Not since Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011) has a Marvel Comics adaptation centered on such a splendidly weird lead performance. Tom Hardy, speaking in a made-up American accent, plays a disgraced investigative journalist who becomes the host for an intelligent parasite from outer space. Before the parasite completely takes over his body, turning him into a super-powered killing machine, the journalist engages in lots of strange behavior (uncontrollably moving his limbs, eating live lobsters) that doesn’t require special effects to look interesting. Director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) maintains an agreeably cartoonish tone, establishing an atmosphere in which Hardy can get as nutty as he wants. The film devotes way too much time to exposition (the first act feels like it goes on for about an hour), but once it gets going it’s decent fun. With Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, and Jenny Slate.
By Ben Sachs
