After a three-week hiatus from the movies, I went back on Friday, to see the new Venom movie, and Sunday to see The Many Saints of Newark. I was excited to see both, and I was not the only one. Venom set a record for a pandemic opening of a film, thus continuing the domination of Marvel films at the box office, and there were countless people on podcasts, the radio, and TV ready to discuss their Sopranos experience and share their excitement for the upcoming film. I went and saw Venom early Friday afternoon to a partially filled theater, and I went around noon on Sunday to see The Many Saints of Newark, which had a mainly empty theater besides my dad and I, there were five others, who were all much older, but to be fair Many Saints was also released onto HBO Max on Friday, much to David Chase’s despair, so hopefully it was watched plenty. (Spoilers)
The Many Saints of Newark was a late 60s early 70s period piece about the crime family from the hit show from the 2000s, The Sopranos, which many people consider one of, if not the best TV show of all time. This story centers on Dickie Moltisanti, Christopher’s father from the show, and his time in the crime family. Although he is the main figure, the story also looks in on other well-known characters from the show, and their parents. The main story line seems to delve into race riots occurring in Newark, and how the mob viewed them, and it was not favorably. There was also a decent chunk dedicated to the young Tony Soprano. It gave part of his journey, and it provides a partial explanation as to how he turned out the way he did due to his outside influences.
One of the most interesting dynamics of the story came from the Soprano family. There was the adolescent Tony Soprano, who was a delinquent in the making, even from a young age. He was running a gambling operation in his school, which causes him to get in trouble. He gets caught cheating, he steals an ice cream truck, and he takes stolen speakers. So, this pressure from his delinquency is placed on the family, along with his father, Johnny, being imprisoned for a few years. All this stress causes Livia Soprano, the mother of Tony, to be incredibly harsh at times and a little over the top. Vera Farmiga as Livia gives the best performance of the movie. In all the scenes she is in, she stars. Her emotional draw is excellent, especially when she is overreacting to the slightest of jabs taken in her direction or an opinion that disagrees with hers.
The biggest criticism of this movie would be that it does not have a clear story line. It spends most of the time hopping around. It is mainly centered on Dickie, but even then, there are a variety of aspects to his life that the film explores. There is a race war going on in the city, and this is causing the most strife for the family, especially when Dickie’s goomah, formerly his stepmom, sleeps with the boss of the Black crime ring. One of the acts of revenge involved a guy having a car drill placed into his mouth and being spun. It was cringe worthy. The overarching themes are of course family and loyalty, it did not seem like the family aspect was as important in this as in the show. Most of the families in the movie seemed to be crumbling, but the loyalty to the crew still seemed important. The other criticism I have is that there was not enough food being shown off in the film. In the show, there were so many Sunday dinner scenes and parties that showcased the food that made me crave a variety of Italian delicacies. It also made me crave those massive family outings that occurred so often, minus the crime and murder. They all seem so close, even though there is constant strife, it still showed a strong unity among them.
The best part of the movie, and what probably made it as enjoyable as it was with its wide-ranging story was that it brought the viewer back into The Sopranos universe. Although I had only watched the show a couple of years ago, it was great, and I missed being around those characters even though they were scummy and immoral. There is something about it that draws the viewer in, and it becomes almost impossible not to root for Tony, even at his worst, which gets ugly. He is such a compelling character, and like Dickie in this film, he wants to have a moral conscious, but then something will happen, and he gets right back into the muck. The wide ranging story lines in the movie mirror that of the show, but the show has more time to flesh out all the story lines, whereas the movie only had two hours to tell a story.
Many Saints also did an excellent job with the music. There was the strong contrast between the more pop music of the era, the 60s and 70s rock, that would play in scenes with the Italian family in it, but when the Black characters were the focus or were making the move, there was a slam poetry type music with a strong beat and a strong message playing. Both forms of music did an excellent job of framing the story and making it feel apiece with the time. It is also important that the music choices were strong because the show itself had multiple moments that are highly correlated with their music choices, and of course when the end credits hit, The Sopranos theme hit.
Venom Let There Be Carnage continues Eddie Brock's story line as a journalist who has contracted an alien parasite. He typically is trying to be a hero, but he has more of an anti-hero vibe. The parasite has a taste for blood that Brock's morality tries to block out and fill with chocolate and chickens. A serial killer, Cletus, wants a special audience with Brock, which initially turns out poorly for him, but after he gets a taste of Venom's blood, his fortunes change. Cletus gains the powers of Carnage, a similar parasite to that of venom, but instead he is red and more powerful. Cletus frees his girlfriend, and they plan their wedding/plan of assault to kill Venom and others. In a battle at the end of the movie, Venom finds the strength to barely overcome Carnage, but Brock and Venom have to flee.
One of the most important aspects to this movie came from the post credit stinger. Brock and Venom have escaped to some island, so Venom finally has a chance to put his toes in the warm sand. When they return to the hotel room, the whole place starts to shake, and they end up in another hotel room when the shaking stops. On the TV is Jonah Jameson revealing that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, which was the stinger from Spider-Man Far from Home. Thus, entangling Venom into the Spider-Man universe and entangling the franchises together. This makes a Venom appearance in the upcoming Spider-Man movie highly likely.
Overall Venom: Let There Be Carnage was a below average movie. I had high expectations. I thought that they would learn from their mistakes in the first movie and create a more compelling story that rivaled Deadpool. This was not the case. This one might have been worse than the first. It had some comedic notes, but it largely missed. Carnage was a great monster and seemed very promising, but the story just did not create an interesting enough atmosphere to make me fully buy in to it. This comes shortly after Marvel created a whole new universe with Shang Chi that was incredibly exciting. If the most important part of the movie occurs during the credits, that is not a good sign.
The love story aspect of the story is intriguing at times, but it is closer to a love triangle than anything. Venom is attached to Brock, Brock is in love with Anne, but Anne has moved on and found a new romantic partner who has proposed to her. So, the whole thing is convoluted, but when they are all on the screen together, that is when the movie seems to be working the best. They would have been better off making a very weird romantic comedy instead of a dark action comedy. In the end it was more of a romance between Venom and Brock, when they decide that they are better off together. There were times where it seemed like they were trying to make the movie part horror, but those parts did not really hit, except for the introduction to Carnage escaping the lethal injection. It also gave off a New Mutants vibe at time, which was originally intended to be horroresque, but ultimately neither movie hit that note well enough.
Sadly, neither of these movies blew me away like I was hoping at least one of them would. Venom was a fine way to spend part of the afternoon, and it was short which I appreciated, but it did not fully commit to its comedic goal or action goal, so it receives 2 stars. The Many Saints of Newark had strong moments, but the lack of a linear story takes away from it. It was enjoyable enough to be back in the presence of the crime family and pairing that with the music and the successful artfulness of capturing the period that it earns 3 stars. If you have watched The Sopranos, definitely go see the movie, it is a fun nostalgia factory.
Other Movies Shows This Week:
Squid Game, the current number one show on Netflix is amazing. I have finished most of it, and I am completely engrossed. It is a South Korean show that delves into the class divide between the rich and those impoverished, just like the Oscar winning movie Parasite. This story is more fantastical than Parasite, and it is more akin to The Hunger Games, Saw, and Stephen King’s The Long Walk. There are 456 people who are heavily in debt placed onto an island where they compete against each other to win a massive cash prize, but if you lose, you die.
New Rankings:
The Many Saints of Newark: 3 Stars
Venom: Let There Be Carnage: 2 Stars
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