Venom: The Last Dance
Venom: The Last Dance was okay, dare I say it was mid. Okay, maybe it was bad. But one thing I can say for sure is that I left the theater very conflicted. I’ll be honest I didn’t come in with any real expectations other than seeing the lethal protector back in action. But to start the movie with a deep-cut character like Knull. And on top of that give him the Thanos treatment out the gate which was kind of crazy to me. It just seems way too late in the game to bring in a villain like this to only work in the shadows. But that's only if this is truly the last dance. That combined with the lackluster storytelling left me disappointed.
Now as far as the last dance theme they nailed it. In both the literal sense and metaphorical. The story they built around this big idea showed up so small and felt meaningless to an extent. Due in part to Eddie & Venom's relationship as a dynamic duo and the equity it holds in the narrative. It’s hard to add this many characters into the mix without doing the proper groundwork. Having to suddenly care about all these random characters in a short amount of time. Especially at the end of a trilogy that is a recipe for disaster. The sentiment that they are trying to convey gets lost in translation. Then these characters get used as plot devices to progress the narrative. Whether as a means of transportation or as a token to be saved later on.
The problem I have with Venom: The Last Dance is that it feels very surface-level. Sure we get a little more context to how and why the symbiotes came to earth in the first place. But it falls on deaf ears because the main storyline gets chopped off at the knees with no room for creativity.
Once that realization hits this movie becomes a chore to complete. Granted it was still a pretty entertaining chore but a chore nonetheless. Trust me when I say this, I don’t take any pleasure in saying these things because personally, I love Venom. After getting more into comics over the past couple of years. Venom has become one of my favorites to collect. The Venom/Eddie Brock lore is very intriguing. While Venom: The Last Dance is missing that complexity. It’s very short and to the point which in turn leads to the stakes feeling lower than even the first Venom movie.
The main contributor to that line of thinking was the choice to make the Xenophages the big bad of this movie. Now before you go crazy on me in the comments. I know that technically Knull is the big bad in the grand scheme of things because he is the one who sent them. But because Knull doesn’t have an active role in the plot. We are left to pick up the pieces. Well us and these all-powerful minions with no personality to boot. Sure the Xenophages helped make some dope action scenes but they were way too strong.
Now you might be wondering why having a super strong big bad would be a problem. Well, normally you would be right. In most cases that would be a plus because it creates this feeling of helplessness that would lead to a big payoff. Unfortunately, in Venom: The Last Dance that payoff doesn’t occur. The Xenophages only have one job. And that was to kill symbiotes and get that codex. At least wreck a town or something. But even in DBZ the Cell Jr.’s had a little personality to them that made Gohan’s transformation that much sweeter.
The lack of dialogue between the protagonist and antagonist is what makes the payoff so weak. Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying by using the word payoff by thinking that I mean a happily ever after scenario. Often the best stories ever told are the ones where the heroes don’t ride off into the sunset. It's the ones where all you're left with is tragedy and the harsh reality of loss. Those are the movies that hit different.
Something was just off about this one. Even Venom or should I say the “black one” and Eddie’s dynamic was a little lackluster. Mainly from Eddie's side. I don’t know where the disconnect with Tom Hardy comes from but he just didn’t seem like himself. Granted maybe that was on purpose I don’t know. But what I do want to point out is that even with all the mulligans in this story. There are some pretty funny moments in this movie but at the end of the day. Just because I was personally entertained by different parts of this movie doesn’t make it good. Which is why I’m giving Venom: The Last Dance a 5/10 G-Files Score.
I just can’t shake the feeling that this movie comes off as uncharacteristically small. And would it have killed them to acknowledge their spidey camo in the least bit? I’m not saying I need a Peter Parker Cameo but give us something. But truly I think that is the real answer to what Venom 3 is missing… depth. But hopefully, this is not the last time we are seeing Venom or Eddie Brock whether it is in this universe or the next. Because Knull is apparently coming to seek his revenge so until then all we can do is wait.
