Can Venom’s crazed hunger for bad guys ever really be satisfied? Or maybe the better question is: will the audience’s dire appetite for a halfway-decent Venom movie ever be satisfied?
Sadly, the answer to both of these is a likely no. Venom: The Last Dance is the drab conclusion to Sony’s sluggish superhero series that ends the same way it began back in 2018 - all bark, and no bite.
Comic book newbies might still be unfamiliar with the anti-hero Venom, also known as human Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) who’s body is infected with an alien parasite from outer space that transforms them into a sadistic, navy blue monster (also played by Hardy.)
Eddie and Venom’s ongoing “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” routine continues to be the most watchable part of this overly simple story and franchise. But for what’s supposed to be the big, swelling ending of a superhero series, it feels small and anti-climactic, especially with the minimal action or crime fighting scenes.
The Last Dance suffers from the same story problem seen in the first two movies: there’s a lot of bland exposition and set-up for an hour before the payoff of a genuinely exciting final fight scene.
To be fair, The Last Dance’s big alien showdown at the end of the movie is a whopper, and if that kind of kinetic, high-stakes action was infused in the rest of the movie, Venom 3 would be a heckuva lot more fun. Once the bad aliens start fighting Venom and his friends, the set pieces and visual effects are used effectively.
Unfortunately, that’s where most of the positives end. All of the best moments in the build up before are shown in the trailers, which gives away most of the plot before audiences even walk into the theatre.
Two more serious problems bring down both the fun and cohesion of the film. The first is that unlike the first two movies, there’s no central, human villain character. It’s supposed to be a space God named Knull (played by Andy Serkis, who funny enough, directed Venom 2 three years ago) but he’s on screen for less than a minute!
Second, the absence of Eddie’s love interest and deuteragonist Anne (played by five-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams) is crushing. She’s the second most important character in the franchise, and since the last film in 2021, Anne has disappeared from the story and franchise with no explanation at all.
Director Kelly Marcel has been a writer on the Venom flicks since 2018, and now makes her directorial debut. While she proves her editing and cinematography skills as a director, her writing skills still can’t focus Venom into a feature-length story that’s any fun to watch or even makes much sense.
One final thought: why is the lighting throughout the movie so dark? The set lighting is so bleak and literally unlit that in several scenes it’s hard to even see anything on screen.
If this really is Venom’s last dance, I’m not too sad to see him leave the dance floor. It’s like watching a drunk relative at a wedding - it was fun for a few minutes, but now it’s just time for them to go back to the hotel where they’ll stop bothering people.
Venom: The Last Dance
5 out of 10
PG, 1hr 49mins. Sci-Fi Superhero Adventure.
Written and directed by Kelly Marcel.
Starring Tom Hardy, Juno Temple, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rhys Ifans, Alanna Ubach and Andy Serkis.
Now playing at Cineplex theatres.