VENOM (2018)
Venom doesn't impress me quite as much as some Marvel movies--it's no Avengers or Thor Ragnarok, but it's still pretty good. The story is rather generic: astronauts return with an alien aboard, which proceeds to take over the bodies of various human beings to plan an all-out invasion of Earth. There must be hundreds of movies and books with the same premise. Meantime, there are horrific deaths, fights, and a car-chase, but though Venom himself looks and sounds horrific, we do not actually see people's heads being eaten as threatened--much to the disappointment of some reviewers--the fights are fast and furious and the big car-chase is pretty unusual, with Venom reaching out with black pseudopods to toss vehicles around. It's not as mind-boggling as the chase in Ant-Man and the Wasp, but it's pretty impressive.
Tom Hardy plays failed reporter Eddie Brock as an anti-hero. He's got guts and a positively self-destructive determination to get the story, but he's kind of a schlemiel to start with and you wonder why his girlfriend Anne Wering, played by Michele Williams, likes him so much. The story doesn't pick up until the Venom symbiote chooses to bond with him, and then we are into what Marvel does best--smart and funny dialogue about totally insane situations. The difference here is that both of the bickering characters are in the same body.
Because of this, Venom, despite his disgusting goo and shark-like visage, comes across more like a misunderstood hero than an alien villain--but we're used to rooting for the monster, aren't we? On the other hand, the polished and totally sociopathic human bad-guy Carleton Drake, played with despicable cold charm by Riz Ahmed, is someone we hate on sight.
A couple of asides: The Astronaut J. Jonah Jameson III is the son of Peter Parker's boss and I'm pretty sure this is the only outright reference to Spider-Man, whom we have seen encounter Venom before. You cannot see this as a sequel to Spider-Man III, since Eddie Brock was quite a different character in the earlier movie, the arrival of the symbiote on Earth was quite different, and their mutual end was pretty much definitive. The second aside is that there is a very brief scene with Woody Harrelson, who makes your blood run cold, as a lot of very funny actors are capable of doing.
VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE (2021)
In 1996, young Cletus Kasady witnesses his lover, Frances Barrison, being taken away from the St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children to the Ravencroft Institute, but Frances has Sonic Scream powers as Shriek and attacks police officer Patrick Mulligan (Sean Delaney), who is injured in his ears and shoots Frances in the eye. He thinks he killed her, but she is taken to Ravencroft, where her powers are restored.
Years later, Mulligan (Stephen Graham) is a detective and he asks journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) to speak to a serial killer named Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), residing in San Quentin, because Brock is the only person he will talk to. Eddie has an alien symbiote named Venom (voice of Tom Hardy), who deduces where Cletus has buried the bodies of his victims, and Eddie’s career is enhanced. He is contacted by his ex-fiancée Anne Weyring (Michelle Williams), who is now engaged to Doctor Dan Lewis (Reid Scott), whom Venom doesn’t like. Cletus is sent for lethal injection and invites Eddie to attend his execution. Cletus insults Eddie and Venom attacks him. Cletus bites Eddie’s hand and swallows a bit of the symbiote. Later, after a literally knock down, drag out argument, Venom leaves Eddie’s body and goes off on his own.
A symbiote named Carnage (voice of Woody Harrelson) emerges from Cletus and stops the injection, then goes on a rampage through the prison, killing guards and freeing inmates. Carnage agrees to help Cletus break Frances out of Ravencroft if Cletus will help eliminate his rival, Venom, and Eddie. Eddie is warned by Mulligan. Cletus frees Frances and they set out to burn down the Children’s Home. Mulligan arrests Eddie, who contacts Anne as his lawyer and tells her that Venom left him. Venom transfers from body to body through San Francisco. Anne finds him bonded to Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu) and convinces him to forgive Eddie, who reunites with him by bonding with Anne to get into the police station. Cletus takes Mulligan hostage and Frances captures Anne. They are taken to Grace Cathedral, where Cletus and Frances are forcing a priest to marry them.
