Cinepals - VENOM: THE LAST DANCE Non Spoiler Review! | Marvel | Tom Hardy | Juno Temple

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

The CinePals watch Venom 3 in Imax and here is the review without spoilers! Venom: The Last Dance is directed by Kelly Marcel and stars Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Mad Max: Fury Road) as Eddie Brock/ Venom and Juno Temple (Ted Lasso, Atonement, Killer Joe) as Dr. Payne. SOCIAL MEDIA ~CINEPALS~  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Cinepals Insta: https://instagram.com/TheCinePals Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCinePals ~CORTNEY WRIGHT~ Instagram: @CortneyScottWright ~ACHARA KIRK~ Twitter & Instagram: @AcharaKirk

Senna. We just got back from watching Venom the Last Dance in IMAX. This is going to be a non-spoiler discussion. I will throw it over to a char real quick to give you guys the short summary of Venom the last dance. No spoilers, please. Okay. In Venom the last dance, Eddie and Venom are on the run as we know. However, they soon find out that something worse is on its way from Venom's home planet.

And they have to make a difficult decision for their last dance. Here's a game for the three of us, okay? Okay. I'll start. It's a three-word summary. So I'm going to say good but weird. That's my three-word summary. Oh, that's great.

Oh, goodness. You can't just throw this on me. Because you did a really good one. You thought about that. Yeah. I only thought about it when I went to go pee. Oh. But that was like 10 minutes ago.

Super fun time. There we go. Fun romance. That's two words. I'll take that. I saw on it. thing that it said it was like made for iMacs and like i did notice when i like took the time to look i was like oh there actually are a lot of like iMac's scenes there are some scenes where it's

slightly taller yes you're right if you are kind of being like is it worth watching it in imax just know that there are certainly some scenes well i was going to piggyback on what you were saying in so far as there was something about the way that they shot this that was stunning it just kind of popped off the screen in a way that i yeah i don't remember experiencing that with Venom films. This was a unique experience in that regard where it felt more 3D, even though I was watching a 2D image. I don't know how to express it any better than that. Like, it just had a nice pop to it. While watching it, I noticed it. I was like, I guess that's the IMAX look or something, because this looks so much better than I've seen with other

films recently. It looks really, really nice. So I'm not here to blow smoke. You know, I'm just like telling you honestly what my experience was. And it did look pretty. There's a theme that runs through all three of these movies now, and that is the heart of it, which is Venom and Eddie, is like, that is what makes the movie work. Yep. And that is what happens every single time because the movie's so bizarre every time. And it's like, that's the plot. But there's so much fun that you have with those two together, which is really interesting

to think about because it's the same actor. You have so much fun with them that you sort of go, okay, we'll just ignore all that stuff in favor of this right here. We'll have tunnel vision on that. And you kind of have to do the same thing with this one, I feel, where it's like, as long as you're with them, for the most part, you're having a good time. There's some other cool stuff in there as well, which we might touch on, as long as it's not a spoiler, but I just want to let you guys, you know, know that it's a fun time with them. Yeah, no, I fully agree. Like,

every time it was just Eddie Brock and Venom, I was like, oh my God, I'm laughing, having a great time. And then when they would go do some other plot stuff or exposition and whatnot with other characters, I was like, when are we getting back to Eddie and Venom again? I mean, that definitely has to be like an amazing challenge as an actor to be like the straight man and the funny man at the exact same time. But totally agree. Venom and Eddie's relationship is the best part of the film because you get to see them like play off of each other and just be hilarious.

But I do feel like this one had a more clear plot that they were actually moving tours and fighting for as opposed to like the first one he's getting to know Venom he's not really sure if he wants Venom then the second one it's like I don't even really remember the second one I just remember there was a lot happening with carnage

and like all the things you know what I'm saying so yeah definitely it was really succinct and there were moments where I was like wow this plot is moving I'm so glad you said that because it really felt like there is a special edition cut of this movie left on the editing room floor

Because you go through that first 30 minutes, you're like, it feels like we're just jumping past stuff. But, like, I feel like there was a two-and-a-half-hour version of this with, like, extra setup and getting to know characters and whatnot, extra fun bits of dialogue. Just out, out, out. We got to get as many shows as possible in a day. And I got that sense from it.

