Film review: “Venom: The Last Dance” is a worthy farewell

You’re either on Venom’s wavelength or you’re not. If so, you’re not alone, because as it turns out, a lot of people are. Sony’s hugely successful Marvel series consists of a triptych of strangely appealing comic book films starring Tom Hardy’s version of journalist Eddie Brock and his cheeky symbiote sidekick Venom (whom Hardy also voices). The third installment, Venom: The Last Dance, rounds out the trio of films that are both direct and irreverent, creating a distinctly campy tone that differs from the more self-serious superheroes or the sarcastically self-serving films. referential.

Much of this unique humor has to do with Star Hardy’s performance as Venom and Eddie, and through his writing contributions (he has his own story on “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and “Venom: The Last Dance”), and a close collaboration with long-time friend Kelly Marcel, who wrote all three films and makes her directorial debut with “The Last Dance”, which with this title announces itself as the possible last turn of Venom on the floor.

The main appeal of these films has always been the relationship between Eddie and Venom, his alien sidekick who frequently shows up to say hello and joke around and who can take over Eddie’s body for various feats of strength and strength with his tar-like mass and huge teeth Daring. The hot-tempered Venom loves animals, eats brains and is moved by music (in the second part they have a rave; in this case it is a choreographed disco dance in a penthouse in Las Vegas).

That remains the focus of “The Last Dance,” in which Eddie and Venom attempt to get from Mexico to New York City and end up stranded in Area 51, as aliens are wont to do. Through no small amount of exposition, we learn that the pair have become a code or key to unlocking a kind of galactic prison in which a kind of sinister, stringy-haired lord has been imprisoned by his symbiote children. He has now sent an army of stinging, crab-like aliens through portals to retrieve the Eddie Venom Codex and break free.

The pair transform into a tracking device when Venom fully manifests, and the Codex can only be destroyed if one of them dies, so the story is essentially a chase film through the American Southwest. While a General Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his special forces are also on the hunt and an alien-sympathetic scientist Dr. Payne (Juno Temple) tries to save her specimens when chaos erupts in and around Area 51, which is about to be decommissioned, in three days.

The desert setting and scavenging alien monsters give “The Last Dance” a touch of “Starship Troopers,” a nod to “Tremors,” a nod to the self-aware, cheesy B-movie creatures of yore. This Last Dance may be shaggy, silly, and even a little stupid, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, especially when it leans so heavily into its own genre game.

There’s a sense of randomness to this journey, but Hardy’s quirky charm and a great soundtrack do a lot to smooth out the cracks and bumps in the road. This is also an ensemble comedy in which Eddie meets various people, including an alien-possessed father (Rhys Ifans), who takes his family on a pilgrimage to Area 51 in their hippie Volkswagen, and his old friend Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu), who runs the slot machines in Vegas. These supporting actors have the important job of playing the straight man to Venom’s clown. Since Michelle Williams in the first film, it’s imperative that those around Venom understand the mission but allow him to shine, and this cast never breaks down.

Because it’s not the supporting characters, stories, set pieces or special effects that make “Venom” what it is, but rather the chemistry that Hardy has – with himself – as this dual, dueling character(s). Maybe it’s his friendship with Marcel that makes these films work, because you really believe in the connection between Eddie and Venom; that they care about each other as much as they fight, and that becomes much more evident in “The Last Dance,” which unfortunately may be the last time these two tango. Although the concept itself runs out of energy and it would be nice to free Hardy up for other things, it’s a fitting send-off for the cheeky alien with the thousand-watt grin.