History YMMV / Venom2018

** [[EvilutionaryBiologist Dr. Carlton Drake]] is the CEO of Life Industries with [[AGodAmI a god complex]]. Coming into possession of the symbiotes, Drake [[PlayingWithSyringes experiments with homeless people]], having them attached to and devoured by the symbiotes in massive numbers to learn how to control them, even using the Symbiote to murder a doctor who assists [[Characters/SSUEddieBrockVenom Eddie Brock]]. When he merges with the Symbiote Riot, Drake eagerly embraces his newfound power and assists Riot in killing all in his path, intending to bring the Symbiotes to [[MisanthropeSupreme devour all humanity to satisfy his ego]].

** '''6 MONTHS?''' [[labelnote:Explanation]]A thumbnail from a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTOnjYgefRQ New Rockstars video]] of Riot standing in front of a map of Malaysia with the words 6 MONTHS? on top, which quickly became a recurring joke on Website/TwitterX.[[/labelnote]]

* HamAndCheese: Tom Hardy's performance somehow alters between [[TookTheBadFilmSeriously taking the role completely seriously]] and hamming it up in this kind of a fashion. One critic even [[https://twitter.com/mikeryan/status/1046988483041071106 said]] that Hardy was "basically remaking Creator/JimCarrey's ''Film/LiarLiar''", while another [[https://twitter.com/ScottMendelson/status/1047312498142007296 joked]] that Hardy was looking to be the first actor to win an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward and a UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward for the same performance. This has actually contributed to the film's SoBadItsGood reputation.

** People who defend the movie [[ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars commonly cite this trope as being the reason why they like it]], which might not be all that surprising considering that the character of Venom is largely over-the-top to begin with, since that's kind of just how UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks was. Many reviews state that it's often very hard to tell if a scene is actually ''supposed'' to be funny or is just {{Narm}}. If you're in the right mindset, it can be a blast.

** 6 MONTHS? [[labelnote:Explanation]]A thumbnail from a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTOnjYgefRQ New Rockstars video]] of Riot standing in front of a map of Malaysia with the words 6 MONTHS? on top, which quickly became a recurring joke on Website/TwitterX.[[/labelnote]]

* MisaimedMarketing: An odd example that isn’t necessarily the film's fault. In the leadup, news sites focused their coverage on explaining or speculating about ComicBook/{{Carnage}} to the point of [[https://ign.com/articles/2018/08/16/carnage-explained-will-marvels-most-psychopathic-symbiote-appear-in-the-venom-movie releasing videos explaining things about the character]]... despite no official indication that said character would even be appearing in this film. (Cletus Kasady ''is'' in the film, but only briefly in TheStinger, and ''not'' as Carnage.) In fact, Carnage received more pre-release hype coverage than Riot, the actual BigBad of the film.

* EvilIsSexy:
** While earning him [[HateSink little sympathy]], Carlton Drake (more specifically, his actor Creator/RizAhmed) is quite easy on the eyes.
** You'll find no shortage of people finding the fully formed Venom to be surprisingly hot. A lot of the findings point to his [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/ef752466fc1c02014660dd0a6ebb2a04/tumblr_p7ouocqpRb1t3fakxo1_1280.png tongue.]] (Warning: NSFW) And keep in mind that none of these are even mentioning Creator/TomHardy, who's already a well-known MrFanservice (or, for that matter, the portion of the comic's fandom that's long held this particular torch where Venom is concerned). This got to the point where China decided to market the movie by advertising [[https://old.reddit.com/r/Marvel/comments/9kaes3/the_sony_pictures_china_team_marketing_the_film/ how good a boyfriend]] Venom would make, complete with a strangely wholesome picture of Venom helping out his girlfriend.
** [[spoiler:Of course, She-Venom is also there to provide appeal for the gentlemen and lesbians in the audience, if only briefly.]]

** The ladies of the Internet, especially on Website/{{Tumblr}}, are going pretty wild over Venom's tongue. There are also responses remarking on how Venom is the successor to Tumblr's previous EvilIsSexy obsession [[Film/It2017 Pennywise]]. Others were offended that people even considered Pennywise, a MonsterClown with buck-teeth and a [[ForeheadOfDoom fivehead]], close to Venom.

