Venom: The Last Dance [Blu-Ray]

Director: Kelly Marcel

Cast: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiorfor, Juno Temple

Release Date: January 21, 2025

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 6/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

‘Venom: The Last Dance’ rejoins Eddie and his Symbiote other half Venom as the two trek across the country on the run from the law. Trying to find a purpose for the Lethal Protector to utilize, the pair uncover a far greater threat than the various law enforcement agencies hunting them when a powerful entity familiar to Venom is able to track them down and sends hordes of creatures after them in order to claim the one element that can return them from their lifelong prison, an item that just happens to be located inside Eddie and Venom.

Directed this time around by Kelly Marcel from her own screenplay and based on a story by Marcel & Tom Hardy, Marcel does a solid job for the most part at the helm of ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ which marks her directorial debut, guiding along the somewhat lackluster conclusion with plenty of heart, humor and impressive visuals. The cast includes Tom Hardy (The Bikeriders), Chiwetel Ejiorfor (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Juno Temple (TV’s Ted Lasso), Rhys Ifans (TV’s House of the Dragon), Stephen Graham (The Irishman), Peggy Lu (Rockbottom), Alanna Ubach (TV’s Ted), and more who each offer capable and mostly decent performances in their respective roles, although Hardy easily steals the show with his ever-amusing portrayal of Eddie/Venom.

‘Venom: The Last Dance’ concludes the trilogy of films with more of a whimper than a bang. It has some ideas in its back pocket that it builds throughout only to seemingly abandon them before they can fully take fruition and instead takes viewers on something more equivalent to a goofy road trip with the duo than a massive, final adventure. The story itself jumps between various groups and stories that eventually kind of smash together at the end and feels like it uses the storyline more as a direct way of ending the series than a big, explosive and memorable finale and much of it feels forced and out of place.

It’s by no means a terrible sequel or film and it does have plenty of amusing and thrilling action sequences and fun moments for us to appreciate along the way, and Tom Hardy always seems to have such a great time making these films that it’s difficult not to enjoy watching him go wild throughout and ‘The Last Dance’ is certainly no exception in that regard. It’s well done in its execution and it always looks quite spectacular visually, while also seeming to once again push the boundaries of the PG-13 rating a bit further, but when it comes down to its execution as the final chapter in a trilogy it does sadly fall somewhat short, but that’s no reason not to let your brain take a backseat and simply enjoy the ride.

Overall, ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ delivers some amusing fun, laughs and a fair bit of thrilling action and dazzling visuals, while Tom Hardy once again offers an enjoyable performance going all out in the dual roles (so to speak) and his appropriately over the top portrayal continues to be a blast in its own right. Sadly though it does disappoint as the final chapter to a trilogy and largely disregards the many elements that typically make for a rewarding conclusion to a trilogy. ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ is recommended if you enjoyed the previous two installments and it should have little trouble keeping you entertained with a smile consistently on your face, especially if you don’t go in expecting a groundbreaking or shocking wrap up to the saga. It should at the very least be well worth the time and cost of a rental to give a chance whenever you have the opportunity.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks quite good as a whole and delivers a sharp, clean and nicely detailed presentation from start to finish that never suffers from any notable issues or troubles to be located throughout, and one would assume it only looks far superior in 4K as well. Detail is solid on characters, backgrounds and visual effects and also holds up well amid the fast moving action sequences, while black levels are deep and decent. Overall, this is a very nice high definition presentation that should please the fans.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack is quite a treat in its own right that delivers a clean, crisp and wildly aggressive audio presentation throughout. It repeatedly takes full advantage of all five available channels in order to send a whirlwind of activity zipping throughout the various speakers including music, action and vehicle effects, plus a great deal more, while never resulting in any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously becoming distorted or problematic in the process. Overall, this is a great 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ features a decent collection of entertaining extras including some ‘Deleted & Extended Scenes’ from the movie (running approximately 12 minutes in length altogether) and ‘Venomous Laughs: Outtakes & Bloopers’ (running approximately 2 minutes), in addition to various Behind the Scenes Featurettes and fun videos including ‘Author of Mayhem: From Writer to Director’ (approximately 6 minutes), ‘Venom Unleashed: The Action & Stunts’ (5 minutes), ‘Bonded in Chaos: Tom Hardy’ (6 minutes), ‘Venom’s Inner Circle’ (6 minutes), ‘Brock Bottom: Mrs. Chen Interview’ (3 minutes), ‘Savor the Last Bite: The Venom Legacy’ (5 minutes), plus ‘Select Scene PreVis’ for a few sequences (5 minutes combined) and the ‘One Last Dance – Tom Morello x Grandson Music Video’ (2 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 6/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

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‘Venom: The Last Dance’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Marvel & Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

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You can purchase ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ on Blu-ray at Amazon HERE!

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