Venom: The Last Dance
Director: Kelly Marcel
Writer: Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy
Based on: David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane‘s comics character
Sequel to: Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Cast: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Cristo Fernández, Clark Backo, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Reid Scott, Andy Serkis
Seen on: 29.10.2024

Content Note: cripping up/ableism

Plot:
Eddie (Tom Hardy) and Venom are hiding in Mexico. But while the humans may not be able to track them down, there is a far larger threat that is tracking them: the symbiotes‘ creator needs Venom and Eddie desperately, and not for anything good. As they try to get away from them, they draw the attention of the military – in Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) – and science – in Teddy Paine (Juno Temple) and suddenly everybody is after them.

Venom: The Last Dance is probably the weakest of all three Venom movies, and unfortunately not a very good way to say good-bye to the series (if it is a good-bye at all). After enjoying the first and especially the second, I was disappointed.

Venom: The Last Dance has some serious balancing issues. It doesn’t seem to know where to put its focus, and so focusses on nothing really. The characters feel flat (what a waste of Temple and Ejiofor), and even Eddie’s and Venom’s banter is often perfunctory. There are moments when they come more alive and are allowed to be funny, but these moments feel so at odds with the rest of the film and its tired action storyline that they almost started to bother me – and that despite the fact that they actually were what I came to see in the first place.

I really was hoping from more from the film. But it feels like it went too big, throwing to many things at the audience instead of developing one. And that thing should have been Eddie and Venom’s relationship. They had the perfect set-up for that to boot – with them being interesting because of their closeness and trackable whenever they are fully combined. But this aspect remains underexplored in favor of a boring plot, murky action sequences and other symbiotes extravaganza.

It all culminates in one of the worst song choices at the end of the film I have ever witnessed. As we see a wistful Eddie walking the streets of New York, Maroon 5’s Memories starts playing, and oh boy. I get why they chose the song – the lyrics do kind of fit the moment in part – but the song’s entire mood, the joyful pop song quality of it makes the moment completely ridiculous. And this is how they send us out of the film (except, of course, the obligatory post-credit scene).

I really wish that I had better things to say about the film, but it is a mess, and not one of the fun ones. It does have its moments (Fernández and Lu absolutely spark joy) but they don’t outweigh the dreary rest.

Summarizing: a let-down.