But they thankfully slowed down in certain moments to allow you to feel things. Like, there are surprising moments in here where I actually felt a little bit emotional. And I was very surprised by that. Yeah, me too. And there were moments. where I definitely felt myself like, oh, what's going to happen? Okay, okay, okay, okay. I think because they built this emotional connection, one of the three, for me, in my opinion,

there were three segments or three main groups that had a point to get across in this show. And that, for me, created the emotional context between Eddie Venom and one of the other groups that are in the story. I don't know if we're allowed to talk about the villain in this movie. They showed it in the trailer, according to a charles. I don't remember the trailer. I don't remember seeing the villain in the trailer. I don't remember the trailer at all. All I'll say about the main, main villain

is that it felt like I was watching a cutscene from Final Fantasy. Like, it looked like Unreal Engine 5 or something. We're watching some PlayStation 5 cutscene, you know, of like a Final Fantasy 7 remake. It literally had that vibe to it, you know, with, I'm not going to describe the details of the character, but you'll see it as soon as you watch the movie,

like, it felt like a cutscene from that. Didn't you get that vibe? I'd like turn to you in the middle of it, and you're like, I thought it looked more like hellboy. Oh, hellboy, okay. I don't know how you got hellboy out of that. But anyway, just like any Marvel film or any action film these days,

there's lots of visual effects in this film. And I think that the visual effects was adequate. It wasn't like, for me, it wasn't mind-blowing. It was like, okay, that works. It wasn't like anything impressive where I'm watching something. Like, I know I'm seeing CGI the entire time. Whereas when I watch certain other things, I can't think of any recent examples off the top of my head,

but the easy go-to that everyone goes to is Jurassic Park, right? Where you watch it and it still looks real. This, it doesn't look real, but it looks adequate for convincing you enough to buy into the story. I actually thought that they looked really good, especially the big scary new monsters. I looked like a cartoon to me the whole time, but in a good way. Like, it fit, you know? I kind of agree. Like, I enjoyed them.

For me, they looked great. Yeah. I know that, like, visual effects is a huge thing. Oh, absolutely. You know, you don't want to be taken out of the movie because you're thinking, about like all the discrepancies and things that you can see. But I thought that it really enhanced the inner. But I was just concentrating on the story.

Yeah, yeah. For me, I thought that the details were great. I had fun. It didn't take me out of the film. I just wasn't ever scared. And you should be scared in a film like this. I didn't get scared once. I was just like, all right.

I think I was scared for the people. Eh, anyway. Yeah. So there you go, visual effects assessment. You could see in the credits, like there was so many people. that worked on this. And so, you know, kudos to their hard work. I'm not taking that away from them. I'm just giving you my honest feedback watching it. I'm like, that was cool. It was a fun time. I will say that there was definition, like more definition, at least like for the Venom character,

there were certain elements and moments that I really recognized how hard they worked to craft the character of Venom when in the full form. I really thought that was really cool. How did you feel about the action? I'm very curious to hear about... The action was cool. I mean, it was fun. For me, like, it was serviceable. You know what I mean? Like, I was content. It wasn't anything like, oh, my God, I got to go see that scene again.

