Synopsis: Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is a down-on-his-luck investigative reporter. Unable to turn a blind eye towards the injustices happening around him, his need to expose the seedy nature of those in the spotlight comes at a cost to his personal life and health. After a close encounter with a symbiote from outer space, Brock becomes host to the parasitic creature known as Venom, and has to find a way to co-exist peacefully or risk his own life in the process.

Breakdown: To be perfectly honest, Venom was a welcome, funny, breezy change of pace to the weighty and overly-dramatic Spider-Man movies I’ve been watching so far. Clocking in at just shy of an hour and a half, this movie moves at a rapid pace and doesn’t let off the throttle throughout the entire run time.

Sure, the movie is very corny and reminiscent of the superhero movies of the early-to-mid-90s, but there is something about the delivery and characterization that just makes the movie work. Hardy is fantastic going against type as a kind of dorky loser who is completely out of his element. His comedic chops shine once Venom takes hold and he is able to play both sides of the character with ease.

The rest of the cast leaves a bit to be desired, but they all serve somewhat of a purpose and the promise of more to do in future installments. But this is Hardy’s movie through and through, and he absolutely crushes it in the role.

The action and visuals are also fun to watch, particularly when the symbiotes get involved. There’s a bit of a sameness feeling once Venom starts battling Riot–it is difficult to know who is who once they start clashing.

Venom is a shot of adrenaline in the arm of an aging superhero genre. It doesn’t overstay its welcome and it doesn’t take itself too seriously, allowing for the writers, director and actors to just have a good time and check your mind at the door.

Verdict: This is a short review, because this is a short movie. There really isn’t a ton to say about it, and that is both a good and a bad thing. While certainly not a movie I am going to remember years down the road, nor one I will return to time and time again, but I had a great time watching it and just going along for the ride. It did everything the first film in a series should do: set up the characters and the stakes, leaving me excited for where the next film might go.

**This movie review is part of a series of reviews, where we are watching one Spider-Man movie a week leading up to the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home. You can read more about this review series here.

To see the other reviews, click the links below (we’ll update this list each week as we release new reviews):

• Spider-Man
• Spider-Man 2
• Spider-Man 3
• The Amazing Spider-Man
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
• Venom: Let There Be Carnage
• Spider-Man: Homecoming
• Spider-Man: Far From Home
• Spider-Man: No Way Home
• Movie Marathon Review: Spider-Man Recap

Mark Pereira is a senior writer for Boss Rush Network. He loves all video games, but his top three favorites are Skyward Sword, Super Mario 3D World and Batman: Arkham Asylum. You can find him on Twitter where he’s usually talking about Nintendo, video games, movies, and TV shows.

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