In her directorial debut, writer Kelly Marcel (Saving Mr. Banks, Fifty Shades of Grey, Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage) directs this script she co-wrote with star Tom Hardy about Eddie Brock, a failed reporter who became bonded to a symbiotic outer space alien who takes a liking to Earth and decides to protect it. In this third installment of the Marvel franchise, Eddie and Venom are on the run from pursuers from both their worlds. (109 min.)
Glen The set-up is a classic mismatched-buddy road-trip picture, and a lot of the fun is the banter between Eddie and his symbiotic partner. The main story gets going after a brief opening where we learn the symbiotes’ backstory—they imprisoned their creator, Knull (Andy Serkis), and escaped into the reaches of the universe, but now Knull sent a bunch of weird creatures to find the only object that can free him, a codex, created when Eddie and his symbiote merged to form Venom. When the pair is in full Venom mode, the terrifying creatures can locate them, but when the symbiote recedes into Eddie, they become invisible. Don’t think about it too hard. It’s all pretty silly. Still, as an action-packed comedic romp, this final installment in the Venom trilogy is surprisingly watchable.
Anna Full transparency, this installment is my first foray into the world of Venom, and I had quite literally no knowledge of the storyline beyond what I could garner from the trailer—that Eddie and Venom share Eddie’s body and that Venom is a bit of a troublemaker. I will say I was pleasantly surprised. When it first started, I thought, “I’m in trouble,” because we hear a convoluted quick version of the symbiotes’ origin story and about the codex, and I was very sure I would have no idea what was going on. Fortunately, I went the route of not thinking about it too hard and leaned into the fun, action-packed film. The two friends can’t stay away from trouble. Not only is the government out to capture them, now they have creatures coming through portals trying to tear them apart and take the codex back to Venom’s home planet, which would spell the end of the world. Let’s just say they have a lot going on.
Glen It’s always the end of the world with these comic book flicks, but when you’ve got aliens coming through time and space portals, the situation needs to be existential, I guess. Hardy pretty much carries the entire film, but there’s a lot of star power on the screen. Juno Temple of Ted Lasso-fame stars as Dr. Payne, who admires and is studying the symbiotes at “Area 55,” a secret underground lab under Area 51. There’s also the always welcome Chiwetel Ejiofor as Gen. Rex Strickland, the military bad guy who gets a chance at redemption. For added fun, Eddie hitches a ride with a hippie family led by Martin (Rhys Ifans) on a trip to see aliens at Area 51, completely unaware they’re sitting next to one. Hit a matinee if this sounds fun.
Anna If it interests you at all, see it in the theater. There’s plenty of action on the big screen. This seems to be the last of this trilogy, so you might as well see how the story ends, especially if you’ve seen the prior films.
Glen There’s also some mid-credits and after-credits clips for you die-hards, so stick around. Δ
Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Split Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 10, 2024.