Venom and his fellow Symbiotes, as their referred to in the Sony/Marvel film Venom, cannot exist without a host. When they crash-land a private spacecraft returning to earth, they jump from person to person trying to find a sustainable host, killing many subjects along the way. Venom, however, is eventually and inadvertently paired with Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), and from there, the battle between overzealous ambition and morality begins.

Here’s what Venom has going for it: Tom Hardy. He and Michelle Williams are top notch actors, and Hardy, simultaneously portraying his distressed character and his alien parasite, puts on a great and convincing performance. Also, comedy…both intentional and unintentional at times…keeps the film sporadically entertaining.

However, nothing can save Venom from its incredibly weak plot, lackluster character development, and uninteresting action sequences. Additionally, I found it difficult to emotionally invest myself in the movie when the motivations of Venom were so overtly dedicated to serving the progression of the plot rather than the nature of the character.

In the end, Venom is hopelessly uninspired. It’s a film that pairs a high caliber cast with a subpar plot…a combination that is more incompatible than symbiotes and their failed hosts.

Acting and Casting - 2 | Visual Effects and Editing - 0 | Story and Message - 0 | Entertainment Value - 1 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 1 | What does this mean?