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Venom: The Last Dance
Movie

Venom: The Last Dance

2024 • Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Woke Score
6
out of 10

Plot

Eddie Brock and Venom must make a devastating decision as they're pursued by a mysterious military man and alien monsters from Venom's home world.

Overall Series Review

The final entry in the Venom trilogy is a frenetic, character-focused buddy film that wraps a convoluted cosmic plot around the core relationship of Eddie Brock and Venom. The narrative positions the duo as fugitives from a hostile American military-industrial complex that seeks to weaponize or destroy them and their alien kin. The movie leans heavily into its well-established homoerotic subtext, making the central bond the film's emotional anchor. The plot features a clear progressive allegory by framing the alien symbiotes as a refugee or immigrant population pursued by the government. The direction by Kelly Marcel gives a sympathetic, emancipatory role to a key female scientist character while portraying the male protagonist as a bumbling, chaotic figure. The central conflict is purely sci-fi, focusing on an ancient cosmic entity, which keeps traditional religious commentary almost entirely out of the picture. The film is fundamentally a chaotic action-comedy whose progressive elements are clearly present in the thematic framing of government versus alien refugees and the dynamic of the main pairing.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics7/10

The plot contains clear messaging framing the symbiotes as a refugee population, which are repeatedly referred to as being 'hunted' by the American military and government agency. One of the main antagonists is a general who oversees the operation to capture and study the aliens. Venom himself explicitly expresses a desire to see the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of welcome, reinforcing the alien-as-immigrant allegory. The core conflict is set up as a struggle for acceptance over military control and weaponization.

Oikophobia6/10

The US military and its clandestine government agency, Area 51/55, are portrayed as the primary human antagonists, actively hunting and experimenting on the alien symbiotes. The institutions of the state are depicted as a hostile, controlling force against the main characters and the alien 'refugees.' This frames a significant portion of the home country's civilization as an oppressive force.

Feminism5/10

The movie is directed and co-written by a woman, Kelly Marcel. The primary human protagonist, Eddie Brock, is consistently portrayed as an inept and chaotic figure throughout the trilogy, which is maintained here. A female scientist, Dr. Sadie 'Christmas,' is the sympathetic character who ultimately helps free the captive symbiotes and becomes a host, demonstrating competence and moral superiority over the male military leader and other scientists who seek to control the alien life. The trope is moderate, as the female characters are not inherently 'perfect' but are positioned to save the day against male institutional failure.

LGBTQ+8/10

The core relationship between the two male lead characters, Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote, is the emotional center of the film and is repeatedly noted by critics as having heavy queer subtext, being an explicit 'gay romance,' or a relationship between 'codependent boyfriends.' While not explicitly labeled in dialogue, the bond is deliberately written to mimic a romantic, cohabitating couple facing a breakup, centering alternative sexuality and blurring traditional male-female pairing norms through the human-alien partnership.

Anti-Theism2/10

The main villain, Knull, is established as an ancient 'God of the Symbiotes' who pre-dates the universe. This figure is a purely cosmic, fictional entity from the comics' deep lore, not a stand-in for traditional Abrahamic religion. The narrative features a moment of self-sacrifice by one of the leads to save the world, which is a universally heroic trope and is not framed to undermine a higher moral law. The film avoids direct hostility toward or critique of traditional religion.