Unlike the polished and predictable origin films and sequels churned out by the Marvel assembly line, Venom is refreshingly slapdash and bizarre. Don't get me wrong. It's still an incoherent, painfully tone-deaf film that careens wildly between midnight body horror and goofy buddy comedy. It is also eminently watchable, thanks to Hardy's unhinged, balls-to-the-wall performance that would make Nicolas Cage proud. The messy script is maddeningly dumb and uneven, and you're left scratching your heads as to why such a high-calibre cast (Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed) would say yes to this clunker. If only it had the chutzpah to embrace its inner craziness fully, it could have been a bona fide future camp classic.
