Directed by Kelly Marcel, Venom: The Last Dance follows Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and the symbiote Venom (Tom Hardy) as they are on the run after the events of Let There Be Carnage and their brief multiverse visit in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo is forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.
For me personally, the Venom films have been fun and enjoyable guilty pleasures that may be far from the higher quality of the MCU and the animated Spider-Verse films but are definitely superior in terms of entertainment when compared to the rest of the Sony Marvel films. The journey of Eddie Brock and Venom has been a truly fun ride for me, mostly thanks to the committed performance by Tom Hardy, so it is a bit sad to see it come to an end with this third film. But did this film end things on a high note for the lethal protector or does it end up joining the group of grand disasters like Morbius and Madame Web?
I feel Venom: The Last Dance was a fun but flawed third outing that does well enough to bring this journey of Venom to a close even when there were some directions I wish it took instead. The film has some glaring shortcomings with its story, writing, editing, and usage of the talented supporting cast it had at its disposal, but does make up for most of it by being fun and mostly entertaining when it needs to be. People who didn’t like the first two films are more than likely not going to like this third film but those who have liked the first two films, like myself, are more than likely to enjoy this film for what it is despite its obvious issues.
Easily the best part of this film is the leading duo of Eddie and Brock whose bromance and comedic chemistry never ceases to entertain me. Tom Hardy has done an awesome job playing these two characters, making you genuinely care about them and their bond over the course of their wild journey together. And while they manage to deliver a great amount of laughs as promised, they also manage to deliver a surprising amount of touching moments as well. These two share an emotional arc in this film that I was personally invested in from start to end, which was easily the best-written and acted part of the film. They are dysfunctional as hell but they are a true ride-or-die duo that you can’t help but feel so much for as they go on their final high-stakes adventure together that could lead one or both of them to their deaths.
With how investing the leading duo is you would expect the supporting cast to be just as investing, but unfortunately, most of them are shallow despite the talented cast members behind them. Chiwetel Ejiofor delivers a good performance as Rex Strickland but there isn’t much to say about him since he’s your typical cliche army general with nothing unique or interesting about him.
Juno Temple gives a bizarre performance as Dr. Teddy Payne, who came off as a really strange character in terms of the way she acts and reacts to things that should be taken more seriously. The film attempts to give her some sort of arc but it never made sense to me as to what it was supposed to mean.
Rhys Ifans plays a typical hippie character that you’ve seen in pretty much every road trip comedy. He certainly delivers a couple laughs here and there but other than that doesn’t contribute that much.
There were only three performances from the supporting cast that stood out to me. First, Peggy Lu returns as Mrs. Chen who just like in the previous films is a warm and fun presence to have included and doesn’t fail to put a smile on your face when she comes on screen. Then there is Stephen Graham who returns as Patrick Mulligan but has now become bonded to his own symbiote called Toxin just like in the comics. While he may not be in the film that long, Graham gives a really solid performance as Toxin and looks amazing in his design despite looking very different compared to his comic book appearance. I just wish there was a lot more of him in the film because of how cool he was and how he could have been more integral to the story.
And finally, there is the film’s villain Knull, played phenomenally by the legendary Andy Serkis. Knull is a very recent addition to Marvel comics so it was honestly surprising to see him get a live-action debut so soon but he was honestly awesome in this film despite only being in it for a short amount of time. The very moment I heard his voice and saw him on screen I had immediate chills because he was done extremely well and I could feel such presence similar to Thanos in his first appearance in the MCU. I was at first concerned that with such a powerful character he would end up getting killed off and treated as a one-and-done villain in this film but thankfully that did not end up being the case. That being said I’m not exactly sure what direction they intend to take this character given that this is the last Venom solo film. Are they setting him up to somehow be a Thanos-level threat for the Sony-Verse? Are they setting him up to potentially be a villain that could crossover into the MCU via the multiverse? It’s never made clear by the end where exactly the character will go next, which is concerning because it would be a waste not to use this character in a film going forward.
There are other symbiotes featured in this film that have their own time to shine later in the film’s crazily fun third act but we also have the Xenophages, alien symbiote hunters pulled straight from the pages of comics, that were done really well as well as came off as truly terrifying threats both in design and actions.
The film’s narrative is a messy mixed bag of both pros and cons that are a result of Kelly Marcel’s lackluster writing and obvious studio influence. Everything to do with Eddie Brock/Venom and the symbiote lore are the most investing parts of the film, delivering genuine laughs, grand stakes, and emotional beats that I felt worked and made the film entertaining to watch. Everything else from strange subplots to uneven shifts in tone to the extremely fast pacing of the story are the worst parts of the film that drag it down hugely. I much preferred how simple and straightforward the plots of the previous films were compared to the messy juggling of plots this film provides. There’s a clashing of ideas that are clearly a case of an inexperienced director and studio executives fitting in as much as they can into the final film of their most financially successful series, producing a mixed product.
Even the two post-credit scenes of this film feel so haphazardly put together, not showing any clear direction or making much sense as to what they are trying to set up. For as dumb as the Morbius post credits are they at least had a direction of what they were attempting to do.
There’s also a clear indication that this film was meant to be R-rated by the amount of really gory kills and shockingly graphic language that made it past the PG-13 rating so it’s clear that studio interference plays a part in how this film turned out. What ends up saving this film for me, besides the leading duo and their journey, is the entertainment factor that comes mostly from fun creative action and a bonkers third act that has actual stakes. The action is where I felt the filmmakers involved were able to have the most creative freedom, given how awesome and fun the sequences are utilizing the potential of the symbiotes’ abilities, especially when it comes to the venomized animals featured in this film. The Venom Horse was absolutely worth the hype for me, offering cool visuals and great laughs.
On a technical level, the film looks good with its intense action, effects, creature designs, and cinematography, but a lot gets dragged down by some of the horrendous editing throughout the film. The editing was extremely jarring at times, making it hard to focus on what’s happening on screen and taking away from some of the awesome stuff going on. The film’s score by Dan Deacon is decent but is largely overshadowed by a soundtrack of songs that add elements of fun to parts of the film.
I feel Venom: The Last Dance could have been a lot better than how it turned out, but there is no denying that I still had some enjoyment out of it and it is honestly a far better watch compared to some of Sony’s other Marvel outings of late. How they intend to continue without their only financially successful character in this uneven universe they have been trying to make is unknown to me. I’m going to give Venom: The Last Dance a generous B- = 80.
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