Venom: The Last Dance stays firmly in its ridiculous lane

Though neither of Sony’s erstwhile standalone Venom movies were cinematic gems, their unusual blend of Odd Couple humor and bloodless assemblage fearfulness were capable to enactment them squarely successful so-bad-they’re-kinda-fun territory. It was hard to ideate a Venom feature — fto unsocial a franchise — truly moving without a Spider-Man successful the mix. But the box-office occurrence of the films made it wide that thing astir Tom Hardy’s instrumentality connected the lethal protector was moving for audiences and each but ensured that Sony would spell for a 3rd installment.

Venom: The Last Dance from writer / manager Kelly Marcel is neither amended nor worse than its predecessors. It feels similar a movie that’s trying to instrumentality to the beats it knows it tin propulsion disconnected well. Instead of diving into the multiverse to wow you with crossovers, the movie plays to the franchise’s strengths with a communicative that’s mostly astir the ups and downs of being successful a semipermanent relationship. And portion The Last Dance doesn’t precisely present connected the iffy but intriguing comic madness Sony has been teasing, it does bring this gooey, gory spot of ridiculous adaptation to a fitting end.

As chaotic arsenic the archetypal 2 Venom films were, they were besides a reasonably straightforward relationship of however disgraced writer Eddie Brock’s (Hardy) beingness was repeatedly upended by the accomplishment of Venom (also Hardy), 1 of galore parasitic aliens that crash-landed connected Earth. Unlike different symbiote / big bonds that proved to beryllium fatal, Eddie and Venom grew stronger due to the fact that of their transportation and recovered intent successful 1 different arsenic they grew accustomed to sharing a body. The 2 had their fights and deed a large affectional unsmooth patch, but they were ever capable to enactment things retired erstwhile faced with a caller deadly threat. The Last Dance picks up soon aft Let There Be Carnage, which ended connected a cliffhanger successful different dimension. 

At first, it seems similar the movie is utilizing its multiversal transportation to the MCU to pivot from its communicative past and commencement things implicit successful a satellite filled with Marvel-branded superheroes. But The Last Dance instead decides to support things focused connected conscionable however overmuch has happened to Eddie and Venom successful their beingness during the amazingly abbreviated magnitude of clip they’ve been together.

Especially aft Deadpool & Wolverine, the mode The Last Dance basically gives the multiverse the mediate digit is benignant of refreshing and makes it consciousness similar Sony and Marcel — who besides wrote the archetypal 2 Venom films — are trying to enactment successful a precise circumstantial lane, similar to Madame Web’s.

As overmuch arsenic fans mightiness privation to spot Venom successful New York beefing with Spider-Man, that’s conscionable not what this franchise has been gathering to (yet). These are films astir a haggard failson trying to clasp his beingness unneurotic with the assistance of a wise-cracking goo monster who longs for the sensation of quality brains. And The Last Dance brings Eddie and Venom’s communicative to a adjacent by confronting them with the consequences of their past adventures.

With the authorities yet realizing however galore unusual deaths and symbiote incidents he’s connected to, Eddie is connected the tally determination successful Mexico arsenic The Last Dance first opens. It seems similar there’s obscurity Venom and Eddie tin fell without special-ops worker Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his squad uncovering them. But the duo fig — benignant of unreasonably — that they mightiness person a accidental of disappearing into the shadows if they tin conscionable marque it to New York City.

Because it’s the culmination of a trilogy, there’s an understandable logic to the fugitive aspects of The Last Dance’s communicative (which Hardy contributed to). After blowing up a rocket successful Venom and creating a caller serial slayer symbiote successful Let There Be Carnage, it makes consciousness that Eddie and Venom would go high-profile targets forced to spell disconnected the grid. But it’s harder to travel the communicative thread being unspooled successful The Last Dance’s larger crippled astir a symbiote invasion. 

Much successful the aforesaid mode Let There Be Carnage introduced its Cletus Kasady with a lore-dense info dump, The Last Dance tries its champion to explicate the full woody with the symbiote deity Knull (Andy Serkis) done a CGI-heavy chunk of exposition pulled from the comics. Knull created the symbiotes, who past betrayed him by trapping him successful the halfway of their homeworld. And aft eons of being imprisoned and reasoning of ways to punish his parasitic children, Knull abruptly realizes that Eddie and Venom’s unsocial symbiosis has created the MacGuffin indispensable to acceptable him free.

There’s an irony to the mode The Last Dance cracks a Thanos gag successful its opening enactment and past awkwardly attempts to found Knull arsenic its ain throne-bound large bad. The movie perpetually reminds you however frightened Venom is of Knull arsenic a mode of making its alien villain look similar a menace that has ever been lurking retired successful space. But Knull’s program — helium tin nonstop other kinds of monsters done precise Doctor Strange-like portals to find things for him — is truthful contrived that his beingness successful The Last Dance feels similar the effect of determination not being each that galore Venom-related characters Sony holds the cinematic rights to.

That “scraping of the bottommost of the barrel” prime grows stronger arsenic The Last Dance drops successful adjacent much symbiotes whose names are ne'er mentioned but comic fans whitethorn admit due to the fact that of their colour schemes. And portion Knull’s alien goons are precise chill / terrifying visually, the information they’re meant to correspond feels hollow due to the fact that the movie knows that it can’t precisely spend to termination disconnected its affectional center. 

As was the lawsuit with the erstwhile films, Hardy’s performances arsenic Eddie and Venom are, depending connected however you consciousness astir goofy slapstick comedy, The Last Dance’s biggest strength. While his accent is inactive shaky arsenic hell, Hardy brings a believable weariness to Eddie this clip astir that feels close for a antheral who’s been surviving with an alien corruption for astir a year. And Venom is adjacent much subtly emotive successful ways that stress however overmuch much profoundly connected helium and Eddie person go during their clip together.

Even though its crippled is weak, its supporting characters are woefully underdeveloped, and its ocular effects permission overmuch to beryllium desired, Venom: The Last Dance almost works erstwhile it’s conscionable Eddie and Venom getting into shenanigans oregon reflecting connected their beingness together. That isn’t astir capable to marque for a coagulated film, but again, coagulated films person ne'er been the Venom franchise’s forte, and Sony isn’t switching up the look this precocious successful the game. If you were down to clown with Venom and got a footwear retired of Let There Be Carnage, The Last Dance will astir apt support you mildly entertained. But for folks who could ne'er recognize wherefore Sony has been churning these things out, the lone existent entreaty present is that the workplace seems to beryllium finished — astatine slightest for now.

Venom: The Last Dance also stars Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Clark Backo, Cristo Fernández, and Stephen Graham. The movie hits theaters connected October 25th.