Venom: The Last Dance Rushes to The Finish Line

This is a reminder that Venom got a whole trilogy while Henry Cavill never got a proper sequel to Man of Steel.

Going to see what is treated as the final Venom film, I had completely forgotten that I had seen the first one. That movie was forgettable and felt like the Fast & Furious of the superhero genre. Last Dance is certainly memorable (maybe not for all good reasons) but still feels like Dominic Toretto could show up at any moment to talk about family.

Last Dance seems to be very inspired by Chevy Chase’s Vacation movies, seeing Eddie Brock along with the Venom symbiote trying to get from Mexico to New York… and somehow end up in Nevada. We’ll come back to that. At times it is a great comedy, hitting the perfect comedic beats to keep you laughing. Eddie and Venom’s banter is a huge part that makes this work well. There are a few times that are laugh-out-loud funny or “make you LOL” as the kids say.

Each action scene is unique spicing things up from what you’ve seen in other superhero films. There’s action on top of an airplane midflight, in a fast-moving river, always something to keep you engaged while you’re seeing Venom bite people’s heads off. One action scene in particular sees Venom attach himself to many different animals including a frog which was awesome to see a “Frog Venom” on screen in a live-action movie.

During his trip, Eddie stumbles upon a family heading to Area 51 in a 1970s VW Bus. There’s a very well-done scene while the family all sing ‘Space Oddity’ by David Bowe which starts out as cringe, then funny, ending by giving us a super heartfelt moment between Eddie and Venom that genuinely had me feel something for the character. This is easily the best scene in the film, it stood out because the rest of the film, well, let me continue in the next paragraph.

The script is sloppy and feels rushed to put it delicately. There are several major plot holes and if you analyze the movie for its filmmaking qualities you are in for a headache. Examples of poor writing are found everywhere for example, there is a machine that is introduced early in the film that we as an audience know what it does, but characters use it later and have no knowledge of what it does. Eddie is in Mexico at the start of the film and then it cuts away and when we see him again he’s just on top of an airplane in the sky and then just lands in Nevada because the filmmakers wanted to see Venom in Las Vegas.

Last Dance‘s biggest sin is dialogue. Oh my goodness gracious. It is full of blatant exposition making you feel like you’re listening to the audio description of the movie with how much the characters say exactly what is happening on screen. If you’re looking to cringe really hard multiple times, look no further as there are several moments to scratch this itch. At one point a general sees some of his men massacred by an alien creature hunting Venom, and his first instinct is to FaceTime a doctor to tell her what happened??? To be fair, there is more context for why he calls her (sort of) but like, my guy, maybe wait a second and take in that they died and not be this way.

If you are looking for a well-crafted plot with depth, and that feeling of magic that brings you to think this is the next cinematic masterpiece to be studied for years by scholars of the arts, go somewhere else. If you want a movie with fun fan service, where Venom turns into different animals and kills animal abusers, along with gambling and partying in Vegas, then have I got the movie for you.