Venom: The Last Dance is the third/final installment (at least for the time being) in Sony’s Venom film franchise. Knull, the King in Black and God of the Void, has been around longer than the Universe itself. A long time ago, he was imprisoned in by his symbiotic children on his home planet of Klyntar with no way to escape. However, when Venom brought Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) back to life in the first Venom film, this created a codex within the symbiotic pair, a key that could be used to unlock this prison. So Knull has sent his deadly symbiote-hunting Xenophages to scour the universe to find the codex.
After returning from the multiverse, Eddie and Venom see themselves on the news and learn that they are being blamed for the death of Detective Mulligan (Stephen Graham). Now fugitives, and unable to return to San Francisco, they decide to head to New York City, where Eddie plans to blackmail a corrupt judge into clearing his name. However, the pair quickly discover that they are being hunted by the Xenophages—whenever Venom fully takes over Eddie’s body to become the Lethal Protector, the codex becomes a glowing beacon to the Xenophages. As Eddie and Venom head out on their road trip, they are picked up by a friendly alien-conspiracy theory-obsessed man named Martin (Rhys Ifans) and his family—wife Nova Moon (Alanna Ubach), and children Echo (Hala Finley) and Leaf (Dash McCloud)—who are heading down the Extraterrestrial Highway to see Area 51 before the site is decommissioned in 3 days. Martin’s lifelong dream is to spot an alien—little does he know just how close he already is to one!
The Xenophages aren’t the only ones looking for Eddie. General Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is in charge of the top secret research facility Area 55, which resides deep below Area 51. The scientisst there are doing symbiotic containment and analysis research and experiments. He is anxious to find Eddie and add his symbiote to their collection. One of those working at the facility is Dr. Teddy Paine (Juno Temple, Ted Lasso), a woman who was left injured after being struck by lightning as a child, along with her twin brother, who didn’t survive the incident. Her survivor’s guilt has made her take on her brother’s lifelong dream of working on alien research. Assisting Teddy in her efforts is loyal assistant Sadie (Clark Backo). While Teddy sees the symbiotes as potential allies, the general sees them as the enemy. However Strickland soon discovers that there is something else out there—that they are up against a much bigger and deadlier foe—and may need to work with the symbiotes in order to save the planet from certain annihilations.
Venom: The Last Dance is a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, giving viewers not only the same fun mix of action and humor as the first two films, but also a surprising amount of heart this time around. Eddie and Venom have been a part of one another for a year now. Despite their initial push and pull, they have grown to love, appreciate and depend on one another and their symbiotic relationship. They are now up against their most dangerous threat yet, and know that all signs point to the fact that one or both of them may need to die in order to stop it. Their bittersweet road trip feels like one last hurrah for this duo that has become somewhat inseparable, and both of them are at the point where they would sacrifice themselves for the other. As Eddie (and Venom inside his head) spend time with the loving hippie family in their VW bus, they see the type of life they would love to have, but know it isn’t likely in the cards. Despite all this sappiness and heart, the film also gives fans all that fun sarcastic banter between the duo, such as Venom’s reactions to the names of the family members and the likely therapy the kids will need to go through some day. While the film build to a big exciting, action0packed battle, there are also those more comical action-packed moments with Venom and Eddie working together to take down some smaller bad guys—such as a threatening gang of dog fighters.
The film introduces us to some great new characters, such as General Strickland, who is adamant about taking down the aliens, and not treating them like friends. Or the more compassionate and welcoming scientists like Dr. Teddy Paine and Sadie, who are more intellectually interested in the symbiotes and how they can work together. The film also finds a very organic way to bring back fan favorites like Mrs. Chen for a reunion with Venom, in one of the film’s most delightful sequences. In addition to the heart and humor, the film also has some huge action-packed set-pieces, including the big faceoff between the symbiotes and the Xenophages. Often when these Marvel films are rated PG-13, I see so many complaints on the internet that “it should have been R”. For me, the film never felt like it was neutered or limited by this rating. There was only one moment when I noticed that the end of a swear word was cut off, but otherwise, I never even thought about the rating. There is plenty of action and violence, such as when the Xenophages swallow their enemies and turn them into a pink mist.
Venom: The Last Dance ultimately builds to an emotionally satisfying conclusion for the trilogy that feels like a solid conclusion to this story and these characters. Though it does leave things open for the possibility of a return with its mid- and post-credits scenes.
