The absurdist Marvel buddy-comedy bromance returns with a fitting end to this trilogy: one that strikes a chord that it’s relieving this is over.
Whilst a bit punitive for a series that has earned its charm and splendor between Tom Hardy’s fantastic chops and verbal spars with his symbiotic cheeky goo alien, the latest entry is an egregious misfire that panders for too much squandering and less fun between its titular duo. To be considerate, Hardy has devoted a notorious amount of time bringing a wise-cracking, thousand-watt grinning space creature to life in this series, and that alone has given Marvel a chance to ride a significant wave of success in the current superhero environment where multiversal shenanigans are involved or another run-of-the-mill “save the universe” sort of day. The inanity of it all drew audiences in for an infamous Spider-Man villain, and it garnered a surprising amount of box office numbers and success within an otherwise jumbled “Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.”
Sadly, first-time director Kelly Marcel pulled back on the ropes this time, removing much of the tantalizing bickering and bantering between Eddie (Hardy) and Venom and instead favoring dour and anemic ingredients for its script. What could’ve been more fun and hoorahs, as pulled off in Let There Be Carnage, The Last Dance is a near-grating nuisance of a ride to send off the series for Venom.
The plot begins with a monotonous exposition from Knull (voiced by Andy Serkis), the creator of the symbiote. He needs his crustacean “Xenophages” to seek out the Codex (for a moment, yours indeed thought he was watching Man of Steel) to release him from captivity. Lo and behold, Eddie and Venom carry it as they’re paired; they’re practically the MacGuffin in their movie. Meanwhile, the titular pair is on the run after the last film’s events and must avoid the Xenophages while also avoiding Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his Imperium government agents operating from the soon-to-be-decommissioned Area 51. Oh, and Area 51 is home to scientists trying to interact and discover other symbiotes in their collections while discovering why they landed on Earth.
The pacing is insanely jarring, as you spend several minutes enjoying the titular duos’s juvenile stunts (like hanging off a plane thirty thousand feet in the air) and then stumble back into a bunch of exposition. The production team even desperately tries to wring out a superfluous backstory for Dr. Teddy Payne (Juno Temple), whose brother was killed by a lightning strike and left her arm scarred. The only side plot that gets its marks is bringing in hippie Martin Moon (Rhys Ifans) and his family, who are conspiracy theory alien enthusiasts, to bring a more musical interlude. Perhaps to craft this title, you must settle with some beats along the way.
The third act stumbles into the prototypical mannerisms of other Marvel productions, with murky special effects and multicolored goo and creatures tossing themselves at one another until someone wins. Someone must be getting a massive payday for rendering this out when we beg for a time to return to the 1990s/2000s when folks saw CGI as something invigorating.
Overall, the roads lead to a chaotic, preposterous third film that only remains steadfast when working with Hardy’s dual-spiced personality onscreen. Everything else is a bellow or blob of color till we reach the end, and hopefully, the dancing shoes will be hung up indefinitely for the Venom collection in the Marvel IP.