It was like, it was at the service of the story, and it did enough for that. But for me, the stuff that I would go back to isn't that. I would go back to what I said at the beginning, which is Eddie and Venom. Like, that's the stuff that would bring me back to watch the film again. The action was cool. Like, it was, I had a good time. But, like, there was other characters introduced in this film that are just specifically for this movie. I don't want to talk about them because I feel like that's kind of a spoiler.

even though it's not a big deal. But there's a set of characters in the film that add levity and add heart to the film. And I'm like, yo, like, I would go back for that stuff. That was actually quite enjoyable. That was really good. Yeah. When you guys go watch it,

there's like a whole new set of characters that are like really quirky and fun played by a familiar actor, which kind of confused me a little bit in the beginning, but that's okay. There's too familiar actors in this film, and it's super odd. It's like, are we going to address this at all?

It's okay. It's multiverse. It's fine. Yeah. It was just, like really, really cute and fun. And especially when Tom Hardy and this actor were together, I thought they played off each other really, really well. The story itself is weird, wild. Like, it's very high concept and it's a little bit silly at times, but I love that all

the actors were very committed. Yeah, good silly. It's a good silly. Like, it never takes you out. You're never sitting there like, really? Because I really got invested in each character. I agree with you. The movie doesn't ever have a dull moment. Oh, yeah. But I think that to a degree that's also to its fault, it's such a strange film that I'm still like processing. Like there are, there are choices that were made, especially in the beginning, like, that are supposed to be character things. And I'm like, this is just odd. Not to be specific. This is not going to give anything away, but it'll help clue you guys in. There's a whole Christmas tree thing. And I'm like, WTF. That's so strange. But like, there was like character stuff in the beginning, not with them. Venom and Eddie that was just like, you're supposed to care about this new lady, Juno Temple. You're supposed to care about her and her backstory. And they just kind of hit you with it hard. And it felt very B-movie-ish. They hit you with the backstory right away.

She's asleep in bed and she's having a flashback. It's trauma. I get it. It's just that the way was handled felt very heavy-handed and not like a reveal that I could have gotten later in the film. Oh, that's why she keeps saying this. But it's just that the way they delivered it, it's, it felt, you know, shoehorned, like right at the top. I agree with you about the character that, you know, Juno Temple plays. The reason that her character

felt kind of stunted is because I think that it's supposed to be this amalgamation of another character that we know. Gotcha. And we're supposed to have like multiverse wise, like, oh, this person is similar to this other character that we're familiar with. And it just doesn't work, like, for me. I thought that she did a lovely job. I thought that the, you know, like what she brought to it, Like, I looked at it like this other familiar character. And so for me, that's why I connected in this way. But I made all that up. Okay.

You know what I made all that up in order for me to connect to her. And I shouldn't have had to do that work. There was one action scene that actually had the least amount of visual effects right in the middle of the movie where Eddie and Venom are being chased by some military forces. This is not a spoiler. I'm just like to start describing an action sequence, right? The whole sequence there, it was like water involved, like a river. That was really cool. And terrifying.

Yeah. That was actually a scene that I really enjoyed and had the least amount of visual effects in the whole thing. Well, that's what I was talking about when it comes to the action, right? Because I thought that actually they did a really great job with being very creative, especially in that scene, where it's like, wow, this whole thing is taking place and it's mayhem. They're in the water.

There's, like, all these different things going on, and it's crazy. Yeah, and we're rooting for our hero characters. It left me with this feeling of, like, what are we going? What's going to happen? Come on, you know, like, I felt compelled to root for them, even though they couldn't hear me. But, like, you know, like, wanting to say something. So it did its job in that effect. Yeah.

So I was looking at the director. I'm like, what else has this director done that I'm familiar with? And this is her first directing. credit. Kelly Marcel, am I crazy? It says directing upcoming Venom The Last Dance. That's it. Nothing else. She's been a writer up until that point. Amazing. She did an amazing job. So while watching this film, I had the weirdest thought. If there was any Marvel film, I would hand off to the Cohen brothers. It would have been this one. There was something about this in juggling the military and the goofiness with Eddie and Venom. I'm like, this feels so much like burn after reading to a certain degree.

