'Venom: The Last Dance' review: Forgettable franchise slogs through trilogy closer

In most of his work, Tom Hardy doesn't get to be wacky, an aspect he's afforded in the out-there "Venom" films. And the fact that he gets a Venom-ized horse for what is perhaps his final ride off into the sunset is a goofy reminder of the potential his superhero movies never reached.

“Venom: The Last Dance” (★★ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters Friday) closes out a trilogy of movies featuring Hardy both as journalist Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote buddy. Like Ryan Reynolds is to Deadpool, Hardy has been the champion for this man-eating, zinger-slinging “lethal protector” in a cinematic series that never had the pleasure of a singular filmmaking vision or narrative stability. The result is another middling comic-book adventure for the fan-favorite Spider-Man antihero that leans kooky and earnest and even saps some of its title character’s bite, though does give the snarling Venom a new aspect: a big baddie daddy.

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Director Ruben Fleischer’s forgettable original in 2018 gave way to Andy Serkis’ admirably gonzo “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” three years later. Now Kelly Marcel’s threequel wraps up Eddie and Venom’s flirtation with the Marvel Cinematic Universe in previous mid-credits scenes (“I’m so done with the multiverse!” Venom quips) and brings them back to their world, where they’re wanted for the murder of Bay Area detective Mulligan (Stephen Graham).

The bosom buddies aren’t just hunted by the cops, they’re also being stalked by vicious beasties sicced on them by Knull (Serkis), the villainous creator of symbiotes trapped on a different planet. (His whole vibe is cosmic ruler meets “Game of Thrones”-y Targaryen reject.) Venom is the key to Knull getting loose and bringing hellish annihilation with him, so the duo goes on a road trip to New York City that includes a random family in a mini-bus and violently chaotic stops in Las Vegas and at Area 51.

The infamous Nevada place that in real life is connected to rumors of UFOs is here a fictional government facility where symbiotes are being housed. A lackluster subplot with Chiwetel Ejiofor as a no-nonsense general and Juno Temple (“Ted Lasso”) as a scientist at least picks up when Venom and Eddie get there.

But messy CGI brawls between colorful symbiotes and unoriginal intergalactic creatures just get in the way of what the “Venom” flicks actually do well: having oddball fun with Venom and Eddie. The human host is the harried straight man and usually unheard voice of reason while the gravelly, garbling Venom is all over-the-top id, making “Swingers” references, eating the occasional dude’s head and pretty much enjoying life. It’s a delightfully deranged dual performance by Hardy that doesn’t get enough credit in the greater comic-book movie canon, even if in this one the cartoonish violence is turned down in favor of forced sentimentality.

You come to a “Venom” movie not for emotional buddy-moment montages but for the weirdness that Disney usually won’t do. At least “Deadpool & Wolverine” has flipped the table on that one, giving Hardy a bit of an opening where if this isn’t his final ride, maybe he can finally let Venom rip in a proper universe. In Sony’s Spidey-spinoff corner, the "Venom" films might be better than “Madame Web” and “Morbius,” but that’s akin to saying a glass of recently expired milk is better than the one with chunky bits that’s been sitting out for a month.

Even though it dares to have Venom getting groovy to ABBA's "Dancing Queen," “Last Dance” is just another substandard outing for a franchise that never could find the right moves.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Venom 3' review: Tom Hardy gets a lackluster 'Last Dance'