Venom: The Last Dance

Perhaps this was just one sequel too many as the story here is really rather thin, but there's still enough chemistry between "Eddie" (Tom Hardy) and his eponymous symbion to raise a smile or two. This time it's not just the pursuing human population that's a problem for them, but there are creatures from the homeworld of "Venom" homing in on their unique "codex" so that they can help free their leader from incarceration to wreak havoc on the universe. Along the way, they encounter the hippie "Martin" (Rhys Ifans) and his family and cadge a lift in their VW camper-van whilst offering a fairly tuneless rendition of some David Bowie. It all builds up to a fairly predictable denouement with humanity facing some tough choices, the seemingly indestructible aliens on the verge of success and our intrepid partnership having to consider the ultimate sacrifice. Yep, we've seen it all before and though the visual effects are pretty impressive, that's not really enough to sustain it as it rather procedurally rolls along. There is occasionally some wit in the script and Hardy looks like he's having fun, but Chiwetel Ejiofor is largely under-used and it relies far too heavily on repetitive combat scenes to really make it stand out amidst the surfeit of 2024 comic-book derivatives. It's all watchable enough, but it's not a patch on the first one from 2018.

Okay, here’s the deal with _Venom: The Last Dance_. It’s like ordering your favorite burger and realizing halfway through they forgot the sauce. Tom Hardy? Still killing it as Eddie and Venom—his back-and-forth with himself is weirdly entertaining and even a little emotional. There are some genuinely fun and heartfelt moments that remind you why this duo worked in the first place. But man, the rest? A hot mess. The plot is all over the map, the new characters are forgettable, and the villain? Weak sauce. It feels like the filmmakers just kind of shrugged and said, “Eh, good enough.” Sure, there are flashes of that buddy-comedy charm, but not enough to save the movie from feeling like it’s limping to the finish line. If this is the final Venom movie (and I hope it is), I’m not gonna cry about it. It’s a mixed bag—fun in bits, but overall, it’s like Venom himself: a bit too sloppy to fully love.

I'm typically not a fan of the Marvel universe films. I find them over stated, not especially intelligent and oftentimes, quite repetitive. "Venom" is the rare exception to this rule. For starters there's Tom Hardy, who is, by any measure, an excellent actor. Secondly, there's the interplay between Hardy and Venom which can be genuinely funny. This latest and possibly last film in the series, "Venom: The Last Dance", is, I believe, the weakest in the line up. Unlike its predecessors, it feels a little bit rushed and somehow, anti climatic. That said, it still has its moments of engaging humour and not half decent action. In summary, its a shame to see "Venom" shelved (if in fact that's the case) as its one of the better Marvel universe franchises, with great chemistry between Hardy and his other worldly alter ego, Venom. Worth a look if you enjoyed the other films.