Venom: The Last Dance review: 3 things it got very wrong

As a long-time comic book enthusiast and moviegoer, I must admit that my expectations for Venom: The Last Dance were quite high, but alas, they were not met. The inconsistency of Temple’s character was like trying to follow a winding mountain road with no map – confusing and frustrating.

The movie “Venom: The Last Dance” is now out, and it has sparked a flurry of speculation regarding the future of the Venom character and the Sony Pictures universe he inhabits. Although Tom Hardy hints that, despite “The Last Dance” being marketed as Venom’s final film, he hasn’t finished with the Venom role yet, and there are still many untapped aspects of the Venom character that haven’t been depicted on screen.

However, for the purposes of this review, I’m going to do a review on the last film, plain and simple, and leave the theorizing to a future article or two (wink, wink!) So, let’s tango through the chaotic and confused world of Venom: The Last Dance. Beware of massive spoilers!

In summary, following the conclusion of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” Eddie Brock and Venom find themselves evading law enforcement due to the public knowledge about aliens and symbiotes. The movie ends with them enjoying some downtime on an unspecified beach, strengthening their bond (with fans debating whether it could be a romantic connection). During the mid-credits scene, they are whisked away into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where they catch a news broadcast revealing Spider-Man’s true identity, as reported by J. Jonah Jameson.

In the upcoming movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” viewers will encounter Venom again during a scene after the credits have rolled. In this scene, Eddie is informed about the new universe he shares with other Marvel characters. Suddenly, they are transported through a mystifying portal, leaving behind a fragment of the Venom symbiote at the bar they departed from. To clarify, the storyline of “Venom: The Last Dance” starts immediately after Eddie and Venom return to their world through that mysterious portal, as depicted in the movie. Now that you’re up-to-date, let’s dive right in!

*** This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS from Venom: The Last Dance. Don’t read on if you would prefer the movie wasn’t spoiled for you. ***

The plot of Venom 3 feels restrained

In “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” the main storyline revolves around Eddie and Venom continuing to evade law enforcement. However, they face new threats when they encounter Knull, the deity who created symbiotes, making his live-action debut in this movie. Throughout the film, they are either pursued by Knull’s minions or a group of scientists/military personnel, led by Teddy Payne (portrayed by Juno Temple), who are determined to study the symbiote species. Knull seeks Eddie and Venom because they possess a Codex, which is exclusive to their bond and holds the key to Knull’s release from imprisonment.

On their journey, Venom and Eddie encounter a family whose father is determined to visit Area 51 to witness aliens, despite dragging his loved ones along unwillingly. Later, the military or scientists in Las Vegas capture Venom and Eddie. Shortly after being taken captive, Venom’s captors are attacked by Knull’s agents, causing widespread destruction. Realizing that there is no escape from Knull’s relentless forces, Venom decides to merge with the agents of Knull. In a desperate attempt to save them both, Eddie uses a vast amount of acid to kill the agents and Venom in the process. The movie concludes with Eddie moving on to New York to start anew without Venom by his side.

The summary of the plot was quite sparse and basic, which highlights a major issue with the movie: it lacked any sense of achievement or progression. The film primarily consisted of an extended chase sequence interspersed with numerous pauses until the climax. However, what truly undermined its appeal was its connection to other Marvel films. I appreciate the expansion of the MCU with new characters and stories on the horizon, but this movie exemplifies why shared universe films are getting a bad reputation in entertainment. In this instance, it didn’t feel like a conclusion for the Venom series; instead, it seemed more like a setup for potential future movies and their possible storylines involving characters from this film.

Essentially, when many big film studios strive to create a shared cinematic universe, they seem overly eager to reach the end goal, skipping the necessary groundwork. Marvel Studios spent years developing individual stories through various films before allowing their characters to intersect in crossover series like the Avengers, but nowadays, it appears that most other studios are rushing towards success without putting in the effort to make it truly successful. The movie Venom: The Last Dance seemed more focused on setting up future films rather than creating a captivating and immersive story of its own.

