If there's any instance where a films main star literally becomes it's saving grace, it's Tom Hardy's devoted performance as Eddie Brock in Sony's extremely mediocre Venom trilogy. Outside of the latter's fantastic performance, these movies rank as being painfully average and would undoubtedly be on the same level as other failed Spider-Man spin-off's like Morbius and Madame Web if not for its main stars exceptional acting skills and a clear passion for the character he's playing. The Last Dance has Eddie Brock and Venom on the run as they face pursuit from both worlds. As situations become dire, they're forced to make a heart-wrenching choice that could potentially mark the end of their symbiotic partnership. As stated previously, the films saving grace is the relationship between Eddie and Venom with Hardy giving everything to his character along with making the story feel heartbreaking given that the audience knows what's coming. It's a true testament to the strength of Hardy's skills as an actor that he's able to make audiences connect with his characters dynamic along with appearing to have a complete blast in doing so. The rest of the cast makes the most of their roles including Chiwetel Ejiofor as misguided commander for the imperium, Rex Strickland, who is tracking Eddie to capture Venom. Juno Temple also impresses here as Dr. Teddy Payne, a scientist from Imperium who becomes the host of a purple-colored symbiote, Rhys If and as hippie and alien enthusiast, Martin Moon, Stephen Graham as former police detective, Patrick Mulligan who is captured by Imperium, Peggy Lu in a scene-stealing performance as convenience store owner Mrs. Chen from the previous films who befriended Eddie and Venom, and Andy Serkis as the creator of the symbiotes, Knull, who seeks Eddie and Venom's codex to free himself.
Among the films strong acting performances, the action sequences also stand as being its strongest asset. Director Kelly Marcel does a solid job with crafting the films action sequences, though nothing here manages to top Venom's fight with Carnage in the previous film. Aside from the new symbiote creatures boasting some impressive CGI, the real thrill of the battle sequences is seeing Eddie and Venom team up to fight the other entities. The film ranks as being the darkest and most violent of the series with it containing some gruesome moments of violence despite being PG-13 which includes Venom ripping the head off a character with blood spurting everywhere. Like the previous Venom films, The Last Dance is brisk with it's length and keeps things focused mainly on Eddie and Venom's dynamic. That's probably for the best as the rest of the script feels extremely bland and generic with other side characters feeling one-dimensional. The biggest problem with the trilogy that's always been the case with each movie is how little the films have to offer audiences beyond getting laughs and pure enjoyment out of watching the relationship between Eddie and his symbiote. The duo, although tremendously entertaining, are usually surrounding by poor scripts that emphasize a predictable plot, severe lack of strong character development with the main antagonist Knull, lacking real depth and a compelling backstory that makes his motivations appear unclear. He comes across as feeling like a generic evil force rather than a truly evil threat to humanity and the power dynamic between the other symbiotes is barely touched upon. It also doesn't help that Venom's sudden importance within the MCU doesn't feel earned and the dialogue leans towards being exposition-heavy and not really enhancing the stories character growth.
Once again, the Venom series finale relies heavily on the strength of its main lead to elevate it to the point of being watchable. This is a film that's self-aware in the fact that it knows it's not particularly memorable but doubles down on the camp factor that's become the franchises saving grace. For some viewers that will be enough to find this one to be mildly enjoyable as it does offer a serviceable finale to what's largely been a mediocre trilogy. For others, they'll find the entire Venom trilogy to be a massively wasted opportunity.
Final Verdict: Only watchable for Tom Hardy's performance as Eddie Brock/Venom. Otherwise skip.