** "Eddie Brock and Venom make out." [[labelnote:Explanation]]As the reviews came out, many were quick to point to a scene where, apparently, Tom Hardy and the Venom symbiote have a passionate face sucking session. This caused several reactions: 1) [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere People deciding the movie isn't worth it]], 2) People becoming curious enough to watch the movie just to see what the hell the reviews are talking about, 3) Excited fans who now have MrFanservice Tom Hardy and EvilIsSexy Venom kissing to look forward to.[[/labelnote]]

** ''Venom'' and ''WesternAnimation/Ratatouille'' are the same movie.[[labelnote:Explanation]]A tumblr post describes both films as "movies about a creature from another species with a love of good food meets a mess of a human down on his luck living in a shitty apartment and the creature can control the human's action [sic] and he's unwilling at first but together they can learn to cooperate and together they can stop the evil rich man trying to take them down" [[/labelnote]]

* {{Applicability}}: The film can quite easily be seen as the delusions of a schizophrenic man who finally lost his grip on reality after one bad day - [[DiagnosedByTheAudience Eddie acts strangely even before bonding]] with the symbiote]], eventually starts hearing and talking to a voice no-one else hears, while his friends take notice of his bizarre behaviour and start worrying about his mental health. [[spoiler:He starts seeing the [[AmbiguouslyEvil shady]] Dr. Drake as a full-blown villain bent for human extinction, imagines himself as a superpowered being who keeps beating off the BigBad's goons coming after him, and eventually even the ex-girlfriend whom he misses comes back to him]].

** Judging from how often she pops up in fanfics, a lot of the fandom really likes Mrs. Chen. Even though she's a minor character in the opening and epilogue of the film, she's often given a more prominent role as an ally to Venom and Eddie.

** An anti-hero protagonist with a [[ObviouslyEvil malevolent]] empowering otherworldly EnemyWithin that he refers to as a demon and talks down to him inside his head with a [[BadassBaritone sinister voice]]? [[BodyHorror Manifests]] itself often as black CombatTentacles and is capable of forming an armored appearance over top of him? Is this Venom, or [[VideoGame/TheDarkness the Darkness]]? There is even a moment in the film where Venom uses its tendril to rip a car door off its hinges and use it as a shield, a move the player can do in ''The Darkness II'' video game.

** A human bonds with a color-coded alien, who speaks to him, often recommending violence/murder as solutions to his problems, can hijack control over said human's body, and can turn their limbs into weapons. The color-coded aliens intend to invade, but our heroes alien decides to fight back against his AuthorityEqualsAsskicking superior? That sounds like the plot to a ''ComicBook/BlueBeetle'' movie.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** The relationship between Eddie and the symbiote is explored far more than it was with Topher Grace's portrayal from ''Film/SpiderMan3''. Here, it's being portrayed closer to the schizophrenia dynamic from the comics.
** Much like Creator/BenAffleck's [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse Batman]] voice, a vocal filter is added to give the Venom symbiote a BadassBaritone instead of [[WhatTheHellCastingAgency Topher Grace's]] [[{{Narm}} more weaselly and awkward performance]]. Venom's appearance is also larger and more monstrous, rather than looking like a doppelganger of ComicBook/SpiderMan. The creators also made sure to include Venom's trademark tongue from the comics, which was not used in ''Spider-Man 3''.
** After the "Symb-EYE-Ote" pronunciation in the second trailer was [[MemeticMutation widely mocked online]], the actual movie made use of automatic dialogue replacement to keep it closer to the traditional pronunciation of the term ("Sym-BEE-Ote", in case you're wondering).
*** Side note: Merriam Websters was dragged into the pre-release discussion surrounding which was the right way to say the word, and confirmed both ways of saying the word are correct. There's even an ancient Greek pun based on the pronunciation, "Life flies like an arrow." The pun is because the word "life" was "b-eye-oh" and the word "arrow" was "b-ee-oh". So, really, "sym-BYE-ote" is technically correct. The best kind of correct.
** Some reviews point out that the movie is ''at least'' self-contained. ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'' was often criticized for being too busy trying to be a PoorlyDisguisedPilot to set up a SharedUniverse.

