Venom: The Last Dance

When the original "Venom" premiered back in 2018, I felt it was going to be a total waste of celluloid. But, after seeing it, I felt it was a hoot! Not only were the visual effects amazing, but you knew that, but the story was fascinating in that the 'superhero' was inside of the hero played brilliantly by Tom Hardy--he was Venom. Well, after a second go around, we now have the end of the trilogy--"Venom: The Last Dance" to sink our teeth into.

In this next installment, Tom Hardy returns as Venom once again, one of Marvel's greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie's last dance. Will they win, or will the alien nemesis beat them at their own game? Not sure, but the ring side seat known as the theater will be first rate.  

Others to round out the cast are Chiwetel Ejiofor as General Rex Strickland, Juno Temple as Dr. Payne, Stephen Graham as Detective Mulligan, Rhys Ifans as Martin, Peggy Lu as Mrs. Chen, Hala Finley as Exho and Alanna Ubach as Christmas. 

This was masterfully directed with excitement by Kelly Marcel. Since this film was written by her and the story was based on hers and Hardy's idea, and she has written all the films would certainly lend her an advantage in being effective behind the camera. This being the only credit in the directing category, it is still amazing that she was able to harness a certain amount of humanity from her actors to prove they are capable of more than being military or studying things in a lab. This was also written with great sequencing by Kelly Marcel ("Saving Mr. Banks" '13, "Fifty Shades of Grey" '15, "Venom" '18, "Cruella" (story) '21, "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" '21) plus TV, based on a story by Tom Hardy and Kelly Marcel, which is based on the Marvel Comics. Even though this film dealt with some multi-universe aspects, Marcel was able to construct the screenplay so it made more sense as compared to other films delving into multi-universe aspects. Since this writer wrote the three different scripts for this franchise, I really did appreciate the amount of wit and humor she injected in the story. It more humanizes the story instead of it being a straight drama. There were only a couple of very slow places within the screenplay, however not enough to detract from the story at hand. And, of course, the visual effects predominantly designed by ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic) and Double Negative were seamless and actually enhanced the more comedic moments of the film. 

If you liked the first two installments of this franchise, you'll certainly like this one as well, especially since it was written by the same writer. This film is supposed to be the third and last installment, hence the 'last dance' part of the title, however it does leave opened-ended. There are a couple of small videos within the end credits if that is telling. Certainly if this makes a truck-load of money, another will likely return, otherwise probably not. It is also presented in a nifty IMAX format if you wish. Enjoy, I know I did.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                       Rated: PG-13                                       108mins.