Venom: The Last Dance First Reviews: Silly, Surprisingly Emotional, and Strictly for Fans

6 days ago 3

Tom Hardy is back for more symbiote shenanigans in Venom: The Last Dance, the third and supposedly final movie in the trilogy following the titular Marvel Comics villain-turned-antihero. This installment of the wider Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU) franchise, sees Hardy’s Eddie Brock and Venom, his parasitic companion, on the run as soldiers, scientists, other symbiotes, and an alien deity attempt to track them down. Marking the directorial debut of Kelly Marcel, who wrote the first two Venom movies, the sequel is being praised for its silliness, its heart, and the continued bonkers performance by Hardy in the lead. But if you don’t like these movies already, you probably won’t like this one either.

Here’s what critics are saying about Venom: The Last Dance:

**How does it compare to the first two Venom movies?**

The biggest, best Venom movie yet.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com

Is Venom: The Last Dance the best film in the trilogy? I would say so.
— Aidan Kelley, Collider

The most entertaining of the trilogy.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

It’s more competently constructed and helmed than 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

Where the first two films occasionally stumble between trying to maintain momentum and attempting to flesh out their characters, The Last Dance runs through the majority of its exposition in brief, easily digested info dumps amid its constant forward motion.
— Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

Venom: The Last Dance comes along to finish off the trilogy strong — but ultimately comes in at last place as a half-formed attempt at a serious superhero movie blockbuster that would be considered average even by 2000s comic book movie standards.
— Kofi Outlaw, ComicBook.com

The Last Dance brings nothing new to the series. In fact, it brings less than the previous two movies.
— Soren Anderson, Seattle Times

The Last Dance (2024)

(Photo by Sony Pictures)

Is it any better than most of today’s superhero fare?

It’s a superhero blockbuster that’s leaps and bounds ahead of some MCU efforts and a major improvement over anything we’ve seen from DC in recent years.
— Kofi Outlaw, ComicBook.com

Defying the scourge of comic book movie bloat even as it forms into a grand finale, The Last Dance would much rather be a tattered 90-minute goof than an imperious two-and-a-half-hour wank.
— David Ehrlich, IndieWire

It’s not the best of its kind, but by no means the worst.
— Damon Wise, Deadline Hollywood Daily

It may actually be 2024’s best comic book movie.
— Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment

What makes this one special?

One of the most exciting developments in The Last Dance is the introduction of new symbiotes, broadening the lore of the SSU.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys

Despite featuring more symbiotes than either of the previous movies, the monsters are more visually distinctive here and have more of a personality, informed by both the quickly but coherently drawn behavioral qualities of the humans who host them and the visual designs of each alien.
— Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

The computer-generated effects in Venom: The Last Dance are an improvement over those in the noggin-chomping behemoth’s previous adventures, although they’re best utilized not for monumental clashes but for silly bits.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

The movie finds wildly inventive, wacky new ways to use the Symbiote.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com

Venom: The Last Dance being the best-looking entry yet.
— Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment

Kelly Marcel should get praise for arguably directing the most visually coherent and action-heavy Venom film — especially since it is the first movie she has ever directed.
— Kofi Outlaw, ComicBook.com

The Last Dance (2024)

(Photo by Sony Pictures)

Is it funny?

It delivers big laughs.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com

This film leans more heavily into dark humor than its predecessors, making the banter between Eddie and Venom one of the film’s strongest assets… Some moments border on the very silly, with certain comedic sequences— a surreal stop at a Vegas casino is both ridiculous and hilariously funny.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys

Venom: The Last Dance further doubles down on making Eddie and Venom more comedic anti-heroes, but this time, it works much more in its favor. Their banter is better than ever and The Last Dance is easily the most effectively funny film in the trilogy.
— Aidan Kelley, Collider

The writing is hilarious, with Hardy’s Eddie serving as the straight man to Venom’s ominous quips, which can range from deranged to childlike. The humor comes fast and is absurdist to a degree.
— M.N. Miller, InSession Film

There’s a montage of Hardy’s Venom highlights during The Last Dance that had me full-on cackling.
— Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

Is it emotional?

There are even some emotional beats between Eddie and Venom that overall work amidst the absurd scenarios they get up to.
— Aidan Kelley, Collider

The third act has more emotion and heart than you’d expect.
— M.N. Miller, InSession Film

It ends on a fittingly wacko note of pure, unadulterated sentimentality — one last unexpected twist for [the] trilogy.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

Venom: The Last Dance is a very heartfelt feature.
— Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment

What elevates Venom 3 over the previous two movies is that the finale does manage to hit an emotional note.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

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.
— David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Some will even say that the movie is touching — though given how much time we’ve spent with Eddie and the alien and all those oily thrashing tentacles, I didn’t necessarily feel this marked the ending of a beautiful friendship.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety

The Last Dance (2024)

(Photo by Sony Pictures)

How is the action?

