By George & Josh Bate
The Venom movies have been a relative shining light amidst the mixed bag of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe movies. While Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage were not met with the strongest of critical receptions, they were commercial successes and earned praise from many fans, who fell in love with Tom Hardy’s wacky performance and the buddy-cop dynamic of the films. Other attempts to expand this odd, side universe of Spider-Man villains movies have been less successful though. Morbius and Madame Web both disappointed financially and, even more damningly, were met with ridicule. Kraven the Hunter, meanwhile, is set to debut this December after a number of delays and the poor track record of Sony Spider-Man villain movies outside of the Venom duo has made fans understandably cautious about the Aaron Taylor-Johnson-led supervillain movie. In the meantime, Tom Hardy and Sony’s trilogy of Venom movies comes to an end with Venom: The Last Dance, a characteristically unusual and surprisingly emotional send-off for the symbiote anti-hero.
Venom: The Last Dance sees Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock on the run from authorities after being accused of murdering Detective Patrick Mulligan (the detective played by Stephen Graham in Venom: Let There Be Carnage). Meanwhile, Eddie’s venomous counterpart is also on the run, this time from Knull, the creator of all symbiotes, who has commissioned vicious creatures to hunt down Venom and retrieve something of value for him. Hunted by figures from both of their worlds, Eddie and Venom team up for a last dance that sees them journey through Nevada in hopes of surviving their perilous predicament.
When Venom debuted in 2018 and blew expectations out of the park with a whopping $856 million global box office take, it wasn’t necessarily the live-action interpretation of the Venom character that was the talking point. Rather, what was most discussed was the unusual, off-the-wall performance from Tom Hardy in the lead role. An accomplished actor in projects like Warrior, The Revenant, and Peaky Blinders, Hardy delivered arguably his most unique performance to date as Eddie Brock. Strange mannerisms, funny quirks, a perplexing and fluctuating accent, and an integration of some of the actor’s real life traits, Hardy’s Eddie Brock proved to be the Jack Sparrow of Marvel movies. Even when Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage stumbled with conventional plotting, Tom Hardy alone made the movies worth watching. And the same can most certainly be said for Venom: The Last Dance.
The third Venom film features a sprawling cast alongside Hardy, including Chiwetel Ejiofor as the military general Rex Strickland, Juno Temple as a scientist studying symbiotes named Dr. Payne, Rhys Ifans as an alien enthusiast who befriends Eddie, and Stephen Graham, who reprises his role as Patrick Mulligan from the previous movie. The Last Dance takes some time to get going as it dedicates numerous scenes to establishing this array of supporting characters and how their plot threads tie into Eddie’s journey. This is, in part, an issue because the supporting characters and cast are simply not that interesting. And, amplifying that issue, there are far too many of them, to the point that the film feels overstuffed with an abundance of unnecessary characters.
Look no further than Juno Temple’s character for glaring evidence of this flaw. Temple’s character is given some vague backstory about having an ambiguous set of powers and has several flashback sequences dedicated to developing her character. Unfortunately, Temple’s Dr. Payne adds little substance to the story, with her presence often interrupting an otherwise thoroughly entertaining superhero movie. The same can be said for Stephen Graham’s return as Patrick Mulligan, which is unnecessarily forced into a movie already overstuffed with too many side characters. The ultimate result of this issue is that it takes time away from Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and Venom, who remain the heart, soul, and primary point of interest for the Venom films.
After a somewhat choppy first half-hour or so, Venom: The Last Dance settles down as it finally pivots away (but does not entirely abandon) its lackluster side characters in favor of focusing more heavily on Venom and Eddie Brock. The film is at its best when it spends time with this dynamic duo as they trade lines, argue, joke, and face villains with the same kind of energy and humor that made people fall in love with these characters over the past two films. Comparing Hardy’s Eddie / Venom to Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow is apt, because, like Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Hardy is unafraid to go over-the-top and downright weird with his performance. You never know what kind of facial expression he is going to pull, what unusual, idiosyncratic mannerism is right around the corner, or what oddball one-liner we’re about to hear. And that sense of the unpredictable and organic makes Hardy so entertaining and likable here. It is clear that Hardy is having a lot of fun bringing this character to life, and his enjoyment most certainly will rub off on those watching The Last Dance.
