Ruben Fleischer’s Venom opened Friday, and the reaction has been, well, less than glowing. As of this writing, the film’s Rotten Tomatoes approval rating is at a not-so-impressive 30%, with critics citing its chaotic storytelling, middling special effects, and weird campy/comic tone.
Rafer Guzman of Newsday compared Venom to midnight movie classics like The Rocky Horror Picture Show (which would be a positive in my book, but which Guzman meant to be a criticism), while NPR’s Chris Kilmek compared it unfavorably to the ’80s sitcom ALF. Stephanie Zacharek of TIME gave Venom a 3.5 out of 10, and even IGN’s own Laura Prudom gave it a 4, employing one of the film’s more notorious lines of dialogue as a descriptor: “A turd in the wind.”
Source: IGN.com In Defense of Venom