Most of the new characters were wasted

In “Venom: The Last Dance”, a host of fresh characters joined the Venom series, along with recurring figures like Mrs. Chen and Detective Mulligan from previous installments. However, in my perspective, all these characters seemed unnecessary or interchangeable. Peggy Lu, who portrays Mrs. Chen and is the only cast member besides Tom Hardy to appear in all Venom films, had limited screen time. Furthermore, certain scenes, like that awkward dance sequence with Venom, felt forced. Unfortunately, after Venom was apprehended by Teddy Payne’s troops, her character disappeared from the rest of the movie.

In this movie, Mulligan bonds with a symbiote as hinted at in “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.” However, his role seems primarily to deliver exposition about facts we’ve already learned. The most frustrating aspect is that he meets a grisly end at the hands of Knull’s forces while attempting to protect Venom. I’m not kidding, he talks for a bit and then gets devoured brutally.

In terms of the fresh faces, each seemed overly familiar or a replica of characters we’ve seen repeatedly in the past. Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character, Rex Strickland (I must admit I struggled to remember his name), embodied the stereotypical strict general, always pushing for control. Juno Temple’s character, on the other hand, was given a melancholic backstory that didn’t seem integral to the storyline. Her character was also inconsistent in her pursuit of goals; at one point in the movie she allowed soldiers to perish without remorse, yet in the film’s climax she became determined to save everyone when her base was under attack. It’s a bit puzzling.

But in my mind the worst offenders when it comes to totally useless characters are the alien-hunting family. Sure, there were some moments that were marginally touching with Eddie connecting with them, but the problem with this family is that they were shoehorned into the movie to give Eddie and Venom some semblance of character growth. The family never felt like organic characters that fit into the larger tapestry that is this movie; instead, they felt like just plot devices used to further along Eddie’s and Venom’s character development. Plus, they too felt very generic and formulaic along with the other new characters introduced in this film.

Major villain problem

When trailers unveiled Knull as part of the movie, me and numerous fellow fans became incredibly excited. Though Knull is a fairly recent character in the Marvel Comics world, he hasn’t built up decades of stories like villains such as Doctor Doom or Magneto, but his menacing presence has made him a significant threat to all characters within the Marvel Universe. Furthermore, his design was quite appealing too.

In Venom 3, did Knull make a significant impact? Unfortunately, he only appeared for approximately five minutes. I’m afraid that’s no joke. While it might have been tolerable if he was utilized more effectively, those few minutes with him were disappointing. It was intriguing to see him in live-action, but the dim lighting of the scenes made it challenging to appreciate his full splendor.

One noticeable issue I had with this movie was the lack of a truly menacing main antagonist throughout the storyline. Although Knull was present, he never made an appearance on Earth to engage in conflict with any of the characters. Instead, the primary threats were a group of minions called Xenophages, which didn’t live up to their comic book portrayal. In the movie, they seemed rather insignificant and not particularly intimidating compared to their potential impact on the storyline as a whole.

In simpler terms, the main villain of the movie wasn’t very menacing or interesting, as Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor didn’t deliver captivating performances, nor did they seem evil enough to be considered the main antagonist. This lack of a strong villain ties into my belief that creating a cinematic universe can be challenging for both filmmakers and viewers. Studios often don’t give filmmakers enough freedom to create their best work, instead focusing on setting up future films. As a result, audiences are often left watching poorly made movies that serve only as setup for future installments. In essence, it’s all quite disappointing.

The Last Dance”, “Venom”, and “Venom: Let There be Carnage”, aren’t great films in a critical sense, but they are fun to watch. Personally, I found the first two movies more entertaining. If I were to rank these films from least favorite to favorite, it would look like this: “Venom: The Last Dance”, then “Venom”, and finally “Venom: Let There be Carnage”. Unfortunately, all three movies had several issues, but in my opinion, the latest one seemed to struggle the most in creating a cohesive cinematic universe without giving enough attention to the stories they were trying to tell.

What do you think? Was my review of Venom: The Last Dance on point or was it too negative? How would you rate the Venom movies?

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2024-11-06 18:31