Venom: The Last Dance (2024)

I sometimes forget how much fun I had with the first two Venom movies, considering how low my expectations were for either of them. Both are an enjoyably refreshing mix of anti-hero shenanigans and superhero-type stuff, and Hardy has loads of fun in the central role. It's a shame that this is the final outing for the character in this iteration, but it's also definitely time to call it a day. This is the weakest of the three movies, and it's even messier than anything else we've seen so far, but at least it feels like a proper ending (in as much as these kinds of movies can ever feel like they have a proper ending nowadays).

Eddie Brock is back in our world, with everything established in early scenes that may confuse anyone who had forgotten about the multiverse shenanigans teasing treats in the previous movie. He and Venom continue to have a pretty good relationship nowadays, always finding the best lowlife criminals to enjoy as a tasty snack, but trouble is coming their way. The fact that they are such a successful fusion makes them valuable to a major villain who sends the alien equivalent of sniffer dogs to find them, and there's also a determined military man, Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who believes that Venom needs to be destroyed. Dr. Teddy Paine (Juno Temple) thinks otherwise.

It's no surprise to see that writer Kelly Marcel has finally been rewarded for her contribution to the series with a directorial gig here, and it's also no surprise that this is her directorial debut. Having worked with Hardy on the story idea, Marcel is also responsible for the screenplay. That makes it easier to know who to blame for this whole mess, although I think Hardy has broad enough shoulders, and enough invested in the series, to share the burden. There are individual moments of fun, but the third act is particularly painful to the eyes, as well as being hard to stay patient with while you wait for all of the characters to figure out how to make use of Chekhov's . . . well . . . something that was surrounded by neon signs and arrows pointing at it as soon as it was first shown onscreen.

Hardy is still good in the main role, although always more fun when he is free and loose to avoid acting heroic, and he deserves to be given this vehicle to bid a fond farewell to a movie series that seemed to succeed more due to his sheer willpower than anything else. Ejiofor brings his usual excellence to his role, despite the fact that he is just there to be the human-shaped threat in amongst all of the alien monsters and, to use the technical term, squiggly-wiggly CGI. Temple connects various plot points and provides extra exposition, and there's some comedy provided by Rhys Ifans, playing a believer in aliens leading his family on what will end up being a very eye-opening road trip. Stephen Graham and Peggy Lu both return, and both are given far less screentime than they deserve, and it's strange that the latter is involved with a scene that seems to directly reference a heavily-derided sequence from Spider-Man 3.

Fans of more variety in their symbiotes will find plenty to enjoy in the third act, there are set-pieces that at least maintain the mix of action and humour that has been a positive aspect of the trilogy, and you get more amusing exchanges between Eddie and Venom as the two discuss their plans and the path that they cannot seem to avoid hurtling along. I still have to end this review by reiterating that the whole thing is a big mess, but it's an intermittently entertaining big mess, helped by a 110-minute runtime that allows it to feel a step removed from the longer and more bloated blockbusters we've become used to in recent years.

6/10

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Prime Time: I Want You Back (2022)

Writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger have an extensive body of work already, most of it in the realm of television, and it's clear that they know the same rom-com rules that the rest of us are all too aware of. I Want You Back is, despite some of the more twisted moments, a fairly traditional rom-com. Fortunately, it's a very enjoyable one.

Charlie Day is Peter, a man heartbroken when his partner, Anne (Gina Rodriguez), tells him that they shouldn't be together any more. Jenny Slate is Emma, a woman thrown into the same level of emotional pain when her partner, Noah (Scott Eastwood), delivers the same message. As Noah is developing a relationship with a woman named Ginny (Clark Backo), and Anne is cosying up to a colleague, Logan (Manny Jacinto), Peter and Emma come together in their grief, discover the mutual cause of their pain, and team up to get their exes back. Peter aims to befriend Noah, getting close enough to start having conversations with him that will make him doubt the strength of his relationship with Ginny, while Emma thinks she can seduce Logan, therefore separating him and Anne. Things soon get a bit messy.

Director Jason Orley hasn't been at the helm of too many projects so far. His first feature was Big Time Adolescence, which was then followed by a Pete Davidson TV special. As Davidson also makes a cameo appearance here, that's three for three. Perhaps Orley thinks that he is his lucky charm. He might be right. I recall enjoying what I saw of Big Time Adolescence (I need to revisit it though, my viewing was interrupted and I forgot to pick up again where I left off) and this film is an easy viewing choice for those who like the leads, those who want a few laughs, and those who will watch anything that comes under the umbrella of "rom-com".

Day and Slate are great in the lead roles. Both manage to balance their personas just right, showing how they have been hurt and want to hit back without making themselves seem like truly horrible people (even though their plan is absolutely horrible). Day gets to deliver the easier laughs, but Slate has a lot of the subtle and smarter lines throughout. Eastwood isn't bad here either, if he keeps this up then I may stop dreading his appearance in every movie, and Backo is very sweet as the new woman that he has fallen in love with. Rodriguez has a lot less to do, often at the edge of certain scenes until she serves as the final punctuation, but Jacinto is hilariously narcissistic and egotistical. There's also a great turn from Luke David Blumm, playing a young boy named Trevor who ends up being helped by Slate's character.

The situations get gradually more ridiculous, and amusing, there’s a wonderful sub-plot revolving around a stage production of Little Shop Of Horrors, and the last few scenes are sweet and predictable. This is very solid rom-com territory, and Day and Slate show how well they work with this kind of material. They soften their personas slightly, but not in a way that will upset people who have been fans of them for a long time already.

An easy watch, and I hope both Day and Slate have many more upcoming projects to make good use of their talents.

7/10

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