* {{Applicability}}: The film can quite easily be seen as the delusions of a schizophrenic man who finally lost his grip on reality after one bad day - [[AmbiguousDisorder Eddie acts strangely even before bonding with the symbiote]], eventually starts hearing and talking to a voice no-one else hears, while his friends take notice of his bizarre behaviour and start worrying about his mental health. [[spoiler:He starts seeing the [[AmbiguouslyEvil shady]] Dr. Drake as a full-blown villain bent for human extinction, imagines himself as a superpowered being who keeps beating off the BigBad's goons coming after him, and eventually even the ex-girlfriend whom he misses comes back to him]].

* SignatureScene: Four scenes are cited in essentially every discussion of the film:
** The first appearance of a full-bodied Venom at the end of the motorcycle chase, along with the character's "Eyes, Lungs, Pancreas" dialogue.
** Eddie jumping in a lobster tank at a restaurant and eating a lobster alive.
** [[spoiler:She-Venom kissing Eddie.]]
** The "turd in the wind" line, for better or for worse.
** [[IronicEcho "Mask!" "Copy!"]] is gaining traction as well. (When a SWAT team tries to arrest Eddie, the leader shouts "Masks!" and an officer responds "Copy!" as the team prepares to use tear gas to subdue Eddie. Eddie immediately decides to let Venom get him out of this fix, shouting "Mask!" to which Venom replies "Copy!" as they HulkOut.)

** Symb-EYE-Ote.[[note]]The movie's characters' [[NoPronunciationGuide alleged mispronunciation]] of symbiote is the butt of many jokes. [[DiscreditedMeme This one has died down]] in the wake of the second trailer, where a character uses the classic Marvel pronunciation of symbiote.[[/note]]

* AssPull: Venom [[spoiler:surviving the explosion of the Life Foundation rocket and still being bonded with Eddie even after separating from him and saying goodbye.]] It's never established whether or not [[spoiler:Symbiotes only need a miniscule part of themselves in a host to survive]] and neither this film (nor its [[Film/VenomLetThereBeCarnage sequel]] ever explains [[spoiler:Venom's survival at all.]]

* AssPull: Venom [[spoiler:surviving the explosion of the Life Foundation rocket and still being bonded with Eddie even after separating from him and saying goodbye.]] It's never established whether or not [[spoiler:Symbiotes only need a miniscule part of themselves in a host to survive]] and the film never explains [[spoiler:Venom's survival at all.]]

** "[[ToiletHumour Like a turd in the wind.]]"[[labelnote:Explanation]]Venom's ToThePain speech towards a criminal in the second trailer ends with this line, which is seen as {{Narm}}y by many viewers.[[/labelnote]]

** While the design has been derided for the lack of the white spiders, there is a basis for this, as barring the covers of the initial ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' arc and [[VideoGame/UltimateSpiderMan the video game]][[note]]And an Ultron-created duplicate in ''ComicBook/TheUltimates 3''[[/note]], Ultimate Venom lacks the white spider emblems.

* SoBadItsGood: [[https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/venom-social-buzz-bizarre-and-cartoonish-but-tom-hardy-is-fun-to-watch/ Many of the critics who were more forgiving of the movie saw it as this.]] While they didn't see ''Venom'' as a good movie, they did find it to be entertaining enough -- for the wrong reasons -- to be worth watching. Commonly cited issues/"perks" that contribute to this include a tonal shift between a slow, moody first half and a goofier second half (where the movie tries to insert self-aware humor into the mix, with mixed results), [[{{Narm}} questionable dialogue throughout]], the film itself feeling like it came from [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece the meh side of early 2000s comic book movies]] (with Meg Downey of CBR even [[https://twitter.com/rustypolished/status/1046990249249902592 comparing]] it to ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'', ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' and ''Film/Catwoman2004''), and Tom Hardy giving a no-holds-barred HamAndCheese performance that [[https://twitter.com/chrisjrosen/status/1047294775781744640 one reviewer compared to]] Creator/NicolasCage's infamously over-the-top performance in ''Film/TheWickerMan2006''.

** Music/{{Eminem}}’s song for the movie, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CdcCD5V-d8 "Venom"]], is simply ''badass.''

* CriticalBacklash: The movie receiving mostly negative critical reception, with many comparing it to superhero stinkers from the early 2000's like ''Daredevil'' or ''Catwoman'', arguably did it a favour, as it caused a large chunk of the audience to go in with very low expectations. However, many moviegoers saw the movie as SoOkayItsAverage, with a lot of genuinely entertaining scenes, and they jumped to the movie's defense instead.