Venom: The Last Dance 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Venom: The Last Dance 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

"We're home! I'm so done with the multiverse $#!%."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown January 17, 2025

Venom: The Last Dance opens with a promise it never fulfills: that of Knull, one of the most powerful, frightening new villains to grace Marvel Comicdom in recent memory. Imprisoned for millennia, he only needs to gain access to the Codex, a MacGuffin Venom and Eddie conveniently share, and which only Venom and Eddie can provide to the imprisoned deity/creator of the symbiotes. Of course, his freedom would spell the end of life in the universe, so Eddie and Venom's quote-unquote Last Dance literally involves saving the entire universe. The rules of cinema dictate the MacGuffin will be briefly captured by the Big Bad in Act Three, only to have our wayward antiheroes eke out a win. But no such luck. Knull is a tease and nothing more, and while that may come as a spoiler to a scant few, it needs to be known because the movie is ten times more disappointing if you aren't prepared going in. Knull is little more than Thanos was in the original Avengers, except he's teased in the opening minutes rather than the mid-credits scene after all is said and done (though he gets a starring role there too). The rest of the film is standard Venom: lots of symbiotes fighting an alien beastie, vying for 2024's FX that Best Resembles a PS4 Cut Scene award.

One, two Knull is coming for you... three, four better lock your door... so believe the symbiotes of their once and future god-king Knull (fully CG and voiced by Andy Serkis), a vicious villain determined to portal his minions throughout the universe to find the Codex, the only thing capable of breaking his chains and freeing him. One such minion makes its way to Earth, where it quickly and oh so conveniently stumbles across Venom and Eddie. But as luck would have it, the dull-witted monstrosity can only spot the Codex when Eddie and Venom (Tom Hardy) are fully merged, meaning the pair go on the lam, using their powers as little as possible. Alas, they run into convenience store owner Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu) at a casino in Las Vegas, and Venom can't resist dancing with his best bud. (Possibly the literal Last Dance of the title.) As is obvious from the first step and shuffle, all hell breaks loose, spilling into Area 51, which sits atop an even more secret facility -- something-something 55 -- where a group of Imperium soldiers and scientists are holding and studying multiple symbiotes that have been recovered on Earth. For simplicity's sake, none of the other symbiotes carry the Codex, making Venom the lone target.

Eddie and Venom not only have to continually escape the lightning quick Xenophage tracking their position (and eventually its friends) -- deep breath for super long sentence -- they have to contend with an overeager military general (an uncharacteristically ham-fisted Chiwetel Ejiofor), a sweet but haunted scientist named Dr. Teddy Paine (Juno Temple) who finds the symbiotes "lovely," a researcher (Clark Backo) who seems to dream of bonding with a symbiote herself, the decidedly not-dead, symbiote-infested Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham) from Let There Be Carnage and, naturally, a bunch of symbiotes that might be friendlier than they appear. Whew. Exhale. Oh! Good ol' Eddie and Venom also have to protect a hapless family of hippies they've befriended, led by parents Martin and Nova Moon (Rhys Ifans and Alanna Ubach).

What's a rogue symbiote to do? Apparently bad comedy, dropping tired one-liners, cheap puns and plenty of dead-on-arrival jokes until the climactic showdown grants the movie some actual momentum. There are a few genuinely funny bits and even a few dramatic beats that might generate a solid man-tear in a better movie, but by and large, this is point A to point B Big Dumb Fun, minus much of the fun that might be had if The Last Dance didn't feel so much like it was rehashing the previous films and cribbing the likes of The Eternals. (Which wouldn't be my pick of MCU movie to swipe from.) Add to that plenty of plot confusion and aimless acceleration -- Why doesn't Detective Mulligan also have a Codex? He died didn't he? Am I supposed to care about Dr. Teddy losing her brother in childhood? Or see some real significance in her lightning strike injury? And why are all the symbiotes suddenly so helpful and happy to save humans? Since when is their appetites second to their heroism? And why oh why am I watching a flick about an imprisoned Knull instead of seeing him crash to Earth and wreak hellish havoc until Venom and Eddie can put him back in his box? -- not to mention strangely choppy editing that makes it feel as if a half-hour of scenes have been ripped, beating and bleeding, out of The Last Dance's chest.

