Non-Spoiler Movie Review – Venom: The Last Dance

Author Meltdown

October 24th, 2024 3:21 PM

I got to take part in a sneak peek screening of Venom: The Last Ride earlier this week. I went into the movie literally knowing nothing about the series. I’d seen the previews pop up on other movies I’d gone to, and it looked like it could be fun, so I went. That’s exactly what it was…Fun!

Sony Pictures

Venom: The Last Dance

For some reason, I’ve been watching many Tom Hardy movies lately. I saw The Bikeriders earlier this year, which was decent. Once again, Hardy plays Eddie Brock, the human host of “Venom,” an alien symbiote. As I stated, I’d never seen the other Venom movies, so I went in cold. I liked Eddie’s relationship with his dark passenger and vice versa. It works in a fun and sometimes moving way.

There was a little bit of comedy throughout the film, not only between Eddie and Venom (who he calls Buddy) but also with a traveling family on a search for aliens. Yes, they got their wish and then some. And don’t forget some exciting scenes of alien battles, explosions, and more. As you would expect, this movie looks great on the big screen.

Lacey Terrell/ Sony Pictures

Okay, I’ll try to give a non-spoiler plot overview. Eddie and Venom are being hunted down (I’m not sure why) not only by outer-world forces but also by ones from America. They end up in Las Vegas from Mexico, then finally in Area 51, which the government is about to declassify and open to the public. Tough decisions and sacrifices are made to fight off the outside invaders to protect Eddie, all in a venture to see Lady Liberty. I guess that’s vague enough.

Sony Pictures

Venom

I won’t give too much of the movie away, but suffice it to say that I liked it. Oh, and stay through the credits, as there are two reveals about a possible next film. Yes, I expected the movie to be fun, and it was.

I’ve read some not-so-flattering reviews. Like I said, I went in without knowing anything about the franchise. I’m giving this movie a 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. It was an entertaining watch. I enjoyed it. As a newbie to Venom, I have to go back and watch the other films.

Sony Pictures

14 Actors Who Hated Their Own Movies

There are movies that we love and those we can’t stand. For the actors starring in these films, some are proud of the work they did, while others wish they didn’t sign up for certain projects. Actors of high and low status have regrets about the roles they’ve taken on during the course of their careers. Unfortunately for them, these movies will live on forever to haunt them. Some have openly bashed the films they starred in, while others have taken it in stride and made jokes about their poor choices. However, some of the movies on this list have become cult favorites, like the 2004 Catwoman movie Halle Berry starred in. Critics may have hated it, with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of a low 8%, but it still gained a cult following. While appearing on What What Happens Live in 2017, the actress was asked to rate the movie and while laughing, she says, “100.”

Cult Followings

Another film that has a large cult following is the Twilight film franchise. Robert Pattinson starred as Edward Cullen, the brooding heartthrob vampire of every teenage girl’s fantasies during the late aughts. During the Twilight mania, Pattinson was overwhelmed by the intensity of it all, and his disinterest in the franchise was reflected in his press tour for the films. In a 2019 interview with USA Today, Pattinson revealed he has “very warm memories” since the mania died down. He told the publication, “People come up [to me] and just have very fond memories of it. It’s a really sweet thing. I think the only scary part was right in the thick of it all, when it was very, very intense.” The actor also spoke highly of the film’s soundtrack. He said as he recently watched part of New Moon on TV. “It genuinely does have an incredibly good soundtrack. I completely forgot, but the soundtracks were quite ahead of their time.” The New Moon soundtrack featured artists like Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver & St. Vincent, Lykke Li, Death Cab For Cutie, Muse, and The Killers. