Written by Samuel Rylston
Sony concluded the Venom trilogy with Venom: The Last Dance. Can Sony’s mid-tier Marvel movies break their record for horror?
Written and directed by Kelly Marcel (who wrote the previous two Venom films), the story follows Eddie Brock and his symbiote Venom (Tom Hardy) as they fight against the U.S. military and the symbiotes. It depicts an escape from an alien assassin sent by the god Knull.
Unfortunately, it’s a movie about nothing. Just constant meandering exposition, nonsensical characters, and basic paint-by-numbers clichés of a bunch of other recognizable symbiotes in one action sequence.
This is the last film in the trilogy, so they’re trying to make it a touching send-off, but the story just happens, ends, and that’s it.
It’s not all bad. I like Tom Hardy and I like him in this role. He maintains the same volatile, fun energy throughout the trilogy. And Eddie and Venom’s relationship is the strongest part of all, and Venom’s goofy humor is endearing.
But that’s about as far as it goes for me. And trying to shoehorn in a huge character like Knull at the last moment (sort of like that) just doesn’t work.
Venom (horse mode) and Eddie Brock are on the run from the US military and alien assassins. Photo: Sony Pictures
Knull was created by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman. He is the creator and god of the symbiotes, making his debut in the Thor comic series in 2013. He is a very powerful being who actually created the sword used by God Butcher Go, All Black the Necrosword. Same goal for Thor: Love and Thunder (not that Knull had any role or connection to that movie).
Knull began his journey by decapitating a Celestial, one of the Marvel Universe’s created species. He used the head to forge a symbiote, which became Nowhere, a location famous in Guardians of the Galaxy. TL:DR is that he is a cosmic level threat and has a fair amount of lore that will take some time to unravel.
Writer and director Kelly Marcel said, “You can’t make a symbiote movie without him, but he’s too big to do it all by himself. So this is just a little introduction to him. It’s… It’s just a kind of taste test.” In the same way that Thanos was introduced very carefully through the Marvel movies, he could potentially work on his own movie. ”
The zany humor of the alien symbiote Venom is charming, but it’s not enough to save the film. Photo: Sony Pictures
But for now, these movies aren’t going anywhere. Sure you can play Knull, and yes, you can also completely adapt the King in Black event comics with Knull as Thanos for these paper-thin Sony Spider-Man movies. can.
But it’s already too late. People don’t like these movies. None of them have worked outside of the first Venom movie, and even that is a semi-enjoyable hot garbage mess.
But it’s important to make them cheap, so at least you’ll get your money back. That’s all the emotion a studio needs to keep making terrible stuff.
It also attempts a heartfelt montage of the three movies, but it just doesn’t pan out. Nothing ever ends these days, so I thought at least it was over and had an ending.
But it’s just a nothing movie. It’s boring, nothing happens. I can’t even recommend watching this movie on a rainy afternoon. Because doing so means putting more money into this work and thinking about where it takes us.
Venom: The Last Dance (M) is currently in general release in New Zealand cinemas.
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