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What happens when a cast of Oscar contenders like Tom Hardy, Rice Ahmed and Michelle Williams are going to leave the scene of a seemingly wryly self-aware B movie?
Audiences get "Venom," the latest bid from Sony Pictures to create its own superhero mega-franchise now that storylines for the studio's web-slinging centerpiece have been merged into the cast of thousands of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Audiences may remember the character Venom as the nemesis in "Spider-Man 3," the last (and least) of the original Spider-Man movies directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire.
There are echoes of its cinematic predecessor in the current "Venom," but instead of setting up the character of Eddie Brock, and his alter-ego, Venom, as a nemesis to Peter Parker and Spider-Man, the new reboot Brock.
A "loose cannon" in the world reporting, Brock's bona fides as a rider of wrongs are established early in the world. over the city's population.
Brock's nemesis, played by the Emmy award-winning British actor Ahmed Rice, is "Carlton Drake" a billionaire tech mogul whose wealth is built on the backs of the city's poor. They serve as fodder for Drake 's experiments, meaning to save humanity from destruction of the hands of disease, climate change and overpopulation. And they're the focal point of Brock's reporting.
Drake's plans to save the world of Elon Musk, as he fantasizes about extraterrestrial colonization, which can be suitable for human life – or asteroids that may be suitable for mining.
In these heady times, where startups like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Planetary Resources are planning colonization and asteroid mining missions, the plot is not far-fetched as some might think. The Drake's Crew of Astronauts is a well-known scientist, who is still working in the realm of comic books.
Those symbiotes are what give the movie its propellant force, as Drake experiments on humans to try to find suitable hosts for the super-powered aliens (who feed on human organs) environmental apocalypse and ensuing space colonization.
Brock, while working to uncover the dastardly deeds of this mad scientist, becomes one of those unwitting hosts – and thus imbued with super powers, fights the good fight with the help of her trainer, in a unlikely turn for Michelle Williams, to save the earth, and himself.
With Ahmed forced to deliver like clunkers, "Oh my God, they're beautiful!" When first confronted with the alien species; Gold "Release the drones!" during a particularly satisfying chase sequence where his minions are tracking an alien-infected Brock, Venom could have been terrible.
But the movie seems to be in favor of the tongue-in-cheek humor that made Deadpool a hit with audiences … and it mostly succeeds. Hardy delivers a performance that is shot through with some great physical comedy and sight gags, and the levity goes on a long way to lightening what could have been an exercise in morbidity given the darkness of an alien-infected, organ eating anti-hero at the movie's core.
To be clear, Venom does not quite hit the meta-movie High notes that made Deadpool a smash, but powered by the performances of Williams and Hardy (who seem to have chemistry) and a script that aims for humor and hijinks (seemingly ) embraces the camp within its source material, Sony should have a solid foundation on which to build a new superhero franchise.
And it needs one. As Spider-Man's scripting swings off into the arms of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony appears to be looking for some of the lesser-known corners and characters in the Spideyverse so it can write its own destiny. Next up for the studio is Morbius: The Living Vampire, which has landed Jared Leto in the lead role, according to recent reports.
Following on the heels of Disney's surprise breakout hit with "Guardians of the Galaxy" and Fox's big box office with "Deadpool" (both lesser known titles in the Marvel catalog), the practice of going with something more beaten path when it comes to superhero sagas may not be a bad idea.
Perhaps Venom has benefited from the expectations of the audience, but the movie has been treated to a larger audience than last night's premiere.
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