It’s fair to say that we’re in the dying days of the superhero movie boom. No, I don’t mean the superhero movie is going away — it’s not. Hell, Marvel Studios’ “Deadpool & Wolverine” recently became a box office success and audiences seemed to like it, too (although I wasn’t a fan). But these days, “Deadpool & Wolverine” feels more like the exception rather than the rule. There was a time there when it seemed like any superhero movie was too big to fail, but after being inundated with a constant barrage of comic book characters brought to digital life, audiences are starting to grow warry. It certainly doesn’t help that the vast majority of these movies aren’t very good, either. As a critic, I’m not really concerned with box office. I have no financial stake in the movie, so whatever it earns opening weekend doesn’t really interest me. No, what I’m interested in is quality. How is the movie itself? Does it work? Does it at least entertain? Or does it feel like it’s wasting my time?
After Disney and Marvel teamed up to create the MCU with wildly successful results, other studios wanted in on that sweet superhero action, most notably the folks at Sony. Sony is lucky enough to have the rights to characters from Spider-Man comics, and while the studio struck a deal to bring Spidey into the MCU in the form of Tom Holland, execs got it in their heads that they could make their own movies using Spider-Man-adjacent characters. Aside from the delightful animated “Spider-Verse” movies, the results have been dire. Remember “Morbius”? Of course you don’t. And this year’s “Madame Web” felt like a punchline before it even hit theaters.
The only luck Sony has had (outside of the “Spider-Verse” flicks) has been with Venom, a “cool” ’90s Marvel comic character who likes to stick his slimy tongue out. Frequently a villain in the comics, the movies have turned Venom into a hero (who occasionally bites off people’s heads). These films have been successful at the box office, but what about the quality? The first “Venom” is kind of a slog, although it has moments of fun almost entirely due to the weirdo vibes of star Tom Hardy. Hardy is one of our more interesting modern actors, and he’s able to salvage the first film by doing things like randomly climbing into a lobster tank at a seafood restaurant. The sequel, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” improved on the formula. It leaned into silliness and took things even further by suggesting Hardy’s character Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote Venom that possesses him are more than just buddies — they’re in a rom-com relationship. “Let There Carnage” seemed to be saying: “Venom is Eddie Brock’s boyfriend.” Now here comes “Venom: The Last Dance,” the conclusion to this lopsided trilogy. Unfortunately, everything that was fun about “Let There Be Carnage” has been jettisoned for a rushed, clumsy, lackluster finale.
Not even a Venom horse can save this movie
When we last left Eddie Brock and Venom, they had been sucked into an alternate universe — the MCU, to be exact. But if you thought “Venom: The Last Dance” would grapple with this, you’re wrong: as the film begins, Eddie and Venom are almost instantly thrown back into their own world. There, they find themselves fugitives on the run. Thanks to some clumsy exposition delivered via a news report (a lazy trick the movie uses more than once), Eddie learns he’s accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and now he and Venom are trying to make it to New York City to lay low.
Meanwhile, we learn about some symbiote experiments going on at a secret science lab known as Area 55. Area 55 is located underneath the famous Area 51, the US Air Force facility that has become synonymous with alien activity in the pop culture zeitgeist. More clumsy news report exposition tells us that Area 51 is about to be shut down, but that doesn’t seem to matter, since Area 55 is clearly going strong. The scientists at the lab eventually learn of a new looming threat: Knull, an evil goth alien dude who created all the symbiotes. It’s clear that Sony wants to set Knull up as their own version of Thanos, but the character has virtually no real impact here, spending his scant scenes sitting around with his long hair hanging down in his face, looking like a melancholy Hot Topic employee who just got laid off.
Knull is looking for something known as the Codex, a uninteresting Macguffin which has a direct connection to Eddie and Venom. And while Knull is apparently trapped on his gloomy planet, he’s still able to send forth giant monsters known as Xenophages, and now one of those beasts is on Earth trying to track Eddie and Venom down. I’m getting bored just typing this, and you’ll be bored, too. All of this is presented in rather bland, dour fashion, and the enjoyable silliness that was so prevalent in the last movie is almost entirely absent here. There are a few moments of goofy life, like when Venom uses his alien goo to create a Venom horse (and then a Venom fish and a Venom frog), or when Venom has a brief dance number with recurring character Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu), but these are over so quickly they barely register. It’s as if writer-director Kelly Marcel was handed a studio note that asked, “Is there any way we can make this movie less fun?”
Tom Hardy is the one bright spot of Venom: The Last Dance
If there is one bright spot in “Venom: The Last Dance,” it’s Tom Hardy. Once again doing a questionable voice while vibing on his weirdo energy, Hardy makes Eddie Brock an almost tragic figure; a lonely guy cut off from the rest of the world, with only a wisecracking alien monster for company. He shuffles about like a man uncomfortable in his own skin, looking awkward and aghast. He’s operating on a different level than this lousy film. Unfortunately, he’s not getting much backup.
The previous two movies at least had folks like Michelle Williams and Woody Harrelson on hand to take some of the weight off Hardy’s shoulders. “The Last Dance” has talented actors in supporting roles, but they’re all curiously lacking here. The very skilled Chiwetel Ejiofor is given absolutely nothing to work with as a military man who wants to track Eddie down, and Juno Temple, usually quite good, is surprisingly weak as a scientist who wants to study the symbiotes. She’s given a clunky backstory about how her twin brother was struck by lightning when they were kids or some such nonsense, but it’s handled so poorly it might as well not be in the movie at all. Of the supporting cast, only Rhys Ifans has any real impact here, playing an amusing alien-obsessed family man who befriends Eddie along the way.
Don’t expect much in the way of blockbuster spectacle, either. While “The Last Dance” is mercifully short and moves at a clipped speed, the action is filmed in a confusing, ugly manner, with lots of swooping camera movements likely inserted to cover up VFX work. A big climactic fight scene is surely intended to awe, but it does anything but. The end result feels less like a finished film and more like a rough cut that never got around to being finessed. By the time “Venom: The Last Dance” tacks on what’s supposed to be an emotional coda, I found myself itching for the exit. I came out of “Let There Be Carnage” wanting more Venom and Eddie. I came out of “The Last Dance” content to never see them again. If this really is “The Last Dance,” it comes not a moment too soon.
/Film Rating: 4 out of 10
“Venom: The Last Dance” opens in theaters on October 25, 2024.
