Back in 2018, Tom Hardy starred in Sony and Marvel’s fairly forgettable film Venom. Hardy portrayed Eddie Brock, the struggling television reporter whose body becomes inhabited by an alien known as a Symbiote, self-identifying as Venom. Now with Hardy both co-writing the script and executive producing, the third and final film of the comic book anti-hero series, Venom: The Last Dance, arrives in theaters on October 25, 2024.

This final film of the trilogy opens in another universe with a dark, mysterious character called Knull telling the story of how he was betrayed by his symbiote children and imprisoned. Considered to be the “God of the Void,” Knull sends these giant creatures called Xenophages, which look like a cross between spiders and praying mantises, in search of a key called the Codex that can set him free.

Back on Earth, Eddie and Venom hide out in Mexico after defeating Carnage in Venon: Let There Be Carnage. Eddie sees a news report that the authorities want him for questioning in the death of Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham). On the run as fugitives, Eddie and his symbiote buddy head out to New York, hoping to clear his name. The two are hitching a ride on (not in) a commercial plane when they’re attacked by one of the Xenophages and crash land in the Nevada desert.

”Eddie, my home has found us!” says Venom to his traveling partner, who is still shaking off almost plummeting to his death. “Who sent that thing after us?” asks Eddie. “My creator, Knull. We have something he wants,” replies the black symbiote who, for the first time ever, seems worried.

To make matters even more complicated, both Special Forces and a team of scientists are also hunting Eddie in hopes of capturing and separating him from Venom for “security reasons.”

Venom: The Last Dance is a silly, occasionally funny, and cluttered comic book-inspired film that closes this chapter of the Marvel anti-hero who was never really given any depth or dimension. The send-off of this character is a mish-mash, with Tom Hardy’s performance being the only saving grace for it to be somewhat entertaining.

Hardy’s portrayal of both Eddie Brock, the struggling reporter whose life became a thousand more ties complicated (and better) because of the alien inside him, and Venom, the symbiote who with Eddie’s guidance can be a crime-fighting, world-saving entity, is hands down the best part of all the films – including this one. The best scenes are with Hardy as both Eddie and Venom arguing or even just talking to each other before taking on the bad guys. It’s the weirdest and goofiest “bromance” on film, but it does get laughs.

The CGI action scenes look and feel like a video game and are clumsy, scattered, and unimpressive. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Juno Temple, as part of the supporting cast, play one-dimensional, uninteresting, and unoriginal characters, wasting their talents.

Rhys Ifans stands out as Martin, a quirky family man and UFO nut who gives Eddie a ride on their way to Area 51. Ifans’ is the only other entertaining performance in this third installment of the franchise.

With its lackluster action scenes and an incredibly weak plot, let’s hope that Venom: The Last Dance is indeed the last installment of the Venom stand-alone films.

GRADE: C

MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, bloody images and strong language
Release Date: October 25, 2024
Running Time: 1 hour 49 minutes
Directed By: Kelly Marcel