Disclaimer: This review contains spoilers.
As someone who's been following the Venom trilogy since its inception, I was curious to see how they’d wrap up the story in Venom: The Last Dance. Sadly, this final installment felt more like a rehash of familiar tropes than the explosive finale I had hoped for.
The Plot: Same Old Symbiote Showdown
The Venom franchise has built itself around symbiote-versus-symbiote brawls, and The Last Dance doesn’t stray far from that formula. This time, Venom teams up with his symbiote sibling to take on monsters sent by Knull, a villain who’s barely explored beyond surface-level threats. While the concept of a shared symbiote universe sounds exciting, the execution was repetitive. Venom once again fights another symbiote—a recurring theme from all three movies.
The movie’s pacing dragged, and honestly, I dozed off at some point (though, to be fair, I may have just been tired after a long day). The action scenes and monster battles didn’t have the punch they needed to keep me fully engaged.
Eddie Brock & Venom: More of the Same
Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock remains much the same from the first film—no real growth or character development beyond his evolving relationship with Venom. Sure, they’ve become best buddies by now, and the film tries to lean into that bromance, but half the movie’s runtime was dedicated to unnecessary drama that, frankly, wasn’t needed. I came for the chaos, not for a soap opera between a man and his symbiote.
It’s a shame because Hardy is a talented actor, but even he couldn’t bring new energy to Eddie’s character arc. What we got instead felt like an extended version of their banter from the previous films—more of the same without much emotional weight.
The Supporting Cast: Underutilized Talent
For a film with a stellar cast—Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham—I expected more excitement. Unfortunately, none of the supporting characters stood out, and the plot didn’t give them much to work with. It’s as if the film was more interested in flashy battles than giving its actors any meaningful material to elevate the story.
Visuals: Hollywood’s Saving Grace
On the positive side, the visual effects were solid, as you’d expect from a big-budget Hollywood film. The CGI battles, monster designs, and symbiote transformations were visually impressive, even if the plot didn’t always live up to the spectacle. No complaints in that department.
What Could’ve Been Better
There were so many missed opportunities to explore the lore of the symbiotes and Knull, the godlike villain who posed a significant threat. Why did the symbiotes escape Knull and seek refuge on Earth? Why imprison Knull in the first place? These crucial questions were left unexplored, which left me wanting more. Instead of building on this rich backstory, the movie spent far too long focusing on the Eddie-Venom bromance, which felt repetitive after the first two films.
I also would have loved to see more of the symbiotes that were supposedly here to help Venom. The screen time could’ve been used to showcase their abilities and add variety to the action sequences, rather than more of the same old symbiote smackdowns.
Final Thoughts: A Disappointing End to the Trilogy
If you’ve already seen Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, I’d say watch The Last Dance just to complete the trilogy. However, be prepared to leave the theater with more questions than answers and a sense of missed potential. For me, it didn’t provide the closure I was hoping for.
I’d rate Venom: The Last Dance a 5/10. It’s watchable, but only if you’re committed to seeing this trilogy through to the end.
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