Cast alongside fellow Oscar contenders Riz Ahmed and Michelle Williams, Venom seemingly has all the makings of being a special movie. It is Sony Pictures latest bid in seeking to create its own superhero mega-franchise. Many might remember the character Venom as the nemesis in “Spider-Man 3,” that starred Tobey Maguire. Set up in an intriguing way with a lead character mostly synonymous with being the villain, this was also going to pique our interest.

Cast – Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze & Reid Scott

Director – Ruben Fleischer

Genre – Thriller/Fantasy

Running Time – 2h 20m

The Premise

Journalist Eddie Brock is trying to take down Carlton Drake, the notorious and brilliant founder of the Life Foundation. While investigating one of Drake’s experiments, Eddie’s body merges with the alien Venom — leaving him with superhuman strength and power. Twisted, dark and fueled by rage, Venom tries to control the new and dangerous abilities that Eddie finds so intoxicating.

We won’t lie this movie is weird which is something we never thought we would be saying originally. Is that a good or bad thing? Well it actually depends on how you see it, some might find it off putting and a bit over the top whist some might like its rawness and the fact that it doesn’t hold back. Honestly we do think some parts were a bit overdone. Venom is a movie that had so much promise however, the end result doesn’t quite leave us blown away, amazed or super impressed. More could have been done with it and it’s a pity that it falls a bit short in parts.

That’s not to say though that it’s a complete failure, far from it in fact. Despite its shortcomings in parts, overall as a package it’s cool enough to kick off an intiriguing franchise that has the potential of getting better. The most positive aspect about the movie is the lead, Tom Hardy, who again affirms why he’s one of the big hitters in the movie realm currently. His quirky persona and the overall makeup of his whole character is what makes the movie stand out. And no we are not just saying that because we are fan boys…if anything you will have fun watching his performance.

Venom is a movie that promised so much but falls a bit short. When you compare it to other comic book based movies that have come out lately it doesn’t quite measure up. Despite it not being a cracker it does make for a good fun watch. In Tom Hardy the movie has the perfect lead who is its main shining light. It signals the start of an interesting franchise and we’re keen to see how the rest of the story unfolds. The writing and overall plot could have been better but Venom still does the job and that’s why it gets a fair 6.5 out of 5 rating from us. Venom officially opened in all cinemas today.

Special thanks to Ster Kinekor for the great IMAX pre-screening!

The Premise

Following a scandal, journalist Eddie Brock attempts to revive his career by investigating the Life Foundation, but comes into contact with an alien symbiote that bonds with him, giving him superpowers as long as they share the same body.

After watching the trailer it’s clear that this is unlike any Marvel movie and one thing is for sure, it’s not for the fainthearted. Venom officially drops 5 October 2018 and Ster-Kinekor is releasing the movie in IMAX. Bookings for the pre-screening (happening on the 4^th of October) open tomorrow, Tuesday, 25 September for 5 hours. Hurry to get your tickets as this is one of the must see movies of the year!

Going a step further, the guys at Rotten Tomatoes describe Dunkirk as being a movie that “serves up emotionally satisfying spectacle, delivered by a writer-director in full command of his craft and brought to life by a gifted ensemble cast that honors the fact-based story.”

Quite an intro that and with all that said, bias was always going to be a danger in properly critiquing this particular movie. I can assure you though that I safely and successfully put the massive fan in me behind, and let the reviewer instead to take the front seat.

So, is this movie special? And if so, just how special is it? Is it another masterpiece that will go down in history as being a classic?

Cast – Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard, James D’Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance & Tom Hardy

Director – Christopher Nolan

Genre – Drama film/Thriller

Running Time – 2 hours

The Plot

In May 1940, Germany advanced into France, trapping Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. Under air and ground cover from British and French forces, troops were slowly and methodically evacuated from the beach using every serviceable naval and civilian vessel that could be found. At the end of this heroic mission, 330,000 French, British, Belgian and Dutch soldiers were safely evacuated.

OK, so the plot might not be enough to excite one too much however a classic movie fan knows that that’s sometimes not enough to properly gauge the potential of any given movie. If indeed that wasn’t enough to convince you, maybe the below will:

Dunkirk is the type of movie which we haven’t seen in a good while, it’s unlike anything that has come out of late. The cinematography of it is amazing and something that we need to see more of I reckon. That’s something you can associate with every Nolan movie, it’s unexplainable but he always gets it right with the perfect blend between the content and visuals. And no, I’m not saying this out of bias or anything like that, it’s a point that many agree on. If you don’t believe me then be sure to do some research on the man, his movies and what’s been said about them. Dunkirk is another representation of his brilliance and firmly affirms why he is one of the great storytellers of our generation.

Despite all of that though, a part of me feels like Dunkirk won’t be for everyone. It takes a certain type of individual to watch a movie like that from start to finish uninterrupted. It’s very intense and has the ability of literally making one feel what it was like to be a soldier in the 1940s. The nonstop intensity might be too much for some to endure. There’s also no need to mention one particular standout performer in the movie as it’s set up in such a manner that no one really is the main focus, another great thing that’s rarely seen in most movies nowadays. All the performances are fantastic throughout the cast.

There’s so much more one could say about it but it’s probably better to make up your mind instead. To me it’s not quite a classic but is a special movie that will be remembered for the right reasons when mentioned. Definitely ranks highly in my list of top movies for the year, and that’s why Dunkirk gets a fantastic 4.4 out 5 rating from me. It’s out in cinemas today, go watch it!

Huge thanks to the guys at Fortress of Solitude for the invite to a great screening!