Rating: 3/10
If there’s any credit that the “Venom” movies deserve, it’s that, at the bare minimum, they are just fun superhero slop. Kelly Marcel’s “Venom: The Last Dance” squanders that and ends the trilogy unceremoniously.
The film starts with a narration that explains the story of Knull (Andy Serkis), one of Venom’s nemeses from the comics. His presence in this cinematic universe comes out of nowhere, forcing viewers to follow along with this sporadic introduction.
The film then immediately picks up after the post-credit scenes of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which sees Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Venom (voiced by Tom Hardy) discovering that Eddie is wanted for the events that happened in the previous movie.
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Now that they’re running away from the law, Eddie and Venom journey from Mexico to New York City, where Eddie plans to clear his name from the crimes committed by Carnage.
While on their adventure, Knull’s goons hunt them, as they want to steal a key hidden within Eddie and Venom. The key would allow Knull to escape the prison the Symbiotes placed him in. The narrative is disjointed and attempts to construct an ending that wraps up Eddie and Venom’s relationship.
What further takes away from the story is the severe lack of a concrete villain. Despite Knull being the overarching antagonist of the film, he spends the entire time sitting on this throne, looking down and merely speaking to squid-like creatures called Xenophages.
The creatures’ designs are so generic and lifeless that it’s almost an insult to comic book fans hoping to see Knull directly go up against Venom on the big screen. Rather than have the characters interact with one another, Venom has to fight these bottom-of-the-barrel monsters.
There is also an abundance of scenes that go on for too long, making them feel like filler to bloat the run time. More often than not, these scenes are merely Venom frolicking around and goofing off, which may be entertaining for some but doesn’t progress the story.
“Venom: The Last Dance” also had some controversy with the addition of Knull since the character’s creators, Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, reportedly had no idea their character would be a part of the film.
According to an article from IGN, both Cates and Stegman were surprised by the announcement that the film would introduce their character. They soon released several tweets to express their feelings.
Hardy’s performance as Eddie and Venom stands out as the best part of the film, as he effortlessly plays two vastly different characters with amazing chemistry.
If this truly is the last “Venom” film and the last time we see Eddie and Venom together, Hardy made sure to give both characters a decent enough sendoff that, at the very least, feels reminiscent of their relationship throughout the two previous movies. Both characters are still a blast to see bounce off one another, even if many of their interactions are mundane in the form of slapstick humor.
“Venom: The Last Dance” could be described as fun, but having Venom dance and goof around while trying to set up a new major villain makes the film feel pointless with no payoff. It’s often said that the “third time is the charm,” but this movie is definitely an exception to that rule.
