Owing more than a nod to John Carpenter’s The Thing, Venom: The Last Dance ramps up the gooey goodness and adds some new characters to the mix. Tom Hardy returns (quite possibly for the last time) along with his morphing buddy Venom who still refuses to leave him in peace. Juno Temple plays a scientist with an interest in alien lifeforms, because, well every movie needs a hot blonde that has a PhD.
The stakes are high this time with the end of the world as we know it at risk. It’s all explained before the opening credits even roll and after the film’s end it still makes no sense but that’s part of the fun. Hardy who carries with him a reputation for achieving a certain level of seriousness is a lot of fun to watch as the ever-unwinding human caught with this unwanted passenger.
Chiwetel Ejiofor relishes the chance to play military hard-man Rex Strickland and with a name like that, you know there will be some major heroics on display. His seriousness is only matched by the silliness of the script (one that Hardy helped to write) and that is how it should be. The Marvel Universe is already overflowing with way too many severe stiffs and the humour on display here is more than welcome.
Never presented on the serious side of the MCU, the Venom character with its manic energy feels right paired with an actor of equal intensity and Hardy brings something special to the role. His influence on the script is also felt in a more well-rounded and emotional presentation of the Venom character. It’s still silly to the extreme but knowing that going in rewards the viewer with some excellent escapist entertainment.
Rob Hudson
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