I’ll be honest up front: I love the Venom movies.
There’s so much that could be said (and more still that already has been) about the state of superhero movies in the 2020’s, or more specifically, Sony’s Spider-Manless Spider-Man Universe and its failure to capture the hearts and ticket sales of the movie-going public. Despite all their other missteps, however, the Venom series manages to generally land with audiences, and The Last Dance is happily no exception.
New Film, New Threat, Same Old Heroes
The movie kicks off right from the opening scene to establish the stakes of the film: Knull, the King in Black himself, is awake and seeks the destruction of the symbiotes who imprisoned him and the rest of the living world besides. Even with his existence made very clear in the trailers, I had expected them to ease into the idea of a deific being creating the symbiotes, but in hindsight, I shouldn’t have. These movies have never eased into anything, after all, and so we get to see Klyntar and Knull in all their goopy-but-edgy glory straight from the jump.
Eddie and Venom, meanwhile, are just looking to get away from it all. Their story picks up hot off the heels of their cameo appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, where they spent the events of the film drinking in a Mexican bar. This movie revisits that post-credit scene, warping the duo back into their own universe, much to Venom’s delight. The two decide to make their way to New York, but are set upon along the way by Knull’s monstrous minions. Action, hilarity, and drama ensue as the unlikely heroes do their best to survive and make it out together.
Venom: The Last Dance
Directed By: Kelly Marcel
Written By: Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy
Starring: Tom Hardy, Juno Temple
Release Date: In theaters October 25, 2024
The plot of the film is perhaps the strongest it’s ever been. Where Venom was still getting its legs underneath itself and the character, and Let There Be Carnage was mostly an excuse to display the fan-favorite villain, The Last Dance properly balances upon the foundation, shaky as it may be, laid before it by the prior films in order to spin a suitable final chapter for Venom and Eddie.
That being said, the plots of these movies have never been their strongest suits, either. The macguffin that incites the plot is called the Codex, a fascinating piece of symbiote lore in the Marvel comics that is adapted into simply being a key to Knull’s prison. The reason for the Codex’s existence comes out of nowhere, putting additional weight upon the events of the first movie even as The Last Dance continues to distance itself from the sequel. Eddie and Venom feel like they are just stumbling from one plot point to the next without much agency, and the actual, active antagonist of the movie is basically just a classic “movie monster” style threat.
It’s interesting enough, and modestly well-paced besides. By this point, however, most people invested in the franchise are just here to watch Eddie and Venom bicker like an old married couple above all else, and the plot does everything it can to service that, even at the cost of its own potential.
The Best Banter Yet
As far as that bickering goes, The Last Dance does not disappoint in the slightest. Tom Hardy shares an excellent chemistry with… himself, I suppose, and is clearly having a blast in every single scene he’s in. Venom is still the easily-excitable and impulsive doofus he’s always been, and Eddie continues to slowly and hilariously crack under the pressure of sharing a body with him. Writer/Director Kelly Marcel had a clear focus on this dynamic and the partnership these two characters share this time around, and it shows. The movie absolutely shines in these moments, whether it be the humor of rapid-fire barbs and insults, or even in the quiet contemplative moments of the two characters discussing their bond.
It’s not just the script and delivery, either. The movie itself is built to service these exchanges, with scene cuts and transitions perfectly timed to end with punchy jokes, or lingering in all the right ways on Eddie’s face as the sun sets, all while the alien voice in his head tells him how good of a friend he’s been. The Last Dance is, without doubt, the Eddie and Venom Show.
Unfortunately, this depiction rings a little too true, as most of the supporting cast leaves a fair bit to be desired. It’s all pretty average, for the most part – there are no bad performances by any standard. Chiwetal Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, Dr. Strange) provides a basic turn as a gruff, no-nonsense soldier type that does what it needs to in order to move the story forward, but Ted Lasso’s Juno Temple felt a bit directionless until things come to a head in the third act. It is worth noting that The Last Dance marks Marcel’s first outing as a director, which may explain some of the shortcomings.
Great Action, When You Get It
The action scenes in The Last Dance are also probably as good as they’ve ever been. A major criticism of the Venom movies is often how the symbiote-based combat often appears as little more than a mess of CGI clashing against a dark backdrop. This film really looks to beat those allegations, starting with a fun fight number that actively sees Eddie spending time outside of the Venom suit, probably even more so than he does within.
This is a theme that continues for most of the movie, giving a lot of the action scenes a chance to show off Eddie and Venom doing their own thing. By the big third act action finale, though, the two are back together in the fully-formed Venom suit for an absolutely all-out explosive end to the film.
Outside of the opening scene and the final battle, however, the rest of action scenes are rather few and far between. When they occur, they are fairly short, and while they’re usually pretty well-shot and easy to follow, it makes one wonder what kind of action comedy movie ends up being this light on the action half.
A Fun Ride That’s Far From Perfect
As you can see, Venom: The Last Dance is a movie that has at least one flaw for every high point. It’s a movie that doesn’t always manage to get out of its own way, and it’s not likely to be on too many short lists come award season. What The Last Dance does succeed in, however, is in having a keen understanding of exactly what kind of movie it wants to be, even if it doesn’t quite get there. It’s an action comedy that doesn’t have quite enough action, and a buddy-drama that doesn’t quite have enough drama, but what it does have is enough moxie to keep you in your seat for the just-under-two-hour runtime.
Amidst a sea of blindingly mediocre Sony superhero movies, the Venom series has always done its best to stand apart from the crowd. Whether or not its current opening weekend over-performance has the legs to drag it across the finish line, however, still remains to be seen.
Venom: The Last Dance is in theaters now.
