The unhinged final installment in the “Venom” trilogy has finally arrived. The directorial debut of Kelly Marcel, who was a writer on the previous films, “Venom: The Last Dance” saw the unusual duo consisting of journalist Eddie Brock and sentient alien goo Venom fight for their lives. Tom Hardy reprised his role as both Eddie and Venom and was a producer and co-writer on the film, along with Marcel.
Though Venom is a Marvel character, this film is not a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was made by Sony who own the rights to Spider-Man characters and is part of their own separate universe featuring films such as “Morbius” and “Madame Web.” The only films necessary to understand “The Last Dance” are the previous “Venom” movies. Nor are the other two films recommendable for watching.
Lows
Typically, reviews for The Eastern Echo are written with the highs first. However, this format would not work for “The Last Dance.” In order to understand where this film stood quality-wise, the problems must be in the front.
By most metrics, this film was bad. Not a single character outside of Eddie/Venom spoke like a normal person does, boiled down to mere caricatures instead of fully-fledged characters. They provided heavy exposition, not trusting the audience to understand the plot or world building. The film even opened with the villain monologuing his exact plan. Said villain was also the least interesting in a trilogy where villains were consistently one of the weakest points.
In these characters’ defense, the plot and world-building were confusing. The trilogy was not consistent with itself, with sci-fi elements that were haphazard and half baked, riddled with plot holes. The plot was more a series of contrivances taped together into something resembling a plot. It was also highly predictable. This made the climactic battle especially a problem as the viewer could immediately figure out how the antagonist would go down, but then must wait for the heroes to figure out the obvious.
Highs
Despite these fundamental problems, nearly the entire film was wildly entertaining.
As a matter of fact, the problems at times came off as humorous. The ridiculousness elevated the film from having a comedic leaning to being an outright comedy. However, ironically was not the only way the film could be enjoyed. This would not necessarily fit into the “so bad it’s good” genre, it was far too enjoyable for that. The movie was also genuinely funny, not taking itself too seriously and featuring strong banter.
At the film’s core was a sincere relationship between Eddie and Venom. The obvious direction to take them would be horror, after all, it was an alien possessing a human. Instead, Venom’s possession was more akin to an annoying but lovable roommate (the correct term would probably be “bodymate.”) The relationship was so strong, queer readings could be had. Even the film’s title, “The Last Dance” was open to a queer interpretation, last dances are typically romantic after all.
Eddie was also a breath of fresh air. He was not a chiseled, adonis type of hero with a heart of gold. He spent the entire film having the worst day of his life and looked and acted like it. Despite how wacky this film was, it infused a sense of realism in the superhero genre in a similar way that Robert Pattinson’s Batman did.
Verdict
“Venom: The Last Dance” stood out in the current, oversaturated superhero film landscape. The wackiness of it was even nostalgic, harkening back to a time when superhero films didn’t take themselves so seriously. Although many of the serious films are far better, such as 2022’s “The Batman” or 2014’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” these “Venom” films had a worthy spot in the canon. They provided a wildly enjoyable time and a lovable bond between human and alien.
“Venom: The Last Dance” is currently playing in theaters everywhere.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10.
Frank Remski is a film and theater reviewer for the Eastern Echo. He is majoring in media studies and journalism and minoring in public relations. He has worked for The Echo since summer of 2023 and has written both news stories and opinion pieces.
