full review
55
The AtlanticDavid SimsOct 5, 2018
Venom is, at its heart, a will-they-won’t-they story—a grisly meet-cute between a down-on-his-luck reporter and a grumpy, gloppy little extra-terrestrial with a really big appetite. That’s good, because the movie is barely competent as an action flick. Read full review
50
TimeStephanie ZacharekOct 8, 2018
Neither the most super-awesome Marvel movie nor the worst. It exists in that micro-millimeter’s breadth of in-between. Venom has energy, style and Tom Hardy — all good things. But it doesn’t really make sense, a bad thing. Read full review
50
The Associated PressJake CoyleOct 4, 2018
The film’s off-kilter schizophrenia gives it a madcap appeal. While Fleischer seems to have a darker, moodier film in mind, Hardy has the good sense to steer Venom in a more over-the-top direction, even if the movie around him can’t catch up. Read full review
50
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonOct 4, 2018
As a symbiote, Brock/Venom is sometimes funny, and for a while the movie finds a rhythm that seems to suit director Ruben Fleischer, best known for Zombieland. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 4, 2018
In the end, Venom exists in what may end up being regarded as a no-man’s land — too much like a superhero movie to appeal to people who despise the genre, and yet too deliberately silly to be taken seriously by superhero fans. There’s nothing memorable in Venom, nothing to talk about the next day. But if it happens to hit you right, its lightness is refreshing. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 4, 2018
To the extent that Venom works, it’s as a comedy not an action/adventure superhero film. Read full review
50
The New York TimesGlenn KennyOct 4, 2018
Ultimately, the ingratiating eccentricities of Venom aren’t enough to really distinguish the movie from its superhero-movie brethren as it devolves into the usual expensive orgy of sound, fury and wisecracking. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireOct 4, 2018
So of course, Hardy applies that same intensity to the comic-book anti-hero origin story, Venom. And his fully committed performance is pretty much the only reason to see it. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerOct 2, 2018
The best moments toy with a kind of superhero body horror, but the movie never fully commits to that angle, maybe to appease a ratings board and perceived audience of 13-year-olds (isn’t that who Venom was designed to please?), or maybe because director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) is more interested in the comic possibilities than the horrific ones. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonOct 2, 2018
Like his hungry symbiote latching onto Eddie, Fleischer cunningly fastens a malicious irreverence onto an otherwise lacklustre superhero movie. But the symbiosis doesn’t quite take. Read full review
42
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonOct 4, 2018
To be honest, Venom’s almost worth watching for Hardy’s bizarre accent and whirling-dervish mania alone, but it’s a shame he’s not surrounded by a better, more exciting film. Read full review
42
The Film StageVikram MurthiOct 4, 2018
It’s a cliché to praise a film by saying that an actor “is having fun” on screen, but Hardy having fun with a weirdly bland character and his absurd, sassy alter ego goes a long way to giving Venom a reason to exist. Read full review
41
The VergeBryan BishopOct 2, 2018
It’s a train wreck of a movie, mixing and matching wildly dissonant tones, bizarre plot contrivances, and a truly unique lead performance. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Simran HansOct 8, 2018
At least the CGI is clever, the consistency of Venom’s viscous, hostless form moving between molten metal and melted chewing gum. Read full review
40
CineVueTom DugginsOct 5, 2018
Venom is a desperately confused piece of work which has only a few compensatory pleasures to offer along the way. Read full review
40
We Got This CoveredWill AshtonOct 4, 2018
Despite a commendably committed performance from Tom Hardy (whether it's a good or bad one will still need further evaluation), Venom's a big, stinking gooey mess of a film. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleOct 4, 2018
No one can accuse Hardy of giving Venom anything less than his absolute best. He has always been a performer who loves a good affectation; here he seems to be riffing on his performance as Max Rockatansky in "Mad Max: Fury Road." Read full review
40
SlateSam AdamsOct 3, 2018
Venom wants to be something different, an off-kilter dark comedy whose protagonist doesn’t need to be cleaned up so he can fight alongside Iron Man someday. But it’s also terrified to step out of line, and the stench of fear overwhelms whatever wisps of fresh air have sneaked through the cracks in the doorway. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfOct 3, 2018
Entertainingly, Hardy lets himself get jerked around, Evil Dead–style, but he’s never enough of a jerk—so much for that journo-snoop backstory—and Venom isn’t vicious enough to justify its own existence. Read full review
40
EmpireIan FreerOct 3, 2018
Venom is neither triumph nor train-wreck. It’s a mediocre origin story, a superhero host that sadly fails to bond with its comedy parasite. Which is a shame, as there is enough here to to suggest it could have been a blast. Read full review
40
ScreenCrushMatt SingerOct 2, 2018
If you are going to Venom for cool superhero action — or for compelling characters, pulpy science-fiction, impressive special effects, a parable about corporations run amok, or a single significant connection to Spider-Man — you will be sorely disappointed. If you can look past all of that (and the dreadful first hour), your reward is Hardy, delivering one of the all-time great unhinged performances. Read full review
40
UproxxMike RyanOct 2, 2018
I do want to make it clear that I think Venom is not a good movie, but I also want to make it clear that I had the time of my life watching it. I think in a couple of years Venom could be the type of movie that sells out midnight showings as people come up to the screen and act out their favorite parts. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangOct 2, 2018
Directed with flat, joyless competence by Ruben Fleischer (“Zombieland,” “Gangster Squad”), “Venom” brings with it a laborious, decades-spanning development history. A movie this long in the works should arrive on-screen feeling like more than just an afterthought. Read full review
40
VarietyOwen GleibermanOct 2, 2018
Venom is a textbook case of a comic-book film that’s unexciting in its ho-hum competence, and even its visual-effects bravura. Read full review
40
IGNLaura PrudomOct 2, 2018
Tom Hardy’s committed performance can’t overcome a painful script and indecisive direction, resulting in a film with a personality that’s as split as its titular character. There are occasional moments of brilliance in the dynamic between Eddie and Venom that give a hint of what the film could have been in steadier hands, but ultimately, that only makes the finished product a more frustrating viewing experience. Read full review
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