There are only two things wrong with The Venture Bros. movie (aka Radiant Is The Blood of the Baboon Heart) in my estimation. The first is that this movie had to be made at all and that we aren’t getting another full season of The Venture Bros. The second is that the movie doesn’t stand on its own and only devout fans will understand the story. Luckily, this is a feature, not a bug (to quote Dr. Venture himself) and the devout fans are precisely who this movie is made for.

There’s a joke to be made here about the increasingly intricate Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I don’t need to make it. At one point The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is The Blood of the Baboon Heart makes it for me. Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer know good and well who their audience is and when to hang the lampshade.

The movie picks up some three days after the Season 7 finale. Hank Venture (Christopher McCulloch) is still missing, having vanished from the hospital to embark on a quest to find his long-lost mother. His brother, Dean Venture (Michael Sinterniklaas), is the only one particularly worried about him, pushing him to turn to The Order of the Triad and Doctor Orpheus (Steven Rattazzi) for help.

Hank and Dean’s father, Dr. Thaddeus “Rusty” Venture (James Urbaniak), is more concerned with the product launch for his latest invention and is busy driving his support team crazy. Family bodyguard Brock Samson (Patrick Warburton) is worried about the boys, but otherwise occupied with the business of the Office of Secret Intelligence (OSI) and a worrying new supervillain called Mantilla (Nina Arianda)

Mantilla is poaching the membership of the Guild of Calamitous Intent (GCI) with her new company, Arch, which is a major concern for GCI Councilor Shiela, aka Dr. Mrs. The Monarch (Doc Hammer), even before she learns that Mantilla is her husband’s ex-girlfriend. The Monarch, meanwhile, is obsessing over the blood test that says he is related to his arch-nemesis Dr. Venture, and eager to accept Mantilla’s offer to help him get revenge outside of the GCI’s bureaucracy.

The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is The Blood of the Baboon Heart offers satisfying explanations to all of the show’s few remaining mysteries. We do learn who Hank and Dean’s mother is and the circumstances of their birth. We also learn the true nature of The Monarch and Rusty’s relationship. This ultimately changes nothing, however, and the film ends with the suggestion that the misadventures of the Venture family and the GCI will continue, even if the show itself does not. The theme of failure in the face of absurdity continues.

The Blu-Ray edition comes with not one, but two commentary tracks by Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick. One is devoted to their thoughts on the movie. The other features them answering a number of fan questions regarding aspects of the show that did not make it into the movie. There is also an interview with the two creators, conducted by John Hodgman, in which they discuss even more of the Venture Bros. lore.

It The Venture Bros. must end, at least it was allowed to go out with its major stories resolved and a fitting capstone. Fans of the series will be satisfied by The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is The Blood of the Baboon Heart even if that satisfaction is bittersweet. Those who have yet to experience the wonder of this comedic and chaotic world would do well to pick up the newly released The Venture Bros. The Complete Series set instead.

The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is The Blood of the Baboon Heart is now available for digital download. It will be available on Blu-Ray on July 25, 2023.

FULL DISCLOSURE: KabOOOOOm.com was provided with a free copy of The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is The Blood of the Baboon Heart Blu-Ray for the purposes of this review. However, our management is firmly in support of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes and hopes that Warner Bros. Discovery will start offering their creators a fair and reasonable wage with benefits.