Venom: The Last Dance – An Inconsequential Sendoff

Against all odds, the film about a lovable symbiote and his human companion has now reached trilogy status with Venom: The Last Dance upon us. A fitting title for a trilogy-caper, it delivers what got the franchise to its supposed end and that is another adventure between Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and Venom. Quality of the films aside, it’s hard to argue with the success of that formula, making roughly $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office thus far. Operating on the sideline of the Sony’s Spider-Man universe, the franchise has since carved out a decent niche for itself. The furthest from what one would consider prestige cinema, they are big, loud, and incredibly silly but there is an audience for that up to a certain point. The latest film is more of the same, for better or worse, going as far as the franchise’s central relationship will take it. While the somewhat entertaining dynamic between Eddie and Brock is here, the positives essentially end there. Saddled with a forgettable story designed to pushes them to the forefront, it’s not worth thinking about any deeper than that, the film would be their last hurrah as they found themselves with the walls closing in.

Venom: The Last Dance of course sees Eddie Brock (Hardy) and Venom (Hardy) on the run from the authorities following their actions in San Francisco in the previous film. Hiding in Mexico, it was clear that they couldn’t stay there forever so the answer was to find somewhere new to get a fresh start but that journey was going to be far from a simple one. Meanwhile, the infamous Area 51 in Nevada was set to be decommissioned. Little did the public know, another secret base operated nearby, one specialized in studying symbiotes led by Dr. Teddy Paine (Temple) and General Strickland (Ejiofor). Naturally, they had an interest in the pair and adding Venom to their already extensive collection. However, they were not alone as the mysterious Knull (Andy Serkis), the creator of the symbiotes, was also interested in finding and eliminating all of his creations as part of a revenge plot whose details don’t matter all that much in the grand scheme. The only notable thing to come from that are Xenophages, another of Knull’s creations which he sent to Earth to dispatch of the symbiotes.

Now it wouldn’t be a Venom movie if it didn’t have hijinks and this film was no different. Stumbling their way across the country with a target on their backs from multiple fronts, Eddie and Venom had a tough time but they weren’t alone. The highlight of that journey was easily the duo’s time in Las Vegas which featured the return of Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu). Hinted at amongst the film’s trailers and other promotional materials, the dance sequence between Venom and Mrs. Chen is what most audiences will remember after the credits roll. In the end, this collection moments are a mere detour until the story inevitably converged just in time for the chaos-filled climax. Nothing that happens here should come as a surprise to anyone and is par for the course. That being said, there is some excitement to be had within the fast moving, CGI laden chaos as an army of symbiotes were called to action. On the other hand, the question about the end is one that will surely be in the minds of audiences. Ultimately, whichever way it is going to end, Eddie and Venom will play a part in the outcome. When it comes to the franchise and where it goes moving forward, it does not necessarily mean that the story of symbiotes is over. A mid-credit scene and another scene right at the end of the credits foreshadow that potential direction.

Across the franchise’s three films, the constant has been Hardy’s committed performances as Eddie Brock/Venom. While the material has mostly been nonexistent for him, he’s given the films his all and that continues to be the case here. Consistently elevating the material with his charisma and screen presence, Hardy is entertaining to watch as his back-and-forth dynamic with Venom is the best part of the film. However, the rest of Venom: The Last Dance leaves much to be desired with a story lacking much in the way of consequence. Therefore, its performances beyond Hardy are inconsequential at best. On the technical side, the CGI is fine, bringing Venom, the Xenophages, and the other symbiotes to life, but horse Venom, parachute Venom, and conjoined twin Venom were kind of cool as well.

At the end of the day, Venom: The Last Dance is a decent and somewhat entertaining sendoff that wastes Tom Hardy with a largely inconsequential story.

 still courtesy of Columbia Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.