JTA The Film Passionator’s review published on Letterboxd:
Venom: The Last Dance - Funny and Thrilling, but quite Comic Accurate!
Venom: The Last Dance (2024) is a superhero movie directed and written by Kelly Marcel, and based on the Marvel Comics anti-hero of the same name. The movie features Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Stephen Graham, Juno Temple, Clark Backo, Alanna Ubach, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, and Andy Serkis.
Serving as the fifth movie in Sony's Spider-Man Universe and the final entry in the Venom trilogy, the movie follows Eddie Brock and Venom (Both played by Tom Hardy) being on the run by a military organisation from Area 51 lead by Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) after their battle against Carnage in San Francisco. However, the duo's situation worsens after the symbiote creator named Knull (Andy Serkis) unleashes a ferocious army of aliens to kill one of the two, so that Knull can be free. Will Eddie and Venom try to make up for their actions to prove their innocence or will they die?
The story was very fun and engaging like the first two Venom movies. It offers fast pacing, a brilliant conclusion to Eddie Brock/Venom's character arc, and thrilling action sequences. Redemption and friendship were key themes that the movie explores. These were shown Eddie Brock and Venom's hilarious yet strong friendship as they try to show the world that they are not as bad as they seem. These themes were handled perfectly by Kelly Marcel's direction and writing skills.
The acting was amazing since the cast have done a great job at showing the audience how would people react if a monstrous alien invasion occurred in the real world. They have shown this with their energy and emotions. Tom Hardy still does a phenomenal performance as Eddie and Venom with his great sense of humour, strong emotions, and energetic acting, which is perfect enough to end his career as the iconic Marvel character.
The visual effects were impressive since the alien creatures have well-textured details, which make them realistic enough to keep the viewers engaged. The Xenophages look spectacular and disturbing, as well as reminding me of a kaiju.
The humour was well written as it captures Venom's hilarious personality and his silly acts with Eddie and others. For me, the funniest scene was Venom and Mrs. Chen dancing while the former sings because Venom's singing voice and dancing skills were hilarious. Maybe Venom should enter Strictly Come Dancing.
Fabian Wagner's cinematography skills were great since he has perfectly sets up the film's dark yet fun mood by coming up with some intriguing camera shots to show the story and characters' expressions. There is a low angle of Venom inside the underground part of Area 51 with a serious expression. This will make the viewers feel weak because the shot makes him appear strong and intimidating. However, it could make the viewers excited about the barrier Venom will face as they see him as the hero that is willing to protect humanity from the Xenophages.
Dan Deacon's work on the music score was brilliant. The reason being is that he uses a perfect combination of a dark and light tone that connects with the movie's story and the characteristics of Venom. Dan Deacon also uses a fast paced thrilling music tone during the action sequences, so he can make them more exciting for the viewers as they experience them.
However, one of the main issues I had was that some elements in the film were not quite faithful to the source material. For example, Toxin (Stephen Graham) is a green symbiote in the film when he is supposed to be red and black in the comics.
Another complaint I had with the movie is that still lost the potential to be R-Rated in the United States, despite the many bloody moments in the film.
The main issue I had with this movie is that it acted like the mention of Spider-Man from Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) never happened. This is because it was re-filmed where Eddie and Venom acted like they were never going to encounter a variant of the web slinger in their universe after returning to their universe.
The movie's target audience are people who enjoy superhero movies with some dark elements. This is because the movie has an action packed story and some scary moments that are unsuitable for younger viewers. Also, the movie appeals to Marvel and Spider-Man fans because it features an iconic Spider-Man character going on his final adventure to show the world that he is not a threat, and they would like to know what happened to Venom after the first two films.
In conclusion, Venom: The Last Dance (2024) was a great superhero movie that has kept me excited throughout with its engaging story and fun action sequences. In my opinion, this is worth watching.
