Venom: The Last Dance
⭐️ ⭐️ (out of 5 stars)
Sony has proven to have mixed results when managing the Spider-man brand. Their Spider-man films have done well, and the innovative animated versions starring Miles Morales have been brilliant on multiple levels; then there is their venture into the friendly neighbourhood hero’s foes. The villainous faction of Spidey's world has proven to be a challenging journey, to put it mildly, with projects like Morbius and Madame Web. Yet, the one slightly hopeful aspect of this group would be Venom. Despite less than favourable reviews, his box office take has scored Sony over $1.3 billion worldwide.
Venom: The Last Dance looks to bring this anti-hero’s symbiotic journey with Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) to a close after his battle with Carnage/Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson). Also, the world is still reeling from the repercussions of Thanos’ actions on the world and its eventual reversal by the Avengers. Venom and Eddie Brock try to make their way in this worldwide chaos until the symbiote’s past comes to Earth to hunt him and the other creatures from his planet. This leads the pair to find those who have captured the other symbiotes and try to keep the alien creatures from invading this world and putting humanity at risk. This task is hampered by the government agency managing the project and forces working behind the scenes to harness the power that Venom and his counterparts hold.
First-time director Kelly Marcel has been part of the writing team for this trilogy. She has the pedigree to take the reins of this franchise, but this beast may have been too much for her to inhabit. While the previous two films made it across the line as storylines, primarily due to Tom Hardy’s central performance, this chapter has all of the markers of an effort to wrap everything up, making it a bit of a mess. As characters are introduced, they never get enough character development, like Dr. Teddy Payne (Juno Temple) or Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to make them add much to the franchise. Then Tom Hardy is wholly underutilised and is relegated to walking the streets of Mexico or in deserts, having extended dialogue with his alter ego that is meant to be humorous but merely becomes a yawn fest.
Admittedly, the inclusion of Martin Moon (Rhys Ifans) and his hippy throwback family does add some needed levity to the mix, it isn’t enough to save this screenplay from inexplicable mayhem. Even as things do ramp up on the action front, viewers may struggle to discern who to cheer for in the end. Then to try to make this creature who eats human heads into a sympathetic figure almost turns into an unnecessarily comedic moment and fails to give him the fitting conclusion to his story. Especially the painful story manipulation to bring back Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu) that leads to one of the many ridiculous scenes that puts our hero and the world in jeopardy. Venom: The Last Dance becomes an awkward turn of the dance floor reminiscent of the drunk uncle who embarrasses themselves at the family wedding as he pathetically tries to rediscover his glory days. A sad shadow of the man he once was or had hoped to be.
REEL DIALOGUE: Can a parasitic symbiotic relationship teach us something about friendship?
One unexpected aspect of this franchise was how it turned into a tale of friendship on the same level as the classic stage production of The Odd Couple. Granted, this one includes an alien and an unlikely host. Still, by the end of this trilogy, this pair proves to be literally inseparable, and they both come to appreciate their friend.
The Bible teaches the value of relationships with others. Friends provide laughs, sounding boards, and accountability. These things are all good, but the real gift of friendship is merely knowing that someone is there for you. God designed this wonderful component of the human experience for our benefit. How are you at being that God-given gift to others?
Venom and Eddie Brock’s connection puts a whole new spin on Proverbs 18:24 which says that a man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Oh yeah, we went there…
