James Berardinelli started his review by saying, “In
2018, an argument could have been made that a Venom-centric movie was sensible,
preferably as a lead-in to the expected big-screen clash between the inky
symbiont and his web-crawling nemesis, Spider-Man.” (The previous film that showed
the two fighting was in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 3,” left most fans unimpressed
and believing a redo was necessary.) However, in the days before COVID, comic
book adaptations were very popular. By the time the first sequel, “Venom: Let There
be Carnage,” was released in 2021, the Venom franchise had lost some of the
spark (despite the domestic gross was almost identical to that of the original,
the international box office was cut in half). Now, with the release of the
supposed final sequel in the “trilogy,” there’s a feeling that this franchise
is struggling to get to the end. And the anticipated fight with Spider-Man is
still not to be seen.
Is this the last time for Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and
his alter-ego symbiote? That is unknown. The movie gives mixed feelings, almost
as if it’s enclosing its bets based on the box office. Hardy is probably done
but the Venom character could easily return with or without Brock. As comic book
readers will tell everyone, it is a separate being. The movie introduces a new
villain, Knull, played by the director of the last film, motion-capture master
Andy Serkis, who has very little to do by setting things in motion from deep in
the Void, where he is trapped. It looks like Sony might be making him the next
Thanos. Let’s see how that turns out.
Narratively, the film is all mover the place. The setup
is divided between Eddie, who is running from humans and aliens, and the people
working at Area 51. The normal, gentle scientists, represented by Dr. Payne,
played by Juno Temple, want to study Venom. The unreasonable, trigger-happy
soldiers, represented by Rex Strickland, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, want to
kill him. Berardinelli admitted, “My hope is that Temple and Ejiofor were
well-compensated for their work here because both are playing characters that
could charitably be described as underwritten and underutilized.”
Meanwhile, deep in the Void, Knull wants out and has
sent his pawn, called Xenophages, to locate the key that will allow him to escape
his prison. This key, called a “Codex,” is conveniently found inside Eddie (as
a result of his having been resurrected by Venom), and a Xenophage, having
sensed him, is now on Earth causing damage. There’s a catch, however: the
Xenophage can only locate the Codex when it is active (meaning when Venom comes
out) so, as long as Eddie stays human, the Xenophage cannot see him. In order
to keep his secrecy, he catches a ride with the hippies Martin (Rhys Ifans) and
Nova Moon (Alanna Ubach) and their kids (Hala Finley and Dash McCloud), who
happen to be on a vacation to find Area 51.
All this is build-up to the necessary huge CGI fight
that fills up the final half-hour. Berardinelli said, “It relies so little on
real actors doing real acting that it might as well be animated. It’s loud,
chaotic, and not the least bit interesting. Perhaps recognizing there’s a
problem with audience engagement, writer-turned-director Kelly Marcel (who
wrote the other two Venom movies before taking the helm for this one) inserts a
flashback montage that serves primarily as a reminder of how much younger Tom
Hardy looked when he started on this franchise six years ago.”
There are a few nice distractions during the course of
the twisting road trip that makes the outcome of “The Last Dance’s” first hour.
There’s a nice fight on top of a flying jetliner, however it’s too short to
leave much impact. Venom dances with Mrs. Chen, reprised by Peggy Lu, to a
famous ABBA song. Also, there’s a sing-along in the hippy van with the Moon
family. Sadly, the most memorable part of the first two “Venom” films – the conversation
between Eddie and the symbiont – has been lessened this time around. It’s still
there but it looks more like a necessary footnote than an element of the story.
When it comes to bringing Marvel characters and
superhero elements to the big screen, Sony has had worse moments. Berardinelli
ended his review by saying, “Although it would be difficult to anoint The Last
Dance as the worst comic book movie of 2024 (it has to contend with another
Sony dud, Madame Web, for that dubious distinction), it’s another indication
that the time has come to shut down any and all attempts to expand the
Spider-Man universe into anything that doesn’t directly involve Spider-Man. As
for Venom, the potential inherent in the creature has been wasted and
squandered over the course of three movies and this final installment is the
worst offender of all. Even John Travolta circa 1977 couldn’t save The Last
Dance.”
Overall, I think this film is ok. I don’t think this
is bad, but I did find the action enjoyable and there are a lot of funny
moments. However, I do see how it can be considered all over the place and that
it doesn’t leave off with the indication that this is the last time we will see
Venom. There is a mid-credits scene with Knull and a post-credits scene with a
cockroach approaching the broken vial that had the Venom symbiote in it, but I
don’t know if Sony is thinking of incorporating Venom in the MCU. We will have
to wait and see. If you want to check it out in the theaters, it wouldn’t hurt.
It’s your choice, but if you don’t, then there’s no big loss.
Thank you for reading this review tonight. Stay tuned
tomorrow to see what I will end off “Halloween Month 2024” with.
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