Reviews are out for Tom Hardy’s Venom: The Last Dance and many critics are not impressed.
Venom: The Last Dance, of course, is the third and presumably solo outing for the famed Marvel Comics antihero character that stars Hardy in the dual roles of Eddie Brock and his gooey, alien symbiote alter-ego Venom. The film trilogy kicked off with Venom in 2018 and continued with Venom: Let There Be Carnage in 2021.
The character of Venom exists in Spider-Man’s universe, which explains why the film is being produced and distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment, which owns the legendary Marvel character’s screen rights. Through a deal with Disney, however, the webslinger can also appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The official logline for the Venom: The Last Dance reads, “Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo is forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.”
Among the most biting reviews is William Bibbiani’s review in The Wrap, which begins, “Watching is like watching the superhero genre die for two hours. Right in front of you. Holding your hand. Clinging to its last shred of dignity. It doesn’t want to go. But finally, it realizes it’s time.”
Some reviews say it all in their headlines. Comic Book proclaims that the film is Sony’s Next Madame Web—which of course refers to the studio’s critically lambasted superhero movie from earlier this year; while Vanity Fair’s headline reads, Venom: The Last Dance Ends A Once-Fun Series With A Whimper.
Some Critics Are Semi-Complimentary Of ‘Venom: The Last Dance’
While many critics are marshaling their forces to take down Venom in his last film appearance, there are some reviewers who are trying to find some positives in the film.
Among them is Variety’s Owen Gleiberman, who writes, “The alien gets the good lines, and Tom Hardy completes his mumblemouth Bowery Boy performance, in a sequel that’s as fun, and rote, as the others.”
Gleiberman adds in his semi-complimentary review, ‘The Venom movies have been a success, and sometimes fun, but I can’t say that they’ve really been good. More like comic-book placeholders that deliver. They’re also an object lesson in what can happen to an actor as arresting as Tom Hardy when he becomes a host body, merging with the alien of corporate filmmaking.”
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter takes the fans’ point-of-view into consideration in his review, writing, “This being the concluding chapter of a trilogy, it all leads to an emotional catharsis that will no doubt satisfy fans of the earlier movies, with a sweet touch of cheesy humor to offset the melancholy.”
Rooney also writes of the PG-13 film, “The action is bigger and louder, if at times messier, than that of its predecessors, but this is also the cuddliest of the three movies.”
Written and directed by Kelly Marcel and also starring Juno Temple, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Stephen Graham, Venom: The Last Dance plays in previews Thursday and opens in theaters nationwide on Friday.
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