REVIEW: VENOM LAST DANCE (**)

 
VENOM THE LAST DANCE
(**)--VITO CARLI

"The cast can’t overcome the script-which is a bombastic, muddled mess"

Venom Can't Overcome a Bad Script

(112824) Venom: The Last Dance is an only occasionally entertaining action/adventure film about the symbiote antihero and Spider-man antagonist, Venom. Besides the decent cast and serviceable if unimaginative special effects this movie has few redeeming qualities and few ties to the Marvel U or its characters. It is never truly awful but it’s never terribly good either. And when it hints at a related sequel (using a different main character) audience members may wish it will never happen.

At this point whereas the early Marvel U was associated with high quality productions, the Sony‘s Spider-verse has become a signifier of mediocrity. The recent Morbius was a disappointment (although I liked Jaret Leto and a few other aspects of it) and Madame Web was a complete disaster, and one of the worst films of the year. Most of these characters as well as Kraven the Hunter who will soon get his own film would have worked better in the contest of a Spider-man film interacting with the web slinger. Then if they worked and got popular they should get solo movies.

Venom The Last Dance was written and directed by newcomer, Kelly Marcel, who got some assistance with the script department from actor, Tom Hardy. Marcel previously wrote, the ridiculous, Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) and the previous two Venom films. In a year with such fine first-time film makers as Malcom Washington (the upcoming The Piano Lesson) and Pedro Martin Calero (The Wailing), Marcel’s work here is unimpressive, and she stands out as one of the least promising new film makers. The cast can’t overcome the script they have to work with which is a bombastic, muddled mess. The film is subtitled Last Dance because it is the presumed last film in the trilogy with began with the passable Venom (2018) and continued with the slightly better Venom: Let there be Carnage (2021) which was elevated by Woody Harrelson’s turn as the homicidal Carnage.

The film tries to go after a similar audience as Deadpool and Wolverine but it does not have much of that film’s rollicking adventure, hilarious visual and verbal gags or fun characterization. There is an ok dance scene in the film between Venom and an Asian woman who for some reason likes Venom and Eddie, but it is not nearly as memorable as the dance in Wednesday or the scene in which Deadpool dances/kills while using a Wolverine corpse as a weapon. In fact, Venom: Last Dance pales in almost every way to Deadpool and Wolverine, but its biggest flaw is its muddled and sub par script and poor story. Few of the film’s lines crackle and pop and after an ok setup it goes nowhere. The film also differs from Deadpool and Wolverine in that it veers slightly more into sci-fi horror than comedy, in fact several scenes and monster designs look like they could have come out of Alien Romulus but that film hit far more of its target and it is at least respectable. One never gets the idea that this film was made to tell a good story. Like Marvel Secret Wars this film was obviously created just to use a copyright and fill a market niche.

Unlike the relationship between Deadpool and Wolverine, the relationship between Venom and his host Eddie Brock is demoralizing. Although Brock treats him as a friend, Venom constantly tortures him and constantly scares him half to death. If this is what it means to be a superhero or more correctly a lethal protector, then they can keep the job. Even Banner and the Hulk have more fun moments. Venom is so mean and callous he often resembles Mr. Hyde more than the Hulk. It’s too bad that because of copyright issue that can’t do another Hulk film because he is infinitely more interesting and would potentially provide better stories than Venom.

The paper-thin plot involves Venom being pursued by the military that wants to use him to their benefit as well as evil symbiote that wants to unleash Null, the god of the void into the universe. On top of that the police wrongly think that Venom is a murderer and they are in pursuit of him. Both Venom and Eddie must be two of the unluckiest beings in the universe. They end up in Mexico. The last movie depicted the death of a Detective Mulligan and everyone thinks he did it. He finds out because he sees a news story about it on a barroom TV. They are also unfortunately noticed by Knull, who is the God of a void who believes that everything that isn’t nothingness is encroaching on his territory. He created all the symbiote's as well as the xenophobe mufti-legged monsters that, for years Kull has planned to use to get out if his prison. It's all poorly explained hinging on Knull getting the key which will free him and involving many of the symbiotes that turned against him and put him in jail. The whole key idea is similar to the key on Buffy which turned out to be Dawn who could be used to open up a gate to hell but this idea was much better handled. Eventually the symbiotes’ join forces with Venom to fight the evil servants of Knull I don’t know how the character is in the comics but this movie’s Knull is one of the deadliest dull villains within memory.

Like
Spider-man 3 and Blade Trinity because it is an underwhelming by the numbers conclusion to the trilogy accept the other trilogies started out good. This film ends the series making the audience demand less and only Sony Spider-verse completest should bother with it. Everyone else will probably want to sit out of this last dance.
 

Directed & Written by:    Kelly Marcel, screenplay by Kelly Marcel and Tom
 Hardy
Starring:    Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Johor, Juno Temple
Released:    10/25/2024
Length:    109 minutes
Rating:    Rated PG 13 for intense sequences of action and
 violence, bloody images, and strong language
Available On:    Currently playing at theatres

For more writings by Vittorio Carli go to www.artinterviews.org and www.chicagopoetry.org. His latest book "Tape Worm Salad with Olive Oil for Extra Flavor" is also available.
Email carlivit@gmail.com

See the film trailer of the Lee Groban movie directed by Nancy Bechtol featuring Vittorio Carli.
See https://youtu.be/tWQf-UruQw

Come to the New Poetry Show on the first Saturday of every month at Tangible Books in
Bridgeport from 7-9 at 3324 South Halsted.

This is now a monthly show featuring Poetry/Spoken Word, some Music, Stand Up and Performance Art and hosted by Mister Carli. For more information e-mail: carlivit@gmail.com for details


Upcoming features at the Poetry Show:

December 7- Shontay Luna, Teresa Magana, Wilda Morris, and Jose Popoca

January 2025 – Dami Andonova, Dina Marie Marguerite Patrick-Stewart and Eric Allen Yankee
 

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Review © 2024 Alternate Reality, Inc.

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