‘Venom: The Last Dance’ review: Tom Hardy’s final comic book fling is fun and fearless

Tom Hardy is a master of accents and voices, human or alien. Admired by people of all ages and genders for his appearances on CBeebies Bedtime Stories, character acting chops and blockbuster fronting, he’s one of Britain’s best screen talents. For his apparently final attempt at playing American reporter Eddie Brock and his hilarious parasite Venom, he’s having lots of fun and so should we.

After the trials of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Eddie is a wanted man hiding out in Mexico but he can’t stay quiet for long. There are military tough guys after our unlikely duo, led by the redoubtable Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) but more importantly a battalion of Venoms coming from another planet to mess with Eddie and humanity.

Eddie and Venom go on the run when even their Mexican hideout seems unsafe and hook up with a hippy family, Rhys Ifans singing and smiling away – seemingly unaware of the hellfire approaching him and his family.

For the most part, the film bumbles along as a road movie with Eddie and his symbiote pal the prime public enemies. There’s a scientific sub-plot but most viewers will just nod and wait for more Hardy vocal dramatics.

There’s fun to be had with Eddie and Venom – the former journalist the straight-faced man playing dumb, while his knowing alien has all the best jokes. They share the same body but are once again are at loggerheads – Venom wants to eat all on their path, Eddie seeks a quiet life.

It’s all a lot of nonsense, naturally, with Stephen Graham’s Detective Mulligan roped in for a comatose cameo and a bizarre, hilarious sequence involving a Venom-adulterated horse leaping through the wilderness. As per the previous two Venom films, we rely greatly – perhaps too much – on Hardy’s easy charisma to maintain our attention before a grandstanding finish.

Like many comic-book movies, Venom: The Last Dance was neither necessary nor particularly demanded by viewers. That said, it’s clearly in on the joke of its own creation and rarely takes itself too seriously. Hardy fans keen for a laugh will lap it up and forgive the slightly incomprehensible plotting, while those who just want a break from reality can happily chuckle at a comic book (anti)hero who is uncommonly free from the navel-gazing that afflicts bigger names of the genre. It’s not big or clever but it is enjoyable.

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