If you have ever talked to me, you’d know I love Marvel movies—some more than others. “Venom: The Last Dance” is no exception. As Tom Hardy’s Venom trilogy comes to a close, it leaves a lingering question: what’s next? Released on Oct. 24, the movie strays away from Eddie Brock’s(Tom Hardy) job as a journalist and focuses more on the idea that Eddie is wanted for murder and the chaos he caused over the first two movies. The change lets us get to know Eddie even more and allows us to see the bond between Eddie and Venom.
“The Last Dance” starts as any good movie would: a nice monologue from the main villain, Knull (Andy Serkis). Knull is “the god of the abyss from the beginning of time.” Knull doesn’t appear at all within the movie besides his two monologues at the beginning and end of the film. The main plot revolves around Knull’s minions known as Xenophages. They relentlessly hunt Venom down by sensing the key, known as Codex, within him. Venom conveniently being the Codex to his escape. They, however, can only see the Codex when Venom is in his full body mode thus, leaving poor Eddie to struggle quite due to not having the speed or power of Venom.
This story has been suprisingly linear and the plot was very predictable, but the connections made throughout the story truly bring it home. The movie had a good cast, with Tom Hardy as Venom/Eddie Brock, Juno Temple as Dr. Payne, Peggy Lu as Ms. Chen and everyone’s favorite hippy being Rhys Ifans. The cast stood out because in the movie the actors truly felt in sync with the characters, as if they had time to bond with the character they are playing.
The movie’s cinematography was good as well as the camera’s transitions from land to water. This is seen well in the first encounter with the Imperium. During the interaction, we see a camera pans to Venom in a chase scene with the Imperium changing fluidly between a cliff and a river. The plot, however, was wasted. Dr. Payne could have had so much value in the story instead of being a character used solely to progress the plot, especially due to the amount of time spent on her backstory. No other character had such a developed and thorough backstory. The movie could have integrated her into the plot or removed her whole backstory. This makes me think that there is a bigger end goal.
The soundtracks and costumes are also spectacular. The soundtrack fits the film well, especially near the end. After Eddie leaves the hospital, Eddie walks around the city, remembering the good times and bad times that Venom and Eddie shared. “Memories” by Maroon 5 playing in the background truly gets you in your feelings during the scene. Another thing viewers need to appreciate more is the suit designs. The amount of work required for the symbiotes is insane. The costumes for the lab workers and Imperium General are also really well-detailed. In the movie, you can see the individual badges on the General’s suit. Speaking of the suits, the only person who kept their symbiote suit was Dr. Payne. The lack of purpose that Dr. Payne serves throughout the film before receiving one of the most important roles doesn’t add up.
This movie is a setup for a future film that isn’t guaranteed to happen. The whole movie is a bunch of filler between the introduction and the climax. Especially with half of it being a car ride to Vegas and there not being a fight with Knull. The fact that Dr. Payne, a seemingly irrelevant character, has one of the most important roles shows that there is no way Marvel will leave us as is. Even though Marvel’s title for the movie, “The Last Dance” makes it seem like this is the last we will see of Tom Hardy’s Venom, what if that’s not the case? There’s something bigger being hidden behind this movie.
Overall, the movie was focused on the bond that Venom and Eddie built over the years which I enjoyed. If you like Marvel movies for the action, then this movie isn’t for you. I’d recommend watching this if you like the character-building in Marvel movies. Personally, nothing stood out about the plot itself. However, if you want a change of pace when it comes to Marvel movies, nothing is going to top this.
“Venom: The Last Dance:” ★★★★☆
