Jared Abrahamson Archives - Sean Kelly On Movies

A fugitive Eddie Brock goes on one last adventure with the alien symbiote living inside him in Venom: The Last Dance. While vacationing in Mexico, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) discovers that he is a wanted fugitive for the apparent death of Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham). However, Mulligan is still alive, having been saved at the Symbiote research facility Area 55 by Dr. Teddy Payne (Juno Temple), who bonded Mulligan with the Symbiote Toxin. While avoiding capture by Commander Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Eddie learns that Venom's imprisoned creator Knull (Andy Serkis) has sent the monstrous Xenophages to Earth to acquire the Codex, formed within Venom, to free Knull from his prison. Venom: The Last Dance Synopsis Venom: The Last Dance is the final film of the antihero trilogy that kicked off Sony's Spider-Man Universe. Kelly Marcel, who wrote the previous two entries Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, makes her directorial debut film, which reportedly concludes Tom Hardy's run playing the former reporter Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote living inside him. Now a fugitive from the law, Eddie finds himself stranded in Nevada when a Xenophage attacks Venom. Eddie is helped out by Eddie Moon (Rhys Ifans), who is in the midst of a road trip on the Extraterrestrial Highway with his family. In addition to the new alien threat, Eddie has to contend with Commander Rex Strickland, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), who has a plan to take over the Symbiote research program run by Teddy Payne, played by Juno Temple (Ted Lasso). My Thoughts on Venom: The Last Dance While the film rights to most of the other Marvel properties have now reverted to Disney-owned Marvel Studios, Sony stubbornly retains its license for the Spider-Man Universe. Sony has allowed Marvel Studios to produce the trilogy of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far from Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, Sony has ensured that they hold onto the franchise rights by producing a series of unrelated spin-off films, often focused on various Spider-Man villains. Thanks predominantly to Tom Hardy's lead performance, the trilogy of Venom films has faired better than the other spin-off attempts, such as 2022's Morbius and Madame Web from earlier this year. That all said, the legacy that Venom: The Last Dance leaves behind is one of failed promises. Venom: Let There Be Carnage concluded with a mid-credits scene hinting that Tom Hardy's Venom would encounter Tom Holland's Spider-Man, only to be immediately retconned in the mid-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the aftermath of which is referenced in Venom: The Last Dance's opening scene. However, apart from the crossover that never came to be, Venom: The Last Dance brought back Venom: Let There Be Carnage's director Andy Serkis to do the motion capture and voice of the Symbiote creator Knull, who is hinted at being the big villain of the film. However, this is another unfulfilled promise as Knull's appearance turns out to be set up for a future film that may or may not take place. The narrative of Venom: The Last Dance is loosely based on the "Lethal Protector" storyline from the comics, which introduced many new Symbiote offspring of Venom. These new symbiotes are unleashed in the film's climatic battle and are admittedly fun to see, despite them all being relatively similar-looking CGI aliens, apart from the different colours. I also have to nitpick about the absence of Scream, who is arguably second-only to Carnage as the most well-known of Venom's offspring. As hinted at through the title, there is indeed a level of finality to Venom: The Last Dance. The film also features a literal dance, as Venom and returning character Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu) have a moment dancing to ABBA's "Dancing Queen." That moment will go down as the "so ridiculous, it's awesome" moment of Venom: The Last Dance, which as a whole concludes this trilogy with a mere shrug.

Jared Abrahamson

Venom: The Last Dance

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