because like you have like these goofy characters but the serious military thing happening in parallel and I'm like oh like that would have been my directors for this particular film because they've already kind of done that but this would be like an elevated version of that with more crazy shit going on and then there's like the element of independence day kind of thrown in there at the same time which cannot be ignored

like there's two very obvious independence day things in here and so I'm like all right I'll take it I love Independence Day so I'm fine with that that works for me yeah this is definitely the most insane of the Venom films. It throws everything it can in this movie, particularly in the last action sequence. It's like everything

they could possibly do. They stick it in here. Yeah. It was cool. Yeah, really cool. For me, I feel like the reason that is, is that the first two Venom movies are contained within San Francisco. So this one is like a moving template. Like, they're moving towards something and trying to

get somewhere. So I think that that really helped to unhinge it. Like, literally, like, you took the training wheels off and you could just be this like out of control movie but was still very contained in its goal now one of the hallmarks of venom is it's oddities its weirdness and this film does not disappoint in that way like when i said weird earlier i meant it in a negative way but there are weird stuff in this film there are weird things in this film that are quite enjoyable which obviously i can't get into but it's worth the price of admission alone for

one of the weird scenes in the film that i think will be devices I cannot say who it involves. You guys know what I'm talking about. There's a reason for the title. And it's, it's, yeah. Yeah. And so, yeah. Yes, perfect.

And I love that scene. I know that not everybody will. I could see, like, half the audience laughing. The other half is like, what is happening? I was feeling both at the same time, and then I went with it. I'm like, this is great. I like it so much. Venom's character, I feel like, you know, when he starts out,

it's almost like a child in a way, a baby that's just eating everything in sight. And over the course of the films, you know, Eddie, he somehow finds a way to discipline him. You know what I mean? I mean, every now and then he gets out of hand, like a dog. But, like, for the most part, he's grown as a character over the course of the films. Yeah, I think it helped, like, at the, you know,

in the second film, like, when there was that joining moment, I really think that really solidified his learning experience because he wasn't just an outside visitor of Eddie. They were one. So I think his, like, childlike status really matured in a way that was clear in this movie. Yeah. There's a thing that happens in the film

that whatever the antagonists are in this movie, it scares venom, you know, just like in part two. He gets freaked out. And there's a whole sequence of venom. We see his fear on display. And it's just a dialogue between him and Tom Hardy. And it's fantastic. Like, you know, he's basically laying out the rules

of what he's allowed to do with the presence of this other villain, right? And I think that it's one of my favorite scenes in the entire film. because you have to think about what's I play here. It's Tom Hardy just talking to himself, right? And the camera's just tracking with him. And then the effects artists have to put that in there, this character, and bring it to life.

And then you have Tom Hardy's voice doing Venom. And it just fuses perfectly. It's one of the best scenes in the film. It's very simple, but it's delightful because you really get the sense of the fear and the stakes being raised and also just great banter between him and himself. Yeah, they're so great together

and just like a really great third movie don't know if Tom Hardy will be back or not but you know either way it was a fun time definitely a good buddy movie yeah it was clunky but I had some shining moments that I really enjoyed so overall good time um it's definitely going to be as good or slightly better than your other venom experiences for sure and if you love Eddie Brock and venom like you're gonna go watch the movie have a fun time yeah no because Greg was sitting in front of us and And he's like, did you like it? And I was like, yeah.

So, but like, I wasn't like, oh my God, I love this movie. It was like, I had a good time, you know. It was a fun time. I laughed out loud more than once, like a few times. So I definitely think you'll have a great time. Take somebody who laughs loud like me. Yeah. You have a great time.

There was one part in particular where, I mean, like I was guffoying like you, but there was one thing that Venom said that literally, truly had me roll back in my chair. And if I had been drinking something, it would have been flying out of my nose because I was just like, it was really funny. I don't remember that. But anyways, you guys, thanks so much for hanging out. I'm Jabby Coy. This is Courtney Scott Wright at Chara Cook. Peace out.