REVIEW: “Venom: The Last Dance” (2024)

As a seasoned cinephile with over three decades of movie-watching under my belt and countless hours spent dissecting the intricacies of superhero films, I must confess that “Venom: The Last Dance” left me feeling more drained than a symbiote after a feeding frenzy.

In my humble opinion, as a movie critic, the initial two “Venom” flicks had all the makings of greatness – a captivating character with a rich backstory, an ideal actor cast, and the substantial financial support of a big-name studio. However, both 2018’s “Venom” and 2021’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” were financial triumphs, yet they failed to deliver as good movies. And now we have “Venom: The Last Dance”, the third Venom film that, unfortunately, shares many of the same pitfalls as its predecessors.

In a new adventure, the skilled yet misunderstood Tom Hardy reprises his role as Eddie Brock, who was once an investigative journalist but now finds himself on the run after becoming host to a powerful alien symbiote called Venom. After fleeing from the events of the last movie and settling in Mexico, they are thrust back into action when Eddie spots himself on local news broadcasts. This sets up their journey, transforming “The Last Dance” into a buddy road trip flick, with the anxious Eddie serving as the straight man to Venom’s relentless jokester character.

While journeying through America, they encounter a formidable black-ops military team headed by General Strickford, portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor. However, in this installment, Eddie and Venom face a deadlier adversary. The film initiates with a chilling prelude revealing Knull, an ominous cosmic entity who crafted the symbiotes but has since been contained by them. To break free, Knull requires an artifact known as the “Codex,” which is conveniently housed within Venom. Thus, Knull unleashes his horde of creatures to retrieve the Codex and ensure his liberation.

We discover that the Codex can only be destroyed if either Eddie or Venom perish. Upon learning this, Strickland and his troops step up their pursuit of our heroes. Meanwhile, Knull’s voracious creatures invade Earth, setting up a less-than-spectacular confrontation. Along the journey, several characters make brief appearances, primarily to fill screen time. Among them are Dr. Teddy Payne (Juno Temple), a symbiote enthusiast scientist, and her assistant Dr. Sadie Christmas (Clark Backo). Additionally, there’s a family of alien fans, headed by their free-spirited father, Martin (Rhys Ifans).

In this latest installment of the “Venom” series, Kelly Marcel, who previously penned the scripts, steps up as both screenwriter and director. She continues the theme of Eddie frequently engaging in verbal spats with his alien companion. However, the lighthearted exchanges start to feel repetitive rather quickly. The film is packed with CGI action sequences, some of which are quite enjoyable, particularly when we arrive at the abandoned AREA 51 location. Regrettably, the storyline that ties everything together is weak and it’s challenging to find any substance to grasp onto, making it more difficult than it should be.

Tom Hardy, in his own words, is concluding his stint as Eddie/Venom, which seems like a positive development for the versatile 47-year-old British actor, who might now have the opportunity to tackle more profound roles. Unfortunately, “The Last Dance” fails to deliver, wrapping up an already underwhelming series on a disappointing note. The production is marred by inconsistent writing, lack of emotional depth, one-dimensional characters, and several cringe-worthy scenes, with perhaps the most regrettable being a dance sequence set to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” that borders on comical. While it may still appease dedicated Venom fans (if they indeed exist), most viewers will undoubtedly be relieved that this series has reached its conclusion.

2024-10-26 19:56

REVIEW: “Venom: The Last Dance” (2024)

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