“Venom: The Last Dance” is the newest installment in the “Sony’s Spider-Man Universe” film franchise, coproduced by Sony Pictures & Marvel Entertainment. Released on October 25, 2024, this film also serves as the third and final appearance of Tom Hardy’s portrayal as the Marvel anti-hero, Eddie Brock/Venom.
In the deep depths of outer space, Knull sends out the Xenophages to retrieve the Codex from Earth because he requires it to escape his prison and bring about a new reign of terror on the universe. Meanwhile in Mexico, Eddie Brock and Venom, the alien symbiote he’s bonded to, are currently lying low after being framed for a murder.
Eddie has the idea of going to New York City to have a judge clear his name. Using Venom’s abilities, he hitches a ride atop a commercial airliner. However, the monstrous Xenophage alien attacks by surprise, forcing them to jump off and leave them stranded in the Nevada desert. Venom explains that the Codex is embedded within their body and is revealed whenever he fully transforms over Eddie’s body.
In Area 51, Rex Strickland gains a positive ID on Eddie Brock’s whereabouts and sends out his team of soldiers to kill him and contain Venom, to prevent Knull’s impending doom. They barely escape the military ambush and later encounter an alien enthusiast, Martin Moon, and his hippie family.
Martin offers a ride in his minivan to the Las Vegas Strip, and Eddie is left with twenty dollars from Martin’s generosity. Venom suggests that gambling could get them more money. Eddie comes across Mrs. Chen, an old acquaintance from San Francisco. And she invites them to the penthouse, where Venom takes her up on a quick dance. However, their reunion is cut short by Strickland, instantly subduing them and bringing them back to the facility.
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Picture of Tom Hardy, 2018, Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Picture of Chiwetel Ejiofor, 2018, Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Picture of Juno Temple, 2018, Sean Reynolds from Liverpool, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0
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Looking back at the main highlights, Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and vocal performance as Venom was great all throughout. The continued bonding through teamwork and back-and-forth banter worked well for Eddie and Venom, as it shows how much they’ve come along after initially meeting. One of my favorite scenes was during the minivan ride, where the Moon family did a singalong of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, to which even Venom joined in, much to Eddie’s dismay.
Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Rex Strickland and Juno Temple’s Dr. Payne played key roles in the story, as they were both working for Area 51 and actively chasing after Eddie and Venom. They also took part in the film’s climax, helping in their own ways to fight the regenerating Xenophages.
On the other side of things, some points of the movie felt a little bland or just didn’t land right. Knull, the overarching villain of this movie, barely had any screen time at all. Besides mindlessly spouting expository lines at the beginning and near the end to tease his future involvement in something else. And then the ending scene felt weird with the upbeat song choice, a slight contrast to everything the movie had amounted to.
Even after a second rewatch, I still found “Venom: The Last Dance” to be a good 7/10, with some nice action and some fun character moments.
