“Venom: The Last Dance” finally gets around to being the kind of action-packed production fans of the comic book-inspired genre have come to expect. It just takes the majority of the movie to get there as novice director Kelly Marcel shows more interest in making this a buddy road trip tale than a pure action film. Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Venom – the sentient alien symbiote with a liquid-like form living in Eddie’s body – leave on their “Thelma & Louise” journey from Mexico. Every law enforcement officer in the world is looking for Eddie following events that unfolded in San Francisco in “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.” So, they decided to travel across the country to visit the Statue of Liberty. They have to avoid the military and a group of other alien creatures who want to kill Eddie and Venom. It’s the only way to unlock the prison holding the evil entity determined to wipe out all humanity. Any questions about the script should be sent to Marcel who is best known for writing the previously mentioned “Carnage” movie. To keep the pace at a minimum, Marcel spends an overabundance of time with Eddie talking to Venom/himself. If that wasn’t slow enough, Eddie hitches a ride with a 21st Century hippie and his family who are on their way to Roswell, N.M. to see if aliens do exist. There are a few action sequences along the way. The problem is that all of those scenes that feature a horse, airplane and underwater battle were shown in the advertising before the movie release. The impact is watered down. The family road trip is one of the threads of comedy Marcel and Hardy wrote into the film. Superhero movies often lean on comedy. “Deadpool & Wolverine” would be a boring blood fest without the snarky humor. The trick is to make the comedy part of the texture of the story and not afterthoughts that distract more than entertain. When the alien-seeking family drops Eddie in Las Vegas, the film comes to a dead stop to allow Venom to show off his dance moves. The scene features a blast from the past but that could have been handled in a less plot-stubbing way rather than just to get some slim connection to the movie’s title. Hardy turns in another believable performance as the symbiote possessed Eddie. His constant look of being totally defeated works in this situation because he is dealing with the most extreme case of a split personality ever. Eddie falls into that Marvel Comics thinking that not everyone who is pressed into being a superhero came to the profession willingly. Hardy manages to get across that he has been emotionally, physically and spiritually drained by Venom while finding enough energy to put in a few last heroic moments. It is good that Hardy’s work is so strong because all of the supporting players are so poorly developed. The alien obsessed family is the kind of goofy Earth lovers that have populated countless films and TV shows. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays the perfect military leader who would prefer to fire first and never get around  to asking any questions. The closest Marcel comes to creating a developed character is Juno Temple’s role as the scientist looking to learn all she can about the symbiotes. She’s not driven by a need to save the world but out of guilt from the death of her brother. He was the one who wanted to search the stars but when that couldn’t happen, she stepped in. As far as road trip tales go, “Venom: The Last Dance” finds a steady route. It just takes too long to get to the big moments that make these kinds of movies so much fun. This should not come as a surprise because the film is being released in the cinematic doldrums of the fall. It doesn’t have the action to compete with summer blockbusters and not emotional enough for the winter pre-Oscar release dates. “Venom: The Last Dance” is not bad, it just needed to pick up the tempo just a little bit. Be aware that there is an extra scene that comes early in the closing credits. Those willing to stay to the absolute end will see another secret scene. Movie review Venom: The Last Dance Grade: C+ Cast: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Alanna Ubach Director: Kelly Marcel Rated: PG-13 for language, violence, disturbing images Running time: 104 minutes.