If it weren’t for the Spider-Verse or Tom Holland’s Spider-Man trilogies, Sony’s reputation for making movies in The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) would have been run into the ground by now.
While Sony’s Spider-Man Universe has produced films heralded as masterpieces, they exist in duality with uninspired and forgettable projects such as “Madame Web.”
Because of this, the “Venom” trilogy has served as a middle ground – a series of movies that, while not great, are entertaining, funny and recognizable enough to carry themselves to relative success and preserve themselves from harsh criticism.
“Venom: The Last Dance” is an extension of this trend. While it doesn’t show or say anything profound, it’s entertaining and funny enough to be worth the time of the average viewer. The movie is a continuation of the journey of Eddie Brock and his transformation into an unlikely hero through his interaction with the Venom Symbiote. After defeating Carnage in the previous movie but being framed for the death of a journalist, Brock and Venom find themselves on the run from the law. They are also being hunted by Knull, the creator of the symbiotes, who is seeking a powerful item called a Codex that Venom carries and intends to use it to unleash his full power and wreak havoc on the universe. Meanwhile, researchers and military leaders at Area 51 who are studying the symbiotes discover that they must kill either Eddie Brock or Venom in order to prevent the Codex from falling into Knull’s position. So, they begin their hunt for both of them in order to capture them.
It would be a stretch to call “Venom: The Last Dance” a good movie, but it’d be even more misguided to label it as a boring one.
In many ways, the film is similar to Sony’s Marvel Universe: “Morbius.” Released in 2022, “Morbius” was universally criticized for its shallow characters and rushed plot points – traits it shares with “The Last Dance.” Both films have writing that seems more intent on moving from point A to point B rather than actually telling a good story. Any attempt to make viewers emotional or engage them simply falls flat. With the film budget of $120 million, it feels like it was wasted on a rushed plot and weak character development.
The first scene of “The Last Dance” is a prime example of this. The audience can see the main antagonist Knull lurking and commanding his minions to attack Earth and find Venom. This sequence is supposed to establish Knull as a threatening villain and immediately convey the danger that the protagonists are in. However, in reality, this scene is incredibly short and confuses viewers more than anything else, especially because Knull himself is barely ever seen throughout the rest of the movie, let alone interacted with by any other character. This scene is just one example of moments where the writers decided to move the film’s plot at a break-neck pace at the cost of the viewer’s enjoyment or ability to extract meaning and emotion from what they see on screen. It’s a tough experience when you want to love a sequel but end up wishing for more depth and clarity.
The poor writing in “Venom: The Last Dance” extends to characters that the audience is actually meant to follow. These characters are fairly plain with not much development or truly impactful moments. Many of their motives and alignments are extremely vague and never properly explored. For the most part, no single character is a noticeably different person than who they started the movie as. Characters such as Dr. Teddy Payne and Rex Strickland, who try to capture Venom and Brock, have supposedly emotionally charged backstories in which they lose people who are important to them. While these are supposed to make them sympathetic antagonists, both characters feel forgettable and flat.
Where “Venom: The Last Dance” manages to make itself an entertaining, worthwhile watch is its humor. Specifically, how that humor is executed. Venom and Eddie’s dynamic in this movie, just like in previous installments of the trilogy, is not only charming and funny but also comes across as intentional.
For example, they argue about food choices or how to handle a dangerous situation, adding a lighter tone to the movie. The writers of the movie knew that the plot wasn’t meant to be taken seriously 100 percent of the time. Because of this, bad sequences such as the utterly ridiculous Eddie and Venom montage at the end of the movie that has Maroon 5’s “Memories” playing in the background become a little more forgivable. They allow the viewer to question if these scenes were earnest attempts at serious moments that failed miserably, or simply elaborate and clever jokes.
Ayana:
After watching “Venom: The Last Dance,” I was left feeling a little disappointed. All of the excitement I built up over the weeks slowly vanished as I stepped out of the theater. Some scenes felt rushed, like the part where Eddie encounters a traveling family while he is on a journey to New York. The family is warm and welcoming, which contrasts with Eddie’s usually troubled life. However, the connections made during this scene were not fully explored, leaving a missing depth in the story.
Despite its flaws, the movie is still engaging in some areas, making it worthwhile. It serves as a reminder that while not every film can achieve greatness, it can still provide a degree of enjoyment, even if it’s not what some would hope for.
Dawson:
I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy watching “Venom: The Last Dance.” It was rushed and confusing in some places and unengaging and boring in others, but I didn’t come for that. I came to watch Venom beat bad guys up and crack jokes and, for the most part, that’s what I got.
There were some cool moments, such as seeing all of the different varieties of symbiotes that appeared in the final battle. Scenes like Venom’s dance party with Mrs. Chen were very entertaining and prevented me from getting bored, but the movie’s attempts to expand past being silly to explore more serious subject matter mostly failed to resonate with me.
