(Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment)
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(“Venom: The Last Dance” trailer courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Third installments of popular film franchises can be hit or miss.
“The Godfather: Part III” did not measure up to its predecessors.
Nor did “Rush Hour III” or “Friday After Next.”
However, sometimes that third installment can hit pay dirt like “Bad Boys for Life.”
Fortunately, and unfortunately, “Venom: The Last Dance” is somewhere in the middle.
“Venom: The Last Dance” starts off like a miss.
But the fire ending is a hit, which saves the third installment of going the route of “Friday After Next.”
In the “Bad Boys” franchise, Martin Lawrence and Will Smith often sing the popular “Bad Boys” song, which asks what you gonna do when they come for you?
Well, in “Venom: The Last Dance” that is definitely a loaded question because Eddie (Tom Hardy) and Venom have people coming f0r them from multiple worlds.
They are wanted for some of their past shenanigans in San Francisco.
And they are wanted by an entity from another world, who must remain locked up unless he is able to capture something that Eddie and Venom have on them, which would free him to wreak havoc on the world.
In “Venom: The Last Dance,” Dr. Payne (Juno Temple) has a fascination with the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
The love that she has for the great unknown comes from the love that her twin brother had for space.
He always envisioned himself working for NASA.
And as kids, the twins would just stare out into space, wondering what existed beyond the sky.
Unfortunately, Dr. Payne’s brother could not fulfill his lifelong dreams.
Therefore, she takes it upon herself to make his dreams become a reality vicariously through her profession, working at Area 51.
Dr. Payne has found a kindred spirit at her Area 51 lab.
But to many non-scientists like Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Dr. Payne and her comrades are just straight up weird.
One of the scientists even wears a Christmas pin on her lab coat in the middle of July, which just befuddles Strickland.
Nevertheless, people calling the scientists weird does not matter to them.
What does matter is the government’s plans to shut down Area 51.
Space and alien enthusiasts often travel to Area 51 because they believe that is where the government hides proof of extraterrestrial life.
One family of space nerds makes the journey to Area 51 to see if they can finally see proof of alien life before the area is torn down.
Unfortunately, instead of meeting something looking like E.T., they only meet Eddie.
While Eddie is definitely different and sometimes talks to himself, he lets his new friends know that aliens are not real, despite the fear of the family’s young son.
Despite Eddie’s eccentricities, the alien-loving family trusts him enough to give him a ride from the middle of nowhere to Las Vegas so that he can get to New York where he and Venom might be safer.
And even though the family might find Eddie peculiar, he finds them extremely weird as well, especially their strange sing-a-longs while driving to “Sin City.”
Regardless, Venom has the Statue of Liberty on his bucket list.
Therefore, there is no better time to scratch that off the bucket list seeing that Eddie and Venom are running for their freedom and possibly their lives.
Strickland and his soldiers want to capture Eddie and Venom so that they can contain all extraterrestrial life.
While Strickland poses a threat to Eddie and Venom, the biggest threat they face is from the entity that needs to capture them and take something from them so that he can escape captivity.
This entity is hellbent on destroying Eddie and Venom, as well as all humanity too.
The problem with “Venom: The Last Dance” is the problem with all comic book/superhero/villain movies.
It is the premise of the story, which becomes redundant even though that is the entire point of a superhero movie.
A superhero saves the day and/or the world from destruction.
That planned destruction often comes from a supervillain who has a bone to pick with someone in another world or galaxy.
Usually, the good guys possess something that could threaten the world if it gets into the hands of some malevolent creature.
At the end, hopefully, the good guys will prevail, and people will continue living happily ever after.
That whole concept becomes wack and tired after a while.
And unfortunately, “Venom: The Last Dance” begins kind of wack and corny.
The “Venom” franchise always had its cheesy moments.
That was part of the appeal.
But it becomes too predictable by the time the third installment comes around.
But it most certainly does not end that way.
The weird family becomes lovable, especially the children.
“Venom: The Last Dance” contains one or two surprises towards the climax of the movie, which prevents the entire movie from becoming predictable.
Despite the typical juvenile behavior between Eddie and Venom, Hardy still does his thing as expected.
Hardy very rarely, if ever, delivers a bad performance whether in serious or unserious roles.
Furthermore, the explosive ending makes up for the slow start in “Venom: The Last Dance.”
So, while “Venom: The Last Dance” does not equal the greatness of third installments like “Bad Boys for Life,” it does not totally fail because of the comeback after the slow start and the greatness of Hardy.
It is not great, not mediocre.
But just slightly above that, which might me good enough for the closing chapter of the franchise.
REGAL RATINGS
FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT
THREE CROWNS=GOOD
TWO CROWNS=AVERAGE
ONE CROWN=POOR
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