Venom: The Last Dance: A wasted finale with only Hardy’s performance shining

The opening shot of Venom: The Last Dance is a close-up on Tom Hardy’s face as Eddie Brock, sweat glistening under neon lights, downing tequila in a Mexico City bar with Venom. It’s a moment that could have been electric—Hardy has proven time and again he can sell even the most absurd scenarios with sheer charisma. But here, it feels off. The camera lingers too long, the humor falls flat, and you’re left wondering if this is really how Sony wants to close out its Venom trilogy.

Kelly Marcel’s directorial debut—after co-writing Saving Mr. Banks and Venom: Let There Be Carnage—has moments of ingenuity, but they’re buried under a script that can’t decide whether it’s a sci-fi thriller, an action spectacle, or a character study. The result is a film that tries to straddle too many genres at once, leaving each one feeling underdeveloped.

Hardy remains the heart of The Last Dance, and his performance is its strongest asset. He balances Eddie’s self-deprecating humor with genuine vulnerability, particularly in scenes where Venom forces him to confront their shared mortality. The dynamic between Hardy and Venom (voiced again by Hardy) still crackles with chemistry, especially in quieter moments like their desert conversation about the Codex—a concept that sounds far more intriguing on paper than it plays out on screen.

But chemistry alone can’t carry a film, and The Last Dance suffers from structural missteps. The first act is a mess of exposition: Eddie and Venom flee Mexico, only to be hunted by both human military forces (led by Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Strickland) and an alien predator called the Xenophage. Each new threat feels like a distraction rather than a deepened layer of conflict. The film’s attempt to weave in cosmic horror—via Knull, the symbiote creator—never fully materializes, leaving you with a vague sense that something bigger is at stake without ever clarifying what.

Marcel’s direction is uneven. She excels in intimate scenes, like Eddie’s reunion with Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu), where the camera lingers on Hardy’s expressive face and the emotional weight of their conversation. But her handling of action sequences is shaky—literally. The Nevada desert chase, while visually striking, relies too heavily on handheld camerawork that makes it hard to follow what’s happening. Even when the film lands a punch, like the airplane sequence where Eddie and Venom freefall mid-flight, it doesn’t linger long enough to let the tension build.

The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Ejiofor brings gravitas to Strickland, a soldier torn between loyalty to his mission and empathy for Eddie’s plight. Juno Temple’s Dr. Teddy Paine adds a layer of scientific curiosity, but her character arc is cut short by the film’s rush to its climax. Rhys Ifans’ Martin—a conspiracy-minded traveler who crosses paths with Eddie on the road—feels like an afterthought, a missed opportunity to deepen the emotional stakes.

Where The Last Dance falters most is in its inability to balance tone and coherence. The film wants to be heartfelt, but its pacing never allows for meaningful character development beyond Eddie and Venom. It wants to be cosmic horror, but the Xenophage feels like a generic action-movie villain rather than a terrifying force of nature. It wants to be a fitting conclusion to the trilogy, but it never finds the emotional or narrative clarity to deliver one.

That said, Venom: The Last Dance isn’t without its pleasures. Hardy’s performance is a reminder of why he was cast in the first place—his ability to make even the most ridiculous lines land with sincerity. And there are flashes of creativity in Marcel’s direction, like the way she uses practical effects to ground the film’s more outlandish moments.

But these strengths can’t offset its weaknesses. The script is muddled, the pacing uneven, and the themes—loyalty, sacrifice, identity—are never explored with enough depth to resonate.