Sony has released this third installment of Venom on SteelBook and Standard 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital. We were sent the Blu-ray release for review, which looks and sounds great. The picture is clean and has an excellent level of detail throughout, even in the darker sequences. The effects are pretty much seamless and it feels like these symbiotes and Xenophages are really interacting with their human counterparts. The audio track provides clear dialogue, and makes excellent use of the stereo and surround channels to provide a fully immersive experience. Whether it’s just the ambient sounds of the busy casino floor, the chaos at the research facility, helicopter blades whirring overhead, or the sounds of destruction all around, you feel like you are right in the middle of the action. The Blu-ray disc contains nearly an hour of bonus material, including outtakes, deleted/extended scenes, pre-vis footage, a music video, and several behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast and crew. The release includes just a single Blu-ray disc packed in a standard HD keepcase, placed in a carboard slipcover. An insert provides instructions on how to redeem an HD digital copy of the film.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:48:56)
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Descriptive Audio Service, French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French Audio Descriptive Service, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Thai 5.1 Dolby Digital
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, Cantonese, Chinese Traditional, French, Korean, Spanish, Thai
- HD Movies Anywhere digital copy of the film.
- Venomous Laughs: Outtakes & Bloopers (2:29)
The cast flub/forget lines, deal with misbehaving props, and have fun on set. - Author of Mayhem: From Writer to Director (5:49)
The cast and crew talk about working with Kelly Marcel, who wrote all of the Venom films, and her new role as director for this final installment. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with stunt coordinator James Churchman, director of photography Fabian Wagner, director/co-writer Kelly Marcel, star/producer/co-writer Tom Hardy (“Eddie”), and actors Clark Backo (“Sadie”), Juno Temple (“Dr. Teddy Paine”), Chiwetel Ejiofor (“General Strickland”), Rhys Ifans (“Martin”) & Stephen Graham (“Detective Mulligan”). - Venom Unleashed: The Action & Stunts (5:21)
The cast and crew talk about amping up the stunts and action for the film, having the actors perform their own stunts, making use of practical effects, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with stunt coordinator James Churchman, visual effects producer Greg Baxter, director/co-writer Kelly Marcel, director of photography Fabian Wagner, picture vehicle supervisor Nico Ferrari, and stars Juno Temple, Tom Hardy, Stephen Graham, Chiwetel Ejiofor & Rhys Ifans. - Bonded in Chaos: Tom Hardy (6:02)
The cast and crew talk about working with Tom Hardy, and his performance as Eddie and Venom. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director/co-writer Kelly Marcel, and stars Rhys Ifans, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu (“Mrs. Chen”) & Clark Backo. - Venom’s Inner Circle (6:23)
The director and cast discuss the new and returning characters. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director/co-writer Kelly Marcel, and stars Peggy Lu, Stephen Graham, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans & Clark Backo. - Brock Bottom: Mrs. Chen Interview (3:15)
Mrs. Chen discusses her relationship with Eddie Brock and tries to clear his name in this TV news report that recaps some of the events of the first 2 films. - Savor the Last Bite: The Venom Legacy (4:40)
Montage of clips, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews from all three films. It serves both as a catch-up and a promo for the third installment. - Deleted & Extended Scenes (12:29)
Collection of 7 deleted/extended scenes. Play All, or select from:- From Bar To The Abyss (1:10)
Eddie and Venom are transported from the bar to an abyss between universes. - Dog Fight (6:49)
Extended cut of Eddie and Venom fighting off a gang of dog fighters. - Strickland’s Pursuit (1:19)
General Strickland and his men go after Brock; Eddie and Venom ride on a plane (literally). - Venom’s Guilty Pleasure (:35)
Venom enjoys a telenovela from outside the plane. - Toxin’s Warning (1:01)
In his cell, Detective Mulligan delivers Toxin’s warning about the codex. - Penthouse (1:31)
Venom and Eddie catch Mrs. Chen up with what’s been happening. - Xenophage Landing (:38)
A Xenophage crash lands on Earth.
- From Bar To The Abyss (1:10)
- Select Scene PreVis (4:41)
Three scenes are presented in pre-vis format in picture-in-picture along with the final version. in Play All, or select from:- Airplane (1:38)
- Desert (1:14)
- Lab Attack (2:00)
- One Last Dance – Tom Morello x Grandson (2:37)
Music video for “One Last Dance” by Tom Morello x Grandson. Footage of the band cut with footage from the film. - Previews (2:33)
Trailer for Bad Boys: Ride or Die.
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Blu-ray:
Digital (Limited time offer):
Extras:
Final Thoughts:
Venom: The Last Dance is an entertaining and solid final chapter of the Venom trilogy. It not only gives viewers the witty sarcastic banter, action, and humor they’ve grown accustomed to from the first two films, but it also adds in a lot of heart, giving these characters and their story an emotionally-satisfying conclusion. Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sound great, and includes nearly an hour of entertaining bonus material. That said, if you have the ability to play back 4K, I’d go for the 4K option. This is a must own for fans of the franchise, and recommended for fans of the genre in general.
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