Venom: The Last Dance | Review by: Amanda Guarragi
For the past six years, Sony has produced different Spider-Man characters for Marvel that haven’t been used in previous films. The one character to kick off the Sony Marvel universe was Venom. There has been a stark difference in quality between Sony Marvel films and Disney Marvel films, but the important thing is that they’ve explored different stories.
The Sony Marvel films still put care into the film’s worldbuilding, and the character development (specifically Venom) has been commendable. Sony has gone against the grain with the tone of their projects compared to the Disney Marvel films.
Sony Marvel has struck gold with Venom out of all the characters used. What began as a pure sci-fi narrative with a kooky parasite quickly became a franchise with a foundation built on friendship and compromise.
Some audiences do not appreciate the fun absurdity of Venom because of the cheap one-liners and goofy dialogue. The characterization of Venom has been strong because of Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock. They work as a solid tandem, even if they’ve broken up. Hardy gives a grounded performance to complement Venom’s larger-than-life attitude.
In Venom: The Last Dance, director and co-writer Kelly Marcel completed Venom and Eddie’s arc quite well. Since Venom has been striving to become the Lethal Protector of this universe, he finally becomes the hero he’s always wanted to be.
On the other hand, Eddie looks forward to building a life for himself and contemplates how he will move forward after this final mission. The beauty of this third instalment is that Hardy finally has a balance of Venom/Eddie Brock. They’ve grown together over three films, and you can see the genuine care for the character.
Kelly Marcel and Tom Hardy have adapted the character well because there’s a natural give-and-take between Venom and Eddie. They know what the other needs and they are no longer separated. They become one in this last film; it was a delight to watch during fight scenes. When audiences walk into a Venom movie expecting something different from its predecessors, it’s puzzling. It’s one of the most consistent trilogies because Hardy created a simple arc for Venom and Eddie with Marcel.
After taking part in writing the story for Let There Be Carnage, the development for both has gotten more heartfelt, connecting audiences to their friendship. Marcel did well to make everyone feel the finality of the story with a world-ending event that only Venom and Eddie could stop. Whether you loved or hated the Venom films, they have adapted Eddie Brock’s story effectively, and, more importantly, they’ve given us impeccable character designs for the symbiotes.
The action sequences utilizing Venom’s abilities have gotten stronger and more detailed with each film. Venom: The Last Dance is at its peak when Venom and Eddie are on a road trip with a family travelling to Area 51hoping to see aliens. Here, the two bond and understand that this could be their last trip together, given that the villain, Knull, needs the codex within Venom/Eddie’s shared form.
It is exposition-heavy, especially with the scientists studying other symbiotes. Unfortunately, the performances from Chiwetel Ejiofor and Juno Temple couldn’t save the slow-moving nature of those scenes. The set-up is messy, with everyone going to attack Eddie and Venom. But, it comes down to the heartfelt moments shared between them and their banter that make up for the dullness of its villains.
Venom: The Last Dance is a perfect send-off to Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Eddie Brock and Venom. It’s a trilogy that has delivered a sci-fi buddy comedy without leaning too heavily on comic book conventions. Could a symbiote appear in the next Spider-Man movie? Absolutely. But at least we got an in-depth character study of this dual character to achieve the synergy needed for this iconic anti-hero.
3/5
Review by: Amanda Guarragi
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