‘Venom: The Last Dance’ review: Tom Hardy comes out swinging

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'Venom: The Last Dance' review: Tom Hardy comes out swinging

You’re either on the “Venom” wavelength or you’re not. If so, you’re not alone, because it turns out a lot of people are. Sony’s hit Marvel series includes a triptych of strangely appealing comic book movies featuring Tom Hardy’s take on journalist Eddie Brock and his sassy “symbiote” sidekick Venom (whom Hardy also voices). The third installment, “Venom: The Last Dance,” rounds out the trio of films, both deadpan and irreverent, creating a campy tone of their own, distinct from more serious superhero or sarcastic self-referentials. those.

Much of this unique humor has to do with star Hardy’s performance as Venom and Eddie and his writing contributions (he has a story credit on both 2021 films). “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and this new film, as well as the actor’s close collaboration with his longtime friend Kelly Marcel, who wrote all three films. Marcel makes her directorial debut with “The Last Dance,” which announces itself with this title as Venom’s last potential whirlwind on the floor.

The main draw of these films has always been the relationship between Eddie and Venom, his alien buddy who frequently comes out to say hello and crack up, and who can take control of Eddie’s body with his tar-like mass and teeth giants. The irascible Venom loves animals, eats brains and is moved by music (in the second opus, the characters have a rave; in this one, it’s a choreographed disco dance in a Vegas penthouse).

This remains the focus of “The Last Dance,” in which Eddie and Venom try to get from Mexico to New York and end up stranded in Area 51, as aliens are wont to do. Through a large amount of exposition, we learn that the pair became a codex, or key, to open some sort of galactic prison where some sort of stringy-haired dark lord has been locked away by his symbiote children. He has now sent an army of crab-like aliens through portals to retrieve the Eddie-Venom codex and break free.

The pair transform into a tracking device when Venom fully manifests, and the codex can only be destroyed if one of them dies. The story is therefore essentially a chase film through the American southwest. With Colonel Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his special forces in pursuit, as well as an alien-friendly scientist, Dr. Payne (Temple of Juno), while trying to recover the specimens, chaos ensues in and around Area 51, which is set to be decommissioned in three days.

The desert setting and devouring alien monsters give “The Last Dance” a whiff of “Starship Troopers” a hint of “Tremors,” a nod to those self-consciously campy creature features of B-movies of old. This “Last Dance” may be shaggy, silly and even a little stupid – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, especially when it nods so hard to its own genre play.

There’s a sense of serendipity to this journey, but Hardy’s odd charm and great soundtrack go a long way toward smoothing out the bumps in the road. The film is also an ensemble comedy in which Eddie meets different people, including a father obsessed with aliens (Rhys Ifans) taking his family on a pilgrimage to Area 51 in their hippie Volkswagen bus, and his old friend Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu), who runs the slot machines in Vegas. These supporting actors have the important task of directly playing Venom’s clown. Ever since Michelle Williams in the first film, it’s imperative that Venom’s entourage understands the mission but allows him to shine, and this casting never cracks.

Ultimately, however, it’s not the supporting characters, stories, settings, or special effects that make “Venom” what it is, but rather the chemistry Hardy has with himself as as dual characters in a duel. Maybe it’s his friendship with Marcel that makes these films work, because you genuinely believe in the bond between Eddie and Venom; that they care about each other as much as they bicker. While the concept itself is running out of gas and it would be nice to free Hardy up to do something else, it’s a fitting farewell for the cheeky alien with the thousand-watt smile.

Katie Walsh is a film critic for the Tribune News Service.

“Venom: The Last Dance”

Note : PG-13, for intense sequences of violence and action, gory images and strong language

Operating time: 1 hour and 49 minutes

Playing: Broadcast on Friday October 25

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