The third and final film in the Venom franchise, starring Tom Hardy, premiered this Thursday in Australia, but the antihero’s farewell has been met with overwhelmingly negative reviews. Titled Venom: The Last Dance, the movie picks up after Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, showing Eddie Brock and his symbiote companion Venom on the run from the law.
While Hardy has been praised for his compelling and entertaining performance as both Eddie Brock and Venom, the film as a whole has faced harsh criticism. The Wrap commented, “Watching this movie feels like watching the superhero genre die for two hours. Right in front of you. Holding your hand. Clinging to its last shred of dignity.”
Unfavorable comparisons were also drawn, with Comic Book calling it “a disappointing Sony-Marvel release to sit alongside flops like Madame Web.” Vulture was even more scathing, suggesting the film was “bad on purpose” and mocking the audience for paying to see it.
Other outlets offered more balanced takes. Variety noted that while the Venom films have been box office hits and occasionally fun, “I can’t say they’ve ever been truly good. More like placeholders that deliver the basics.”
The Guardian awarded the film two stars, observing, “It’s not as catastrophic as Madame Web or as redundant as The Marvels. It’s just passable in a throwaway kind of way, blessed by a surprisingly short runtime that avoids exhaustion but fails to truly entertain or excite.”
Despite the critiques, Venom: The Last Dance closes the antihero’s saga with a loyal fanbase and promises of ongoing debates between fans and critics.
