“Venom: The Last Dance” offers a refreshing experience amidst many new, mediocre Marvel movies. The characters and themes of the movie are entertaining, but the plot weakens the film and leaves the audience wanting more.
“Venom: The Last Dance” is a science fiction adventure movie written and directed by Kelly Marcel. The movie spends time developing the relationship between Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote, aka Venom, focusing on the alliance between humans and aliens.
The original “Venom” (2018) follows Brock, an investigative reporter, as he works with the Venom symbiote to take down Carlton Drake, an unethical tech-inclined CEO. Throughout this movie, Brock and Venom struggle to work as a team, going between cohesive fight scenes to charged arguments.
“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” (2021) continues their story, instead highlighting the more mundane aspects of domestic life. As they battle their blood-child Carnage, the Venom symbiote longs for freedom that Brock won’t give him, leading to their eventual separation. However, through the thrills of working together to save their friends and stop Carnage, they realize that life together is more fulfilling. The duology ends with them on a tropical beach, where Venom finally admits his true feelings for Brock.
“Venom: The Last Dance” is the final film in the trilogy, and picks up where the second movie left off. Brock is a fugitive, meaning the two companions have to evade government agents while trying to keep themselves alive against otherworldly forces.
Plot (Story Arc and Pace)
The plot was one of the weakest parts of this movie. It was introduced right at the beginning with a monologue from the antagonist explaining all of his motivations. Instead of trusting that the audience would piece together these motivations through character dialogue and actions, the opening makes it so the audience never guesses the main antagonist's plan. They also have the Venom symbiote fill Brock in later on, just in case someone missed that scene.
The ending was weak for opposite reasons as the beginning. Instead of a resolved ending meant to bring closure to the trilogy, the film ended with nothing being accomplished in terms of the main plot — the villain was right where he started at the beginning of the movie. The jarring opening, repetition of information, and unresolved ending left much to be desired in terms of the storyline and complexity.
Theme (Xenophobia and Alienation)
The entire movie carried heavy themes of xenophobia. Despite the fact that Venom was trying to help protect the world, government agents immediately assumed that he was trying to attack them due to being an alien. Only after it was asserted to them multiple times did they realize that they were attacking the wrong side. Many times, government forces tend to view those from other places as antagonistic to them, and this fact was shown throughout the film.
Brock and Venom’s relationship can be interpreted as one that faces alienation in society. Their lives were intertwined permanently, leading others to try and pull them apart. Despite this, they continued to stay together while hiding parts of themselves in order to do so. This is an accurate representation of relationships that face alienation due to being different from others, which has been a theme throughout the Venom franchise.
Character Development (Interpersonal Relationships and Standalone Characters)
The character development was a strong factor for this film, specifically when it came to Brock and the Venom symbiote. Their relationship in the first two movies had always been push and pull, with violent arguments that nearly cost them their lives. However, “Venom: The Last Dance” took the time to highlight the growth that they had gone through since then.
While still bickering from time to time, Venom was a more cohesive symbiosis than ever. Most notably, Brock made an appearance during fight scenes, showing that the two were able to act as a team rather than separately. Instead of fighting for their own causes, they were united in protecting each other against any evil they faced, human or otherwise. Venom and Brock’s relationship was easily the highest point of this movie, delivering fans a witty yet affectionate dynamic.
However, the side characters and antagonist were not as fleshed out as Brock and Venom. Dr. Teddy Payne was the weakest character — her backstory was thrown in before anyone got to know her as a character, again falling into the pattern of not trusting the audience to connect the dots themselves.
Aside from that, Payne’s character seemed to be going towards casual disability representation. However, a character referred to her as “broken,” a harmful viewpoint that was reaffirmed when her disability was “cured.” What could have been more disability representation in Marvel was turned into unnecessarily ableist storytelling.
Cinematography and Soundtrack
The cinematography was done well in this movie. The framing of scenes resembled comic book panels, paying homage to the origins of Venom. This helped immerse the audience in the world and made Brock and Venom seem small compared to the world around them. While some transitions between scenes were a bit jarring, most of the tonal transitions were handled well.
Overall, the soundtrack was upbeat and fun, complimenting the more lighthearted scenes in the movie. Featured were songs from Queen, ABBA, and David Bowie. The most memorable song was “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, which played over a high-energy scene occasionally interrupted by clips showing that Venom was actively being hunted. A pop classic over this chilling contrast worked in the film’s favor.
The last song of the movie was “Memories” by Maroon 5. It was played over a montage of past scenes from all three movies, leading it to feel more like an amateur fan edit than a real part of the movie. If a different song had been chosen, the soundtrack would have been a lot stronger.
Overall Rating
While the plot could have been a lot more cohesive and complete, and Payne’s character could have been better disability representation, the cinematography and soundtrack help bring more interest to the film in terms of worldbuilding.
The relationship between Brock and Venom helped carry the film through its weaker points, staying true to the whimsical antics of the first two movies. Seeing them work as a team felt like a great way to wrap up their character and relationship development. The connection between Brock and Venom felt unhindered by toxic masculine standards, allowing their affection to feel real given their personalities and history.
My final rating of ”Venom: The Last Dance” is 8/10. Without the moments between Venom and Brock, this rating would have been much lower.
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