I have little knowledge of the source material, but all the trailers were promoting a dark and gritty villain origin story. As I sat in the theater and looked at my ticket, I soon realized two things: it was rated PG, and it was going to suck. I experienced a spark of hope early on: when Eddie Brock is first infected and changing you almost experience the same kind of horror and revulsion you get from watching Jeff Goldblum's transformation in The Fly, but sadly it doesn't last as he and Venom very soon become straight up buddies. On three separate occasions, Venom bites off someone's head, and each time the audience was meant to laugh, not scream, because that's how the scene was crafted. The longer the movie went the less gravitas Venom gave off, until, towards the end, the villain role is filled by some under-developed character, leaving Venom playing the role of the hero for some stupid reason. The whole thing falls flat on its face and I very nearly left the theater before the end because I just didn't care.

4/10 Stars. Should/could have been rated R.