VENOM Director Ruben Fleischer On The Movie's Negative Critical Reaction: " [It's] A Bummer"

VENOM Director Ruben Fleischer On The Movie's Negative Critical Reaction: " [It's] A Bummer"

Though the first Venom movie was a huge box office success, it didn't fare so well with the critics. Now, director Ruben Fleischer has weighed in on the negative reaction.

By MarkCassidy - Feb 16, 2022 09:02 PM EST
Filed Under: Venom

Though its recent sequel, Let There Be Carnage, did fare slightly better with critics, the first Venom movie was not well received at all (it sits at just 30% on Rotten Tomatoes). Both performed very well at the box office, however, and have significantly higher audience scores.

Studios don't tend to pay too much attention to reviews as long as the movie is a hit, but directors are a slightly different story. Despite what many may say, no filmmaker wants to see their work disparaged, and Ruben Fleischer has now admitted that he was surprised and disappointed by Venom's critical reception.

"The critical reaction, I'm not going to lie, is a bummer just because you work so hard on something," he told ComicBook.com. "And I know, having watched it with audiences, how much they enjoyed it. So, it was a little surprising to me how negative they were. And I do think it's unwarranted because the audiences, as you said, really loved the film. Otherwise, I don't think it would've been quite the success it was. So, it was disheartening, for sure, that it has this kind of association."

Venom took in close to 900 million when it was released back in 2018, so it was clearly embraced by movie-goers. BO success is never an indication of quality, of course, but it's difficult to argue with Fleischer's rationale.

What do you guys think? Was Venom unjustly lambasted by critics? Drop us a comment down below.

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Dotanuki
Dotanuki - 2/16/2022, 10:19 PM
If that’s how he feels he needs to recalibrate what is important to him and disregard critical review. He’ll be much happier if he just looks at the box office and moviegoers reviews. Probably because audiences will occasionally really dig a dog shit movie like Venom.
TH29
TH29 - 2/18/2022, 4:58 AM
@Dotanuki - Yeah exactly, dont worry Ruben I was really bummed after watching this POS film, and its even worse sequel.
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 2/16/2022, 10:19 PM
Don’t worry the second one wasn’t good either. Low bar for the third movie.
TH29
TH29 - 2/18/2022, 4:58 AM
@slickrickdesigns - Second one just doubled down on the worst parts of the first.
NightBoyWonder
NightBoyWonder - 2/16/2022, 10:23 PM
Audience reception doesn’t equate to critical reception, I thought we knew this.
NightBoyWonder
NightBoyWonder - 2/16/2022, 10:24 PM
This isn’t to negate the feeling of working hard on a film at all either. But… idk c’mon man the film had GLARING flaws. I enjoyed Venom but I was stoned
Santanaonfire
Santanaonfire - 2/17/2022, 12:29 AM
@MonkeyDLuffy - That reminded me I need to smoke a bowl before I dive back I to Dying Light 2 😂😂😂
MUTO123
MUTO123 - 2/16/2022, 10:24 PM
This guy's skyrocketed onto my list of most hated directors. He's the living embodiment of everything I detest in a director; he's a work-for-hire hack who brings absolutely nothing to the table, he strikes me as someone who's easily intimidated by his producers and stars and lets them just walk all over him, and the closest thing he has to a style is to borrow from other, better directors with no original flair of his own.

And from what I'm hearing about Uncharted, he's keeping up that streak.
Santanaonfire
Santanaonfire - 2/17/2022, 12:31 AM
@MUTO123 - I didn’t realize he directed that… yikes. Love the games, have no intention of a theatrical visit for it. Instead I’ll probably (finally) see No Way Home a second time.
JohnCastillo
JohnCastillo - 2/17/2022, 5:57 AM
@MUTO123 - Wow this was way too harsh man… he might not be a director I particularly like but I don’t think he deserves being dragged.
TheSuperMex
TheSuperMex - 2/17/2022, 9:02 AM
@MUTO123 - bro it’s not that serious. Calm down.
newmutantsRETURNS
newmutantsRETURNS - 2/17/2022, 11:44 AM
@Santanaonfire - LOL so you not going to see it cause this jabroni doesn't like the director?
Santanaonfire
Santanaonfire - 2/17/2022, 1:05 PM
@newmutantsRETURNS - Not at all. It just doesn’t I Tereso me enough to see in the theater. I’ll rent it when it comes out on home release, but no theater outing for this one.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 2/16/2022, 10:28 PM
Totally bro.
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/16/2022, 10:36 PM
I mean, it was not a good movie. If he thought it was, then time to adjust and evolve as a director.
RealTurner
RealTurner - 2/16/2022, 10:37 PM
"but it's difficult to argue with Fleischer's rationale." What, he watched it with some people who liked it? He should have watched it with me.

Nah, if I was watching it with the freaking director I'd probably be really into it as well.
Comicmoviejunki
Comicmoviejunki - 2/16/2022, 10:40 PM
Venom sucked, you suck, go suck yourself!!
Santanaonfire
Santanaonfire - 2/17/2022, 12:33 AM
@Marveladdict - Bonus featurette on the directors cut? 🤔🤭
GhostDog
GhostDog - 2/16/2022, 10:45 PM
Well, I hope he finds comfort in the fact that the sequel wasn’t any better. He’s a studio lackey for sure.
TH29
TH29 - 2/18/2022, 5:01 AM
@BlackBeltJones - Sequel was probably worse honestly. Just because it totally wasted Carnage and felt like it was rushing to the end.
Toecutter
Toecutter - 2/16/2022, 10:49 PM


I still haven't seen Let there be Carnage, and I don't think I will anytime soon. It honestly feels like a chore to watch these movies. I don't understand how they keep making so much money.
dragon316
dragon316 - 2/17/2022, 7:08 AM
@Toecutter - captain marvel made billion you like that movie
Toecutter
Toecutter - 2/20/2022, 7:51 PM
@dragon316 - Eh. Captain Marvel was okay. I've only seen it once though.
dracula
dracula - 2/16/2022, 10:53 PM
why can they never get Venom right

Turning eddie into a slimy version of peter isnt a bad idea but he did not have enough screen time in spiderman 3

instead of a dark psychological action flic, we got a buddy comedy with some black comedy
dracula
dracula - 2/16/2022, 10:54 PM
Leigh Whannell made the best venom movie
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