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Tom Hardy has an incredible and fascinating filmography, from big-budget comic book movies and profound character studies to high concept action films and war stories. So, As Venom: Let there Be Carnage approaches, let’s take a look at some of the actor’s more notable projects and where to watch them.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mad Max: Fury Road, directed by legendary filmmaker George Miller, is one of the best films of the 2010s and stars Hardy as the titular character. As a movie, Fury Road is pretty perfect as a non-stop thrill ride of vehicular warfare with a standout performance from Charlize Theron. But what’s striking about Hardy’s take on Max is that he doesn’t say much at all. His performance is very physical — he’s all action, and for half the movie, he can’t do anything but grunt and gesture his way through the events that are unfolding around him. That’s not to say Hardy’s Mad Max is not great, but by design, he takes a back seat to Charlize Theron’s Furiosa.
Mad Max: Fury Road is available to stream on Amazon Prime or rent on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, and Vudu.
Locke
Locke is essentially a one-person show starring Hardy, who plays Ivan Locke, a man driving to London to be with an ex-colleague he had a one-night stand with who has gone into premature labor with his child despite his wife and children expecting him back home. Ivan takes phone call after phone call while driving in his BMW, and the audience never sees another character. The camera moves in and out of the car, but the focus is all on Ivan and his state of mind. Locke is a unique film that’s an excellent showcase for Hardy, who has to dive carry the movie with his talent alone.
Locke is available to stream on Showtime, Hulu, and Amazon Prime or to rent on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, and Vudu.
The Drop
The Drop follows Hardy as Bobby Saginowski, a barman at a Chechen mob-controlled bar in Brooklyn that serves as a drop point for money and various other illegalities. After the bar is robbed, Boby gets tangled up in an investigation and has to deal with his Chechen bosses. The Drop is a good crime movie and a rare Hardy performance where he isn’t playing to any extremes, instead going all-in on a character that’s a low-level mob associate. He’s a soft-spoken guy who runs a bar and gets caught up in a web of trouble, and Hardy plays it perfectly. The film is also the last film appearance of the late James Gandolfini, who plays the bar’s former owner.
The Drop is available to stream on Amazon Prime or rent on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, and Vudu.
The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises is the final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, and while it’s arguably the weakest of the bunch, it still has its charms, especially Hardy’s Bane. The villain’s face is obscured the entire film by a mask, but every line he speaks has become iconic, immortalizing his place as one of the memorable villainous performances of all time. But even if Bane isn’t your cup of tea, the film still has all the classic Nolan action set pieces that make his take on the Dark Knight so iconic.
The Dark Knight Rises is available to stream on HBO Max, Hulu, and Amazon Prime or to rent on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, and Vudu.
Inception
Inception is the only Christopher Nolan and Tom Hardy collab where the actor doesn’t have to mask or obscure his face. The movie is a high concept heist story in which Cobbs (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his crew must implant an idea in a corporate executive’s mind while combatting an enemy that is prepared for them every step of the way. Inception is confusing and mesmerizing, with some of the most remarkable set pieces you can see in a movie. The film has also inspired countless theories and debates about its ending, and its philosophical ideas are still discussed ten years after its release.
Inception is available to stream on Peacock, Amazon Prime, or to rent on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, and Vudu.
Dunkirk
Hardy reteams with Nolan on Dunkirk, one of the better World War II films in recent years. It’s a marvel of a movie, combining a tense, gripping war story with Nolan’s classic tinkering with the audience’s perception of time. Tom only appears on screen for a short time as a British fighter pilot, and, of course, he’s once again masked up, but he makes up for it by being a part of one of the most thrilling sequences in the film.
Dunkirk is available to stream on HBO Max, Hulu, and Amazon Prime or to rent on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, and Vudu.
Warrior
Warrior is a sports drama directed by Gavin O’Conner (The Way Back), starring Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as two brothers who are mixed martial artists. Hardy plays Tommy, who returns home to his estranged family after serving in the military and begins to train for “Sparta,” an MMA tournament. His younger brother Brendan, played by Edgerton, enters the competition, and the two brothers are forced to confront each other and their past in an emotional story. Warrior features some authentic MMA action, but it’s the movie’s emotional core between Hardy and Edgerton that’s the main event.
Warrior is available to stream on Fubo TV, Amazon Prime or to rent on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, and Vudu.
The Revenant
The Revenant earned DiCaprio his first Oscar, but the performance of the movie belongs to Tom Hardy. DiCaprio is as good as is to be expected, but he’s understandably muted for most of it as he plays Hugh Glass, a man on a quest for survival and revenge who gets mauled by a giant bear. Hardy, on the other hand, plays an unlikeable character and the man Glass is out to kill, John Fitzgerald, which allows him to chew the scenery in a way DiCaprio couldn’t.
The Revenant is available to rent on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, and Vudu.
Bronson
Bronson is based on the true story of Charles Bronson (Hardy), one of the most violent inmates in the British prison system who is put away after robbing a jewelry store. Bronson quickly gets into trouble with the guards unleashing so much violence that he spends most of his time in solitary confinement. Hardy delivers a violent, physical performance where he jumps off tables, barrels into several guards and flies from his jail cell completely naked, making Bronson required viewing from the actor’s filmography.
Bronson is available to stream on Tubi, Vudu, and Amazon Prime or to rent on YouTube, Google Play, and Apple TV
Venom
Venom: Let There Be Carnage arrives in theaters in September, and the success of its predecessor is easy to understand. Venom almost hit the billion-dollar mark at the box office, and that probably has to do with the fact that it’s one of the more unique superhero films in a market filled with them. Hardy, of course, goes all out as Eddie Brock, and the Venom Symbiote serves as the perfect partner for him. The film is gritty, unique and doesn’t hold back on the violence that many of its comic book movie contemporaries lack.
Venom is available to stream on Hulu, and Amazon Prime, and Sling TV or to rent on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, and Vudu.
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