“Venom” has blown away audiences and catapulted its way into the movie screen. Despite poor reviews from top critics and a dismal 32% on Rotten Tomatoes, fans have absolutely loved it, giving it an 89% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.1/10 on Metacritic. It grossed 80.4 million dollars domestically, while the projections had it around 65 million. “Venom” has blown away the October opening record set by “Gravity” in 2013, the space flick starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, which pulled in 55 million dollars. The new film made an additional 10 million from previews on Thursday night which got it off to a very hot start.   

The main mission was to create a solo movie for Venom, one without Spiderman, and have it still succeed. Venom is such a popular character, which made the odds high of it succeeding, however many of the top movie critics claim it falls in each mission of portraying Venom’s origin story. It does struggle to achieve its fundamental goal, however, Tom Hardy’s brilliant performance as Eddie Brock, the hard-hitting, unlucky, disheveled journalist who ends up being unwillingly bonded with an alien symbiote, single handedly saves the movie.

“Venom” had the potential to do more, but it was by no means a bad movie. As evidenced by the wide disparity in critic ratings and audience ratings, viewers have come to expect a certain type of comic-book superhero movie. “Venom” who defies this mold of the stereotypical comic book movie, combining elements of a brutal action thriller, hilarious comedy, and a superhero franchise all into one.

From its wild motorcycle pursuits, to its hilarious dialogues with Eddie Brock (played by Tom Hardy), and the symbiotes’ hilarious reasoning as to whether it should eat a human’s head or not, “Venom” is a true joy for all who watch it, however it may leave true comic book heroes wanting more.

Tom Hardy’s outstanding performance, from his embodiment of Eddie Brock and crude humor to Venom’s hilariously satirical humor provide a stark contrast between the two personalities of Brock and the alien symbiote. The prevalence of a weak script and a slow-moving first hour threaten to buckle the high expectations for “Venom”, however, they are interjected by the actor’s ability to set the bar so high.

“Venom” fails to live up to the superhero, comic book formula, yet that doesn’t fade the film: it makes it better. Its confusion and lack of quality at times is refreshing and works to a certain extent. However, “Venom” has more good parts than bad parts overall, creating an excellent anti-hero movie that is fascinating, exhilarating, and silly at the same time!