Hardy’s wacky performance establishes a tone for Venom: The Last Dance that, like the previous two films, allows the movie to get away with absurdities and a conventional narrative. Because Hardy is so unusual here, it means a range of standard plotting and strange character decisions are forgivable, because they are contained in a movie that isn’t always taking itself so seriously. It is a testament, however, to Hardy and writer/director Kelly Marcel that the film’s lack of seriousness never impedes upon the stakes of the story, which, in this third installment, are higher than ever. There are numerous absurd moments in Venom: The Last Dance, such as Eddie randomly running into Peggy Lu’s Mrs. Chen in a Vegas casino and a family breaking into a top secret government facility with comical ease, but all of them work within the context of the light, well-intentioned, and fun tone the film achieves, largely through Hardy’s uncanny performance.
Although the plot is far from novel for what the superhero genre has seen before, the narrative is commendable for its simplicity and for never getting out of hand or becoming too convoluted. Even before the red Marvel logo fills the screen, the film begins with an exposition-heavy opening that sets the stage for the threat Eddie and Venom will face. Shrouded in darkness and shadows, the villainous Knull makes his live-action debut right off the bat and, through a rather heavy-handed voiceover, explains rather succinctly what he is after. The film makes do with obligatory exposition at the beginning and then proceeds forward with little time to rest and think deeply about the plot. Some story elements (such as Eddie being on the run for a crime he committed in the last film) fall completely by the wayside, but, for the most part, the plot remains focused on Eddie and Venom as they run from authorities who want them for experimentation and Knull’s creatures who are after them for an object they possess.
Embedded within the story are some solid attempts to build out the lore of symbiotes, something the previous films have only slightly tapped into. Although Knull largely remains sidelined, his introduction opens the door to better understanding the origins of symbiotes. This, coupled with developments in the third act that result in fun action sequences and interesting world-building, make The Last Dance a more well-developed and sprawling story than the other Venom films.
Special plaudits must go to Kelly Marcel, who stepped into the director’s seat here after writing Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Marcel makes her feature directorial debut with Venom: The Last Dance, although one would never know this is her first outing as a director, such is the confidence and reliability she brings as a director. Marcel has a firm grasp on action, with The Last Dance arguably featuring the best action out of the three Venom films. But she also has her finger very clearly on the pulse of humor (with terrific editing and comedic timing) and, most strikingly, emotional heart.
The words ‘emotional’ and ‘heart’ feel out of place in a review for a Venom movie, but they are more than appropriate. The relationship between Eddie and Venom has afforded a lot of great humor across the three films, but there is a certain emotionality and warmth to their relationship in this latest movie. It may not be anything close to the emotional heights the comic book movie genre has previously reached, although there are certainly successful attempts here to tug at your heartstrings. The emotion and heart ramp up as the film comes to an end, and brings the Venom trilogy to a close with surprising finality. Unexpectedly concluding on a more solemn and definitive note, The Last Dance does indeed present itself as the closing chapter to this story (even if we still think Hardy’s Venom will appear in subsequent Marvel movies).
VERDICT: 7.5/10
Venom: The Last Dance rounds out the Venom trilogy in characteristically fun and unusual fashion. Tom Hardy continues to prove that his Eddie Brock / Venom is the Jack Sparrow of the Marvel universe, delivering an unusual, quirky, hilarious, and singular performance as the symbiote/human duo. This performance perfectly feeds into an absurd and light-hearted tone that makes it easy to forgive minor plot conveniences. The film excels when its focus is more firmly on the dynamics between Eddie and Venom, instead of on an excessive array of lackluster side characters overstuffed into the story. Briskly paced and enduringly entertaining, The Last Dance tells a simple, yet effective story with plenty of humor, but also a surprising heart. Emotionality isn’t something typically associated with Venom movies, but Hardy and writer/director Kelly Marcel, in her directorial debut, manage to make the Eddie and Venom relationship heartfelt and emotionally resonant. A conclusion with surprising finality casts doubt on how and when Venom will return, although it is safe to say that, if this is indeed the last we see of Tom Hardy as the character, the Venom franchise has closed out with on-brand flavor of unusual humor and unexpected heart.