MovieChat Forums > Venom (2018) Discussion > Rip off of Upgrade

Rip off of Upgrade


Pretty much the same storyline as Upgrade only a much worse film. Upgrade had a budget of 5b and came out looking much more polished.

I have no idea what Sony spent on this film but it looked so cheap. Like a early 2000s superhero movie when most superhero movies were still lame.

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Ha. I remember the trailers for both films being compared constantly. But Venom is not a rip off of Upgrade no matter how much you convince yourself that it is. A rather paranoid Eddie talking to his “inner voice”, becomes superpowered, gloriously fights back against his enemies. etc... all that goes back 25+ years ago for the character.

Other than changing the anti-heroe’s origins, Venom still more or less stayed true to the character. Consequently, we got this story that shared similarities to Whannell’s film —vice versa. Upgrade was better executed, that is true. Although the entire Venom movie didn’t look any better or worse than many high-budget movies. Did it look as expensive as it actually was? Not quite. But... cheap? Even less so, if you ask me. Lofty budget but they deliberately went for a b-movie feel and the majority of the effects were great. Bottom line... those behind Venom stole nada from Upgrade. They might’ve stolen from Venom’s source material. ;)

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It is pretty sad tho from Sony's point when a small film with a small budget can make something so much better with a similiar plot. I have to admit I was surprised when I looked Upgrade up and seen it only cost 5b. Looked like it had much more spent on it then that.

It does go to show you some of these blockbusters can just write endless cheques but can't get the simple things right. It just happens i had seen these movies a day between each other.

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Wrong. You have been debunked. Don't let it cost you the last bit of dignity.

You may go home and rethink your life.

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Someone disagreeing with his point doesn't mean he's been debunked. I imagine a lot of people would feel the same if they saw the movies back to back.
But if you think that dude has to worry about his dignity because of a dissenting view on a movie message board...eh, its pretty clear which one of you needs to rethink...at least your priorities.

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...they are quotes, Jeho. Also, the OP's "rip off" accusation is so poorly thought through and thinly argued (read: not at all just slander) that it's an embarrassment for you to back it up.

Both are films from 2018 (do you know how long planning and execution of filming takes?) but the Venom concept is decades old; both films have pretty generic genre premises of being slowly taken over by an entity etc.

Your surrender is accepted.

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Yes I guess my point was poorly argued and I will admit to a bit of a troll like heading to get peoples opinions on the 2 films. OFC i realize it wasn't really ripped ;) it just happened to be 2 films while different both have the same kinda plots. I think a lot of people that like Venom like it cause it is a Marvel movie and they will just like everything Marvel

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Yeah, you got a point...and an aside, kind of cool how you took another opinion in stride like that. But yeah, goes to show you that you can't really judge a movie by its budget...Upgrade was fricking amazing IMO, and although I liked Venom, it didn't seem to have anywhere near the impact.
Curious though, when you say 5b, you mean million, right? What's the b mean?

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Maybe he meant 5 bucks... as in "very cheap."

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yes I meant 5m lol. I just think Venom came of looking like a cheap film with poor CGI. It really looks like they put little effort into it. I do think a sequel will probably be better. Many of these superhero movies have better sequels.

I also think the director that did Upgrade would of done a much better job of a Venom movie (bonus is his an Aussie like me :D)

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I heard how Upgrade could be the better Venom movie (never seen it before, but seems very interesting).

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Upgrade is fantastic....

It was written and direct by Leigh Whannell .....

He's known for coming up with James Wan....He Wrote most of the Saw movies and Insidious Movies....

Upgrade was his second film directing and He KILLED IT....IMO I think He'll start getting big budget offers soon to direct....

I can not recommend Upgrade enough....

also stunningly The Lead actor Logan Marshall Green, Is absolutely fantastic in The movie/role....I'm not kidding, I have hated him in every movie he's ever been in, But He was amazing in This....

Oddly he also looks much like Tom Hardy....

I almost guarantee Had Upgrade came out early, and had Sony saw the film....They would have immediately tried to sign Leigh Whannell to Direct Venom....I truly can not think of a better film than Upgrade, that would qualify the director to direct Venom....

Like right now, I'm sure Sony has seen Upgrade, and immediately was hit with a Weird feeling, Like GOD DAMN, why couldnt this have come out a little later, Leigh Whannell would have been perfect....

Upgrade ironically would have literally been about the single greatest "Interview" for a Directing gig in Hollywood history....whenever Sony Greenlit Venom, and started The process to pick a director, If someone brought in A copy of Upgrade, Sony would have watched it and Been FLOORED at the similarities and probably stopped the film half way through to start contacting his management to get a deal done....

unfortunately the films came out at the wrong time.....and WE got a terrible Venom film instead of what IMO would have been a Wonderful Leigh Whannell Directed Venom film

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The film wasn't anywhere near intense as the first trailer made it seem like it would be...would have been a much better film had it been though.
You remember that? The first trailer, where he's shaking around in what turned out to be an MRI machine, and people were pointing out that they could see black starting to form on his neck. A lot of oohing and ahhing lol THIS IS GOING TO BE INSANE!

That trailer made it seem like this was going to be one hell of a ride, and then the movie...eh, just kind of...more of a zany action romp than anything else.
Just gives a little perspective when remembering what kind of movie you imagined from that first trailer and then contrasting it with what you just watched, you know?
I thought it was enjoyable, myself. It wasn't what I was hoping for, but I also don't know much about Venom and what to expect. Just knew he was evil and looked scary as hell lol

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I was thinking the same thing, even I didn't really care for Upgrade. And the budget for Venom was actually a hundred million dollars. Really.

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That would be true of Guyver, Spawn or pretty much any other biosuit hybrid type movie where the suit has a mind of its own.

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Upgrade was a bit better though -_-, shame they didnt get the same director for Venom

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That would have been difficult seeing as the movies were being produced around the same time, and Upgrade's director has a slate of other projects on his schedule to which he's already committed.

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Both are made in the same year.

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