Eddie and Venom arrive to fight Carnage, and Frances apparently kills Mulligan by hanging him. Carnage overwhelms Venom but provokes Frances into using her powers to separate Carnage and Cletus. Venom devours Carnage and the cathedral collapses, killing Frances. Mulligan appears, alive, and his eyes glow blue. Eddie and Venom escape to ponder their future. In mid-credits, Venom tells Eddie of other universes and they see that J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) reveals Spiderman’s identity as Peter Parker (Tom Holland).
The film was directed by Andy Serkis, hired because of his expertise with CGI and motion-capture, and produced by Arvi Arad. The screenplay was by Kelly Marcel and the music by Marco Beltrami, with a song by Eminem. Woody Harrelson was chosen to play the villain because of his chilling performance in Natural Born Killers. The film’s release was delayed by Covid-19. It received mixed reviews from critics but was a box-office success. Reviewers did not care for the screenplay but praised the performances of Hardy and Harrelson.
VENOM: THE LAST DANCE (2024)
Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and the Venom symbiote are hiding out after their battle with Carnage in the previous movie. They find international headlines about the murder of Patrick Mulligan that name Eddie as the prime suspect, so he sets out for New York to clear his name.
Neither of them knows that a creature called a Xenophase is tracking them. A soldier named Rex Strictland (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who works for a government department at Area 51 called Imperium, which studies symbiotes on Earth, is also tracking them. It seems that Mulligan (Stephen Graham) is not actually dead at Carnage’s hands (claws?) but is captured by Strickland’s soldiers. He bonds with one of the symbiotes and is questioned by Imperium researchers Dr. Teddy Payne (Juno Temple) and Sadie Christmas (Clark Backo) and Strickland is ordered to take down Venom.
Eddie and Venom attach themselves to a plane for New York but are attacked by a xenophage and drop off into the desert. Venom explains that xenophages were released into this universe by Knull, their creator (Andy Serkis) to find a codex forged when a symbiote brings its host back to life. This can free Knull from his prison. Since Venom had revived Eddie, he carries a codex. They are ambushed by Strickland and his team and barely escape. Eddie meets a family of hippie alien enthusiasts, who offer him a ride to Las Vegas on the way to Area 51. Mulligan’s new symbiote tells Strickland about Knull’s true intentions and that the codex can only be destroyed if Eddie or Venom dies.
In Las Vegas, Eddie and Venom meet Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu) and Venom dances with her before being ambushed by the xenophage. Strickland’s team separates Venom from Eddie and takes them to Area 51, where Eddie reunites with Mulligan. Sadie frees Venom, who bonds with Eddie, attracting the xenophage, who kills Mulligan. Venom releases all the other symbiotes, which re-bond with their hosts and battle the xenophages, but Knull is informed that the codex is found. Knull sends more xenophages to Earth and the symbiotes are overwhelmed. Venom merges with the xenophages and destroys them in acid tanks. He bids Eddie farewell and ejects him before Strickland destroys him with grenades. Paynor bonds with a symbiote to save Sadie and Eddie is knocked unconscious.
Eddie wakes up in the hospital and finds that he is a hero and his criminal record is expunged. He remembers Venom fondly. In mid-credits, Knull threatens the universe. In post-credits, a bartender escapes Area 51 as a cockroach seeming to fuse with Venom.
The entire series is not top-of-the-line Marvel, like Spiderman or Iron Man, but it is still entertaining, amusing, and loud. Venom, the Last Dance has a particularly impressive end-of-the-film battle scene, with horrific creatures arriving through dimensional rifts, other creatures merging with humans, soldiers fighting and dying, buildings collapsing, and a dozen secondary characters getting an opportunity to shine. What makes the Venom movies charming is the relationship between Venom and Eddie. The hippie family is cute and sweet, and the dance scene between the diminutive Mrs. Chen and the huge, black Venom, all teeth and claws but somehow channeling Fred Astaire, is remarkable.