Venom: The Last Dance at least stands taller than Let There Be Carnage and handily bests every other Sony Spiderman alt-universe titles, especially the likes of Morbius, Madame Web and, dropping low as one of the worst movies of 2024, Kraven the Hunter, the three of which comprise a shiver-inducing trilogy of Spidey-verse misfires if there ever was one. And there is something mildly entertaining to watching reluctant Eddie share his mind palace with Venom, who may as well be a five-year-old kid in a candy store. Which brings me unfortunately to my problem with Hardy's performance and Eddie's character in all the Venom films. Rather than slowly evolve into a true symbiotic antihero, Eddie is always lurching and lurking, trying but failing to oppose Venom's will. Imagine if The Last Dance introduced a near fully realized Venom, a la Upgrade, and found Eddie getting high on his own symbiote supply? Now imagine he started to like it, love it, grow addicted to the power... think how much better just that single change would make The Last Dance. And it would be dominoes too, altering the course of Eddie's character arc and making for a far more complex take on the fan-favorite Big Guy in Black. Ah well. The Xenophage is at least crazy cool, with one of the best kill mechanics I've seen from an on-screen alien in a long time. It never got old watching it dispose of a victim. Never.

Venom: The Last Dance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The 4K UltraHD release of Venom: The Last Dance boasts a striking 2160p native video transfer that looks every bit as bold and vibrant as a comic-book movie in the vein of Venom should. There's just one hitch; the same hitch whether you go with the standard Blu-ray or 4K BD version of the film. VFX sequences come in three varieties: dim and muddled (many of the third-act action sequence shots), dark and nearly opaque (anything involving Knull), or beautifully lit and flawed (anytime Venom pops up during the day or under hot lights), showing all the seams of the CG. It doesn't make for a very satisfying look per se, but technically speaking, all is as it was meant to be. Colors are rich and fierce, with Dolby Vision boosts lending symbiote primaries punch, elements like Mrs. Chen's Vegas gown vivid red shimmer, and explosions plenty of lush reds, oranges and greens... depending on what's exploding. Black levels, meanwhile, are as inky as they come, delineation is semi-decent (insofar as it showcases whatever the cinematography allows, which isn't always much), and contrast leveling is on point. Again, being able to see all the hard work the filmmakers and effects artists have put into a shot would be ideal, but I suppose beggars can't be choosers (at least when FX personnel are under the gun of restrictive deadlines). 4K detailing is generally excellent, with crisp, razor-tendril edges and refined textures, particularly when the sun is out or a lab's lighting is up to snuff. I also didn't catch sight of any significant artifacting, banding, blocking or errant noise, meaning The Last Dance's encode is sound.

Venom: The Last Dance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Look no further than Venom: The Last Dance if you want a quick lesson in what Dolby Atmos brings to the table compared to a standard 5.1 or 7.1 lossless track. The movie gets loud, and I mean loud. But not just any ol' loud. It gets loud with finesse. LFE output is aggressive and rousing, with low-end explosions packing particular kick. The surround channels take full advantage of any and all chaos on screen too, filling the soundfield with engaging and immersive directional effects, ambience and acoustic properties. A claustrophobic VW van sounds entirely different than an underground facility... which sounds entirely different from the buildings above ground in Area 51. It may sound obvious but there's a prowess present here that defies Venom's more campy sensibilities. Tendrils whip from one side of the soundstage to the other with smooth, seamless speed. Debris rains down from above, shrapnel flies outward from the center channel, vehicles roll and rend from front to back, and helicopters whir overhead, all while our heroes sprint and scatter between fireballs and attack-dog aliens. Dialogue remains clear and intelligible in the face of the most eruptive madness, and prioritization is spot on. The Last Dance has a blast of a soundtrack too, with classic rock hits sounding every bit as infectious as you might hope. A Venom flick has never sounded better.

Venom: The Last Dance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Venomous Laughs (HD, 3 minutes) - Outtakes and bloopers.

• Author of Mayhem: From Writer to Director (HD, 6 minutes) - Introducing the filmmaker.

• Venom Unleashed (HD, 5 minutes) - An action and stunts featurette.

• Bonded in Chaos (HD, 6 minutes) - A quickie about actor Tom Hardy's performance.

• Venom's Inner Circle (HD, 6 minutes) - A trip with the Moons.

• Brock Bottom (HD, 3 minutes) - Mrs. Chen interview.

• Savor the Last Bite (HD, 5 minutes) - A "Venom Legacy" featurette.

• Deleted & Extended Scenes (HD, 13 minutes) - "From Bar to the Abyss," "Dog Fight," "Strickland's Pursuit," "Venom's Guilty Pleasure," "Toxin's Warning," "Penthouse" and "Xenophage Landing."

• Previs Scenes (HD, 5 minutes) - For the Airport, Desert and Lab Attack scenes.

• One Last Dance (HD, 3 minutes) - A featurette with Tom Morello and his grandson.

Venom: The Last Dance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The best thing that can be said of Venom: The Last Dance is that it is a decent bit of fun and that it (seemingly) brings Sony's version of the character to a solid close, making way for whatever the MCU proper decides to do. It's too short, cartoony and choppily edited for its own good, but fans of the series will likely find a few things to enjoy. Sony's 4K UltraHD release makes finding something to enjoy that much easier too, thanks to a striking 2160p video presentation, a fantastic Dolby Atmos track, and a fair complement of extras.