Venom: The Last Dance Review - Tom Hardy Shines In Crowd-Pleasing Send-Off

When "Venom" was released in 2018, I thought it was such an unspeakably stupid and poorly conceived venture that the entire Sony Spider-Man Universe would be dead on arrival. A few years later, perhaps thanks to the pandemic-induced theatrical drought, its bug-eyed sequel "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" had me changing my tune. Instead of feeling largely insulted at the prospect of being sold a Spidey-less Spider-Man franchise, I appreciated everyone involved doubling down on the original film's main saving grace: the surprising delight of watching Tom Hardy perform a buddy comedy with himself. 

With the help of CGI animation and a generous amount of leeway, Hardy pulling double duty as put-upon nebbish Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote Venom he shares a body with proved to be some of the most thrilling and entertaining acting of his already storied career. For whatever unknowable reason, Hardy has found the kind of inspiration in the protagonist of this silly, third rate superhero franchise many of his peers usually discover in the works of Shakespeare, Chekhov, or Ibsen.

But the marketplace likely cannot bear spending millions of dollars on misshapen and laughable science-fiction actioners that result in little more than delivery devices for indulging in thespian quirk. And no matter how much fun Hardy appears to be having, he cannot play this role as long as Hugh Jackman has inhabited James "Logan" Howlett. So, "Venom: The Last Dance" is the closing chapter of an unlikely trilogy, a springboard for further IP mining, and a touching send-off to the hero some of us didn't even want but will now surely miss.

Despite seeming from the trailers like he might be a third act tease at best, Knull (the way too OP "Venom" villain) is the first figure we see and hear as "Venom: The Last Dance" opens. Brought to life by Andy Serkis, who directed the last entry in this series, Knull is established as the towering antagonist he will no doubt be in some far away sequel or MCU brand synergy event. But here, he's really more of a means to an end.

As Venom says in his first scene, a retread from the post-credits sequence of "Spider-Man: No Way Home," he and Eddie are both done with "that multiverse s***." Instead, our favorite symbiotic odd couple is on the run for the crimes at the end of the last film, trying to get from Mexico to Eddie's old haunt New York City for some semblance of a fresh start. But Venom's very existence proves to be the film's MacGuffin, as he is the key to freeing Knull, the creator of the symbiote race, from his prison on their homeworld of Klyntar. Eddie and Venom are caught between a rock (the terrifying Xenophage sent to capture them for Knull) and a hard place (the Area 51 housed black ops crew that captures symbiotes for scientific study). There's an inner conflict among these folks between the bloodthirsty Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who sees the aliens as an invading force that must be dealt with, and Dr. Payne (Juno Temple) who sees them as refugees seeking safe harbor. A more ambitious project might explore the political implications of this metaphor, but this is not a film that has much room to unpack the sad realities of modern geopolitics.

Where "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" felt like its short runtime resulted from large, screen-tested swaths of the picture being jettisoned in the editing room, "The Last Dance" is a more appropriately paced affair. The plot isn't the most inventive, but there's a completeness to it that feels refreshing despite its underachieving aims. Yet there are two distinct pictures at play here. One of them, a by the numbers action thriller with suitably heavy stakes; the other, a charming character piece. While the former would be an absolute waste of time without the color, the texture, and the beating heart of the latter, the latter would likely be just as enjoyable with all the sturm und drang excised entirely.

Because despite the new characters, the new big bad, and the expansion of the mythology, this is still The Tom Hardy Show.

In "Fade To Black," a 2004 concert film chronicling Jay-Z's retirement, there's a scene where the iconic rapper is recording "99 Problems." Producer Rick Rubin marvels at Jay, who famously does not write his rhymes down, as he records part of a verse as a conversation, leaving pregnant pauses so he could then double back and record the opposing side of the dialogue. That must be what it must have been like the first time someone got to see Tom Hardy's vision for playing out the comic book movie equivalent of the central relationship from "Little Shop of Horrors" all by his lonesome. He shifts effortlessly between Eddie, who splits the distance between Woody Allen and John Cassavetes, and Venom, whose voice Hardy has said was influenced by Busta Rhymes and Richard Burton (a somewhat unsurprising inspiration for anyone familiar with his secret rap career.)

It's a singular thrill to see how deftly Hardy blends weird comedy, genuine pathos, and even pseudo-homoerotic undertones into the kind of performance that would win Oscars if it weren't housed within such a deeply unserious, commercial film product. "Venom: The Last Dance," if it's truly meant to be his final outing with the character(s), is a fitting curtain call. Kelly Marcel, who wrote the last two movies and has a strong working relationship with Hardy dating back to her doing uncredited rewrites on his 2008 breakout picture "Bronson," makes the perfect dance partner taking over directing duties. She seems to understand better than most what has made these films work, and never loses sight of Eddie and Venom's emotional journey throughout the big sci-fi plot. 

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. The comic book movie genre will be poorer without his contributions in the future.

"Venom: The Last Dance" hits theaters on October 25.