The Last Dance has, by far, the best action sequences in the trilogy.
— Aidan Kelley, Collider

In terms of action, Venom: The Last Dance does not disappoint. The road-trip structure allows for a variety of settings and high-octane sequences, each more outrageous than the last.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys

It doesn’t disappoint when it comes to action.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com

Marcel orchestrates the action in a surprisingly comprehensible style that’s more reminiscent of Ang Lee’s underrated Hulk than the ultra-Michael Bay chaos that comes with most CG smackdowns.
— Damon Wise, Deadline Hollywood Daily

As the film progresses, it consistently escalates the stakes and scale of its action, which doesn’t devolve into incomprehensible CG murk as it hurtles toward the climax.
— Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

The action is bigger and louder, if at times messier, than that of its predecessors.
— David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Are there any surprises?

Marcel and Hardy work hard to keep the audience guessing right to the end.
— Soren Anderson, Seattle Times

The film remains engaging, constantly throwing unexpected plot twists and wild action set pieces.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys

It boggles the mind how the film slipped past the MPA with only a PG-13 rating… Marcel favors surprisingly long takes that let you see just how nightmarish the fighting between humans, symbiotes, and Xenophages gets.
— Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

The Last Dance (2024)

(Photo by Sony Pictures)

How is Tom Hardy’s performance this time around?

Tom Hardy is at his bonkers, brilliant best.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com

One of the best portrayals of Eddie Brock and Venom yet.
— Aidan Kelley, Collider

Hardy, as always, shines in his dual portrayal of Eddie and Venom, showcasing his ability to juggle intense action with comedic timing.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys

The star of the show remains Hardy, who’s slowly fashioned this series’s unorthodox, unglamorous take on the superhero film into an oddly sentimental depiction of a deep friendship between an otherwise unremarkable man and the gooey, goofy alien monster who lives inside of him.
— Jake Cole, Slant Magazine

The actor’s gift for physical comedy and exaggerated expressions gets a full workout, and Marcel devises a few novel ways for him and Venom to partner during their slam-bang skirmishes.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

Ryan Reynolds gets a ton of praise for his work on Deadpool, merging fourth wall-breaking humor with heartfelt drama. But Hardy blows him out of the water.
— Dominic Griffin, Looper.com

There’s a certain point at which you have to wonder if, instead of applauding his ability to sneak a subversively odd performance into a franchise product, he and everyone else involved wouldn’t be better served just making a movie that’s daring to begin with.
— Alison Willmore, New York Magazine/Vulture

Does the movie have a villain problem?

If it’s true that a movie is only as good as its villain, Venom: The Last Dance stinks, despite the fact that its hero is actually pretty likable.
— Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

I can’t even really tell you if I liked Knull’s portrayal in Venom: The Last Dance because the film doesn’t give him enough of a chance to make an impression.
— Aidan Kelley, Collider

This franchise has always benefited from its lack of an overarching supervillain, but The Last Dance would rather cram the entire first phase of the MCU’s Thanos arc into a single film than find a more organic way of separating Eddie from Venom.
— David Ehrlich, IndieWire

As for [redacted] Knull, his screentime is brief, but casting him was the right call.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com

The Last Dance (2024)

(Photo by Laura Radford/Sony Pictures)

Are there any other standout characters?

Juno Temple’s character, Dr. Teddy Payne… is a standout addition here.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Juno Temple deliver solid supporting turns, though neither character is necessarily explored beyond what’s on the surface.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com

Rhys Ifans also has a small role, appearing to do his best Peter Stormare on happy pills impression, bringing some offbeat comic relief to the story.
— M.N. Miller, InSession Film

The only characters who rise above the surrounding mediocrity are a family of crunchy-granola hippies complete with vintage VW microbus who are headed by a UFO-obsessed father played by Rhys Ifans.
— Soren Anderson, Seattle Times

The most memorable of them — OK, the only memorable one — is Dr. Payne’s lab colleague Sadie (Clark Backo), who unleashes some serious badassery once she’s transformed.
— David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

**Does it do a good job wrapping up the Venom trilogy?**

Venom: The Last Dance, if it’s truly meant to be his final outing with the character(s), is a fitting curtain call.
— Dominic Griffin, Looper.com

Venom: The Last Dance is a highly entertaining conclusion to Eddie Brock’s story… It leans fully into what makes Venom unique: a wild, chaotic energy that refuses to play by the rules.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys

Venom: The Last Dance is an outrageously fun and beautiful conclusion to a trilogy that we did not expect to go far.
— Chalice Williams, Black Girl Nerds

37% Venom: The Last Dance (2024) opens in theaters on October 25, 2024.