I distinctly remember seeing Venom for the first time in the 90's animated Spider-Man series. I still own the VHS of The Venom Saga, which was the 3 part storyline that introduced the black suit and Venom to the show. Venom quickly became my favourite comic book villain. I wore out the VHS (I still own it for pure nostalgia) and sought out further Venom stories to devour. First appearing at the very end of The Amazing Spider-Man #299 (with #300 being his first full story), Venom immediately became a fan favourite and has since featured in countless classic storylines that have cemented his iconic status in comic book history. Sam Raimi's troublesome (yet over-hated) Spider-Man 3 introduced the first live action Venom to the big screen, with mixed results to say the least. Following the announcement of a stand alone Venom film (without Spider-Man and separate from the MCU), the general response from fans was confusion. Spider-Man plays a crucial role in Venom's origin, so his exclusion from the film felt like a critical step in the wrong direction. Nevertheless, Spider-Man's absence from the film is the very least of its problems.

Journalist Eddie Brock (Hardy) has hit rock bottom. Following his investigation into the secret experimental trials taking place within the shady Life Foundation, he swiftly loses both his job as well as his relationship with district attorney Anne Weying (Williams). However, Brock soon finds himself "bonding" with an alien symbiote from another world, forging an odd alliance with the alien parasite to become the malevolent beast Venom. Together they must put aside their differences to stop Carlton Drake (Ahmed), the charming yet psychopathic leader of the Life Foundation, who believes he can use the symbiotes to upgrade mankind into a superior species.

Venom is a disaster. Nothing in the film works. The script is badly paced with scenes that feel completely rushed and lazily constructed, and the storyline feels painfully underdeveloped. It all feels very first draft, and all sense of character development is sorely lacking. Hardy struggles to convey a solid Eddie Brock and gives a strange and sometimes goofy performance that does the character no justice whatsoever, and Ahmed's Carlton Drake feels disappointingly one dimensional. The motivations behind his villain plans are never made clear, resulting in one of the least interesting comic book villains in some time. A fundamental lack of chemistry between Hardy and Williams weakens the film. I never bought into their relationship and felt as though it added very little, if nothing at all, to the overall storyline. Although Venom himself looks fantastic on screen, it takes too long for him to finally make an appearance. Weirdly, the film introduces a strange "buddy comedy" element to Brock's relationship with the symbiote, resulting in some pretty awkward forced humour that feels as though it was injected into the film for the sheer sake of it. Unfortunately, the action sequences are also dull and uninspiring, and even the final battle feels criminally anticlimactic.

The bottom line with Venom is that it's boring. It doesn't try to tell a good story, nor is it interested in making a faithful adaptation. Audiences who aren't familiar with Venom or his classic comic book storylines may enjoy the film as dumb popcorn entertainment. For those invested in Venom as a character, don't bother. Venom is a tedious viewing experience that makes me wonder just how they could have got it so catastrophically wrong.