Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
Directed by: Kelly Marcel
Premise: The third film in the Venom series. Eddie Brock and Venom (Tom Hardy) are fugitives on the run when Earth is invaded by extraterrestrial creatures from Venom’s home world.
What Works: The core appeal of the Venom films has been the relationship between this parasitic organism and its host Eddie Brock. They’ve been a sort of odd couple, a concept best exploited in the second Venom film, and that facet continues to be the strongest aspect in the third installment. The Last Dance includes a lot of humor that humanizes Eddie and Venom and makes their relationship empathetic. Unlike a lot of superheroes, Eddie and Venom are kind of pathetic and out of control; throughout these movies they struggle to keep up with the bigger picture and that underdog quality makes the duo sympathetic. One of the best sections of The Last Dance is an extended sequence in which Eddie and Venom are taken in by a vacationing hippie family. It’s a nice humanistic counterpoint to the monster action and the family provides Eddie and Venom with a sense of what’s missing in their isolated existence. The Last Dance expands the concept of Venom by introducing other symbiotes and the action scenes merge monster action with physical comedy.
What Doesn’t: The Last Dance introduces a new villain from Venom’s home world. This villain doesn’t actually do anything. Monsters are sent to Earth on this villain’s behalf to extract a codex from Eddie and Venom’s body; the codex will free the big bad but this villain is never in direct conflict with the hero and the stakes remain vague. The exposition is poorly delivered and it feels late in the series to introduce this master villain. Like the other two Venom films, The Last Dance is a mostly average superhero story. The character of Venom was conceived as an antihero but these films mostly contorted the character into a milquetoast good guy, squandering the qualities that made Venom interesting. That choice comes to a head in The Last Dance. This story, which is positioned as the final chapter of a trilogy, is about heroism and sacrifice. Those themes don’t make much impact because of the creative decisions in the first two instalments. There’s little sense of a character arc throughout the three movies and the push for a heartfelt conclusion comes up short and feels forced.
Bottom Line: The whole Venom trilogy has been a middling effort and The Last Dance is no different. The humor and action make it sufficiently entertaining but it’s not particularly memorable.
Episode: #1022 (November 10, 2024)