Venom: The Last Dance

Venom: The Last Dance Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Tom Hardy, Juno Temple, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Peggy Liu, and Rhys Ifans.

Director: Kelly Marcel

What’s Good: The relationship between Eddie and Venom keeps being funny and charming, and their conversations will make you laugh and even get emotional at times.

What’s Bad: All the concepts and characters feel underdeveloped, and there is definitely a budget cut somewhere, as Venom keeps secrets more than in previous films.

Loo Break: The first act could be more decisive, and things could start faster.

Watch or Not?: Watch only if you are a huge fan of Venom or Tom Hardy. If not, there are better options out there.

Language: English (with subtitles).

Available On: Theatrical release

Runtime: 120 Minutes.

User Rating:

Opening:
The fall of the superhero genre has been slow but hard. The time when every single release was a massive success at the box office is long gone, especially for Sony, which has been trying to replicate its success with the Spider-Man films only to find failure and ridicule, thanks to films like Madame Web and Morbius. Now, the only big success for Sony, outside of Spider-Man and Venom, is getting its last movie, or so they say, going out not with a bang but a whimper.

Venom: The Last Dance Movie Review: Script Analysis

When the first Venom was released in 2018, it was a different world pre-pandemic, where cinema was still king for entertainment options for general audiences. So, the first film, which was not good, but not wrong either, ended up becoming a huge success, a surprising one taking into account the quality of the film, and also the quality of his main protagonist, Tom Hardy, a fantastic actor who until that point hadn’t found success at the box office.

Since then, Sony has been trying to replicate the success of the first Venom film but failing miserably in the process, and this next movie doesn’t change that streak, thanks to a script that feels like nonsense and written by someone who only knows about comic books tangentially instead of learning the medium deeply, allowing for great ideas to find their way among all the absurdity that the medium is known for. As it stands, Venom: The Last Dance feels like a sad goodbye to a franchise that never really understood what it was all about.

Kelly Marcel, who debuts in this film as director, is also responsible for writing every movie in the trilogy. In retrospect, it is weird to see because she is a good writer, but comic books don’t seem to be the material she adores. So, every Venom movie felt like it was written by a hired gun instead of someone who felt a passion for the medium; this approach makes the films functional. Still, they never go the extra mile to create powerful or memorable moments.

The film doubles down on the absurd aspects of the previous films, creating a plot that makes no sense logically and expecting the audience to accept that this is how the universe works; the lore behind the symbiotes is vague. While the final act is quite impressive and even emotional, the rest of the film feels empty if not for Tom Hardy’s performance, which ultimately carries the film.

Venom: The Last Dance Movie Review: Star Performance

The entire Venom trilogy is the Tom Hardy show; he is still the one link between them and is the reason to watch these movies, especially this third film. It’s evident that even Hardy seems weary of the franchise, eager to pursue more fulfilling projects. We all hope for that because his talent is truly remarkable. For sure, these movies gave him good paychecks, but it is time to stop for Hardy and the franchise before no one can take him seriously.

Juno Temple, who is everywhere these days, also appears in the film as a mad scientist, and she does excellent, as always. Rhys Ifans is the best character in the movie, along with this character’s family, creating the best and most heartwarming moments. No one is phoning in their performances, but the material is subpar at best.