I was a big fan of Spider-Man comics when I was a teenager. The David Mchelinie and Todd McFarlane run where they ran with the idea that the symbiote costume was taking over Peter Parker’s mind and body. Those issues including Amazing Spider-Man 300 were seminal moments in Spider-Man canon. Who knew Venom would be such a popular character going forward? Now film and comic book fans get to see this character and its host Eddie Brock going into the third film in a series. Venom:The Last Dance as the title suggests is the last time Sony will be making a Venom movie, I’m sure it won’t be the last time film and comic book fans will see this character on the big screen though.

As seen in Spider-Man No Way Home’s post-credit scene Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his sometimes friendly symbiote was at a bar in Mexico drinking when a portal opened and sucked them into another world. The world they were supposed to be in. Once back in their world they soon realize a big bug-like creature is hunting them. This is where the symbiote tells Eddie about Knoll and Codex. Meaning when they are one they can be tracked and a big bad wants to get the codex so he can escape the prison he’s in.

Tom Hardy has anchored this trilogy in a way I did know he could. He usually plays tough-as-nails kinds of characters. I’m not saying this character isn’t tough as nails, but he tends to be afraid of his own shadow to be honest. With these tough characters he plays he doesn’t have much of a sense of humor either. The character of Eddie Brock gives him the ability to act off of something in the vein of Abbott & Costello, Laurel & Hardy, or the Three Stooges. It’s nice to see Hardy in films where the audience is laughing at him or something the symbiote is doing. I laughed a lot at the main pairing in this movie.

A few scenes that were funny or the least very entertaining were one where the symbiote took over a horse and made Hardy’s character go along for the ride of his life, jumping out of a plane and ending up in a river floating downstream fighting soldiers and trying not to drown to death. While a big bug-like creature chases after them. These were all very hilarious sequences. This trilogy has gotten better and better at making me laugh. There is a tough-in-cheek aspect to what the filmmakers are doing with this franchise.  That’s why this one is my favorite of the trilogy,  excuse it’s the funniest of them all.

This trilogy has had some a-list talent like Michelle Williams and Riz Ahmed in the past two installments. In this latest film in the franchise, the filmmaker assembled another excellent cast. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a high-ranking military officer dead set on killing the symbiote or Hardy’s character whichever comes first. Juno Temple from Ted Lasso and Fargo Season 5 plays a scientist who has a soft spot for the symbiote and wants to study their relationship with humans. Rhys Ifans plays a hippy who’s taking his family to Area 51 before it’s destroyed. They come in contact with Hardy and try to help out. Little do they know they are in for the alien sighting of a lifetime by the time their trip is finished. Ifans is pretty funny as this character.

I wasn’t expecting much from this film because I didn’t like the last two installments in the trilogy. This one had a lot of heart and emotion built into the story though. I laughed at a lot of the funny banter and one-liners between Hardy and the symbiote.  They had me cracking up from the beginning of the movie. This was an emotional ride though because it’s the last time fans of these films will see this iteration of the character. The end of the film was the most gut-wrenching though. Overall I really enjoyed this third installment. It had a lot of elements the last two films in the trilogy didn’t have.

Venom: The Last Dance was a pleasant surprise for me. It makes me laugh quite a bit. The story was very entertaining and kept me interested throughout its running time. The supporting cast was pretty good with Ifans being the standout in that regard. The key though was the relationship between Hardy and the symbiote. It was better than ever this time around. The trailer had a scene not in the movie, but there were quite a few other scenes that were fun and full of adventure. This was a fond farewell to this version of one of my favorite characters from the McFarlane and Michelinie run of Amazing Spider-Man, but it, I’m sure, won’t be the last film fans will see of Venom in the films. If Kevin Feige has anything to do with it you can take it to the bank.

3 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen