With Venom: The Last Dance wrapping up the Tom Hardy trilogy, we look back and try to figure out which of the three films is the best.
I won’t lie, I do get a strange enjoyment out of the Venom films but I would hesitate to call them “good.” I’ve been a big fan of the character since its inception and so, like many, I was very disappointed when the first film came out. The design was too alien and he didn’t act like how I like my Venom to act. See, I’m a 90’s Spider-man guy and the primary motivating factor for Eddie Brock is his hatred of Peter Parker/Spider-man. We don’t have any Spider-man in the Tom Hardy-starring Venom movies. So we’re already off to a massive disadvantage. And with every film having some kind of Symbiote bad guy, they can feel very samey. I mean, imagine Iron Man taking on three Robot Men, three films in a row. It would get pretty old and tired.
But there’s one thing about these Venom movies that work: the relationship between Eddie Brock and Venom. It’s a strange sentence to even type out but it’s true. Their interactions are absolute gold and are a highlight in each film. And with Tom Hardy having a pretty serious career outside of Venom, it’s entertaining to get to see Hardy put himself in sillier situations. Where else would we see Hardy, always looking like he has a bad hangover, having a couples spat with an alien creature? Or riding a massive horse-symbiote through the desert? Sometimes Venom gives us more than we even know what to do with. And depending on your tolerance for schlock, this could be good or bad.
Even the bottom of the barrel deserves to be ranked and there’s still a lot of dumb fun to be had with the Venom Franchise. So now that the final (for now) entry Venom: The Last Dance is out in theaters, it’s time to take a look at the trilogy and see how they rank. And sadly no, we will not be talking about the schlocky horror movie from 2005. Though it’s about the same level of quality as some of these films. Let’s get into the rankings!
Venom (2018)
The first film is pretty basic and features the least amount of symbiote Venom. Given that he’s the best character in the trilogy, this is a massive strike against it. There’s also a really stereotypical love story with Michelle Williams that thankfully gets dropped in later films. Then add in Riz Ahmed’s villainous Carlton Drake/Riot and it just feels very tired, despite being the first film. Like the first season of a long-running TV show, they didn’t quite know what Venom was going to be at this point, so he’s much more serious here. There are inklings of the fun banter between Brock and Venom, but it’s not nearly as pronounced as the other two films. They clearly saw what worked here and decided to go hard with those elements in the sequels.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
Carnage is a hard character to pull off as he’s really more of a visual spectacle and potential threat versus being a character who’s well executed from story to story. So I won’t complain about what they did to my boy Cletus with his strange love story, but at least his design is great. They certainly got rid of him way too fast, but with Tom Hardy being such a massive star, you’re pretty much forced to speedrun the greatest hits. Woody Harrelson appears to have been given the direction: “chew on every bit of scenery possible” which results in every scene practically having bite marks all over it. Cut a few really bad scenes and this would have been the best in the trilogy but it’s hampered by a pretty uneven narrative.
Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
At this point, the series seems to know exactly what it is: silly buddy cop moments between Eddie and Venom and massive Symbiote fighting set pieces. Unlike the other films that feel bogged down by trying to us give us some serious moments, this is practically all schlock all the time and better for it. Venom dances with Mrs. Chen, they meet a family of alien conspiracy theorists, Venom has a gambling problem, etc. This movie takes nothing seriously and is just trying to have a good time. This is funny given the entire plot is about trying to kill Eddie and Venom while they’re on the run both from the law and Knull’s forces. There’s such a juxtaposition between the world-altering stakes and the more singular focus on the lives of Eddie and Venom, but it works reasonably well.
How would YOU rank the Venom franchise? Do you think they should make more? Will we see Tom Hardy’s Venom and Tom Holland’s Spider-man ever cross paths? I’m hopeful but what do you think? Let us know in the comments below!