I felt a great sense of disappointment when the first trailer for Venom ended. Here’s the deal though – it was good disappointment. Why? I wanted to see more. That’s what a great teaser trailer does. It leaves you salivating. I’ll reiterate – this is a TEASER released EIGHT MONTHS before the actual film. Again. A TEASER. Have I made that clear? TEASER TRAILER.
When this trailer ended, I knew what the online narrative would be:
“THEY DIDN’T SHOW VENOM!?? WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Again. Eight months. Look, if you didn’t like the trailer, you didn’t like the trailer. Fine. All I’m asking is that you remove what you wanted to see, and for once, just evaluate the damn thing as is. Heaven forbid they actually show you some character development in a ninety-second tease as opposed to some unfinished CGI. Cut me a break, internet.
Ever since Tom Hardy was announced, and the film was confirmed to be Rated-R, I’ve been a champion for Venom. In our Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2018 Podcast, I put this film on my list. Was the trailer perfect? No, but it gave me exactly what I wanted. They gave me a clear sense of who Eddie Brock is. That’s all I wanted.
Eddie’s been through hell. He’s down on his luck. All this has built to a “demon” inside him that will take over his life. Will it defeat him? That’s the movie. So while everyone is whining and complaining about not seeing a screaming black symbiote with unfinished special effects, I’ll take character and mood any day of the week. The voice over was good, albeit a bit sloppy. While a little rambly, I love the first line: “Everyone’s got their thing.” I like that.
As far as Tom Hardy goes, what can I say? The guy is just a damn good actor. He could play a talking pink elephant who burps every three minutes, and I would still garner some level of deep emotion from his performance. The last shot where he flips out right before it goes to black is perfect. Again, that’s a great tease. It leaves you angry that they didn’t show more. That’s what trailers should do.
While Eddie Brock was the most important element to this trailer, the movie created a good, creepy, unsettling vibe. My biggest problem was the music. Lame and generic. HOWEVER, I do appreciate an actual score. They could have easily gone with the tired act of incorporating a clever pop song, like a slow version of “Everybody’s Watching Me,” or something.
There’s no doubt I still have concerns. When that Sony logo pops up, I get chills. They don’t exactly have a great track record with superheroes recently (Spider-Man: Homecoming doesn’t count. It’s MCU controlled). They could absolutely Sony this up. We’ll see. And while I have a lot of faith in the film, the box office concerns are absolutely there. This is a popular Spider-Man character, but there’s no Spider-Man. That has definitely irritated diehard fans. I recognize that.
Was I blown away by this trailer? No, but I’m encouraged. I saw exactly what I wanted to see. It’s about character. My concern right now is the next trailer. Please, Sony. Don’t over react. Don’t show too much in the next trailer, as you did in all those 900 Amazing Spider-Man trailers. You’ll just get people complaining about showing too much. The minute you try to please everyone is when you please nobody. (*cough* Justice League *cough*). Stick to your game plan.
I’d be fine if we never saw Venom in a trailer. Yeah, I said it. People will complain. They’ll kvetch. They’ll make all the “A Venom movie without Venom” jokes on Twitter. At the end of the day though, if this movie is truly great, people will come.
Again. Eight months to go. Let’s all relax.
