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Venom

(3 popcorn boxes)

  Sometimes it’s good to be bad. Sometimes it is not. Venom switches back and forth.

  Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is an investigative reporter who has stepped on the wrong toes when he interviews the very rich and very powerful Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed). The similarities between Drake and Elon Musk are obvious – especially the space exploration super rich stuff. But Eddie loses his job, his home and his girlfriend Anne (Michelle Williams) when he digs too deep into Drake’s activities.

  The ruthless Drake has begun to bring living organisms back with his space exploration rockets. Pretty cool, huh?  Sadly, this is the part of the movie that draaaaags so long you will be tempted to give up and just leave. But wait, there’s more.

  While breaking and entering into the Drake laboratories Eddie runs afoul of one of those living organisms – a symbiote. Things continue to drag until that symbiote finally reveals itself to be Venom – super bad guy from space who wants to take over the planet!!! What?

  Well, yes, did I mention that in the Marvel Comics Venom is a villain and nemesis to our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man? No? Well, sorry.

  From here, the film moves much quicker and more importantly has more fun. The inner dialogue between Eddie and Venom is hilarious, the massive CGI battles between Venom and other villains (spoilers) are amazing and (I don’t say this very often) I LOVED THE ENDING!

  Three boxes out of five for Venom. You’ll wait more than 45 minutes into the film before we snap out of the doldrums and have some action and excitement. I’m not sure it’s worth the wait. That’s the bad part. But the action! Wow! That’s the good part. Venom is in no way a hero. He likes to eat people’s heads. But like I said earlier, sometimes it’s good to be bad.

  While not a part of the Marvel Comics Universe, Venom is a Marvel character and as such has a great sense of humor and timing. By a narrow margin, I recommend Venom for those over 13 years old… this is not a kid’s movie! This is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and horror. Why do parents think a film based on a comic is okay for children? Hire a babysitter people!

  Check this week’s issue of the Frankenmuth News for a complete listing of shows and times.

MOVIE TRIVIA

  My husband thought Tom Hardy was familiar but couldn’t place him. My good friend will wax poetic about his appearance in The Dark Knight Rises (DC comics are not my favorite), but I think he’ll be more familiar for his starring role in this 2015 post-apocalyptic wasteland.

LAST WEEK’S MOVIE TRIVIA

  James Corden was easily the funniest part of Smallfoot – just like he was in The Emoji Movie and Peter Rabbit. (He was also a voice in Trolls.) He also does live action films! Like this disappointing 2014 adaptation of a stage play that featured various fairytale characters. Into the Woods.