When Venom (2018) hit the big screen, it surpassed expectations at the box office. The first outing for Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote bestie proved that Sony’s universe of Spider-Man characters could thrive without the web-slinger himself. Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) also fared well, especially considering it was released mid-pandemic. However, all good things—or in this case, at least tolerable things—must come to an end; and Venom: The Last Dance fails to end the trilogy on a high.
★★☆☆☆
Picking up from where Spider-Man: No Way Home’s (2021) post-credits scene left off, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his alien brother-in-arms Venom are on the run from the law. Except it turns out that is the least of their problems. The villainous Knull (Let There Be Carnage director Andy Serkis), who created the symbiotes before they turned on him, has sent monsters after Venom and Eddie to retrieve a codex that will release him from prison. Brock and Venom find themselves on the run from two threats at once, all the while bickering like an old married couple and still finding time to run into Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu), who at this point deserves her own film.
The Last Dance’s concept feels flawed from the start. Let There Be Carnage featured an often fascinating antagonism between hero and villain, playing out as a dual storyline and culminating in a brutal confrontation that felt like it really mattered. Knull, by contrast, is a distanced figure whose true malevolence and power are never unleashed. He is happy to send a relentless and seemingly invincible reptilian creature known as a xenophage to Earth. This results in a more drab hunter-and-hunted scenario that lacks any real emotional weight or sincerity.
Long-time franchise writer and first-time director Kelly Marcel takes the helm for the third film. Courtesy of her obviously solid working relationship with Hardy, there is a confidence to make more sly in-jokes and inject some fun into proceedings. But this confidence does not see the film take any particular risks. The Last Dance never strays outside its comfort zone, with the depth of Venom and Eddie’s relationship never explored in the detail it craves—despite the plot offering ample opportunity to do so. When there is an opportunity for Brock to get introspective, such as during a road trip with Martin Moon (Rhys Ifans) and his hippie family, awkward comedy derails the moment. As a consequence, what should have been an emotional finale feels like a dragged-out crescendo that tries far too hard to make up the shortfall.
The Last Dance has its moments that remind you why these films have remained a box office pull. Getting to see a variety of different, new symbiotes take form results in some inventive action sequences and will no doubt delight fans of the comics. A cool if all-too-brief sequence of Venom chopping and changing from different animals is a highlight. The fight scenes in an underground lab just about qualify as more than ‘indiscernible monster attacked by colourful puddles of goop’, and despite the hectic nature of the final 30 minutes it remains possible to engage with the fight scenes in a meaningful, enjoyable fashion. And Hardy continues to carry the franchise. It is once again a love-it-or-hate-it performance, although the skittishness he affected in the first film has thankfully dissipated. The often strange and volatile chats he has with his symbiote partner continue to hit the right note, even if most of the gags are just reinventions or regurgitations of previously touted jokes.
The Verdict
The last dance this surely is; the flagship character of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe has run out of steam. The unpredictable drama queen humour that Hardy’s Brock-Venom symbiosis has become so good at remains, but it isn’t enough to stop The Last Dance from feeling like an overwhelmingly flat finale. With both Morbius and Madame Web flopping in every sense, it is up to Kraven the Hunter to see if Sony’s misfiring universe can survive losing its most popular figure.
Words by James Hanton
Venom: The Last Dance is in cinemas now
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