Venom

Venom debuted in 1988 and he instantly became an iconic member of Spider-Man's Rogues Gallery. His portrayal in Spider-Man 3 by Topher Grace was perhaps the most criticized part of the film. But it's OK. Venom has his own movie now. Which sees him without Spider-Man. That's the least of its problems.

Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is an investigative reporter engaged to lawyer Anne Weying (Michelle Williams). Anne's lawfirm represents the shady Life Foundation. One day, Eddie interviews Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), the CEO of the Life Foundation. Eddie confronts Drake over the Foundation's dealings, which he skimmed from Anne's files, and Eddie and Anne both lose their jobs.

Six months later...

Eddie is an ex-reporter with no fiancee. Scientist Dora Skirth (Jenny Slate) lets Eddie know that the Life Foundation is up to no good. They have three alien "symbiotes" that need to fuse with an organic host. Eddie sneaks into the Foundation's headquarters and becomes host to a symbiote, Venom.

Venom (also Hardy) and Eddie bicker over who gets the latter's body. This sometimes involves Eddie morphing into a fanged monster, also called Venom. Anyway, they mutually take on evil people like the Life Foundation's goons. And a fourth symbiote, Riot, who takes on Drake as its host. Eddie and Venom have to stop Drake from bringing more symbiotes to Earth.

Director Ruben Fleischer works from a script by Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg and Kelly Marcel. It does a good job keeping Venom independent of Spider-Man. It's a good premise that needs better pacing. It takes about 45 minutes before Eddie first suits up as Venom. Still, those 45 minutes weren't boring. But then we jump from plot point to plot point for the remaining 67 minutes. The resolution came out of nowhere and the denouement felt like it could've been set earlier.

But I still had fun with it. Hardy as Eddie/Venom makes the film worthwhile. It was good to see Eddie learn from his mistakes by the end. It's even better when Venom comes in. Eddie acting under Venom's influence is hilarious, though I'm convinced some of it's unintentional. Eddie bickering with Venom was definitely intentionally hilarious. It's creepily endearing to see the symbiote support Eddie and Anne's relationship.

The visual effects for Venom and Riot make the most of $100 million. Their monster forms are wonderfully realistic CGI creatures and their transformation effects are outstanding. The sound designers deserve praise for distorting Hardy and Ahmed's voices as their symbiote selves. Cinematographer Matthew Libatique's has some great nighttime views of San Francisco. And sometimes, its other filming location of Atlanta. 

Venom is a flawed, yet goofy superhero adventure. There's some bright spots that make its disjointed narrative enjoyable. The brightest spot of all is Tom Hardy's delightful overacting. Here's hoping Sony has a better grip on the concept next time around. Its prerequisite mid-credit scene introduces us Cletus Kassidy (A Surprise Cameo), better known as Venom's chief symbiote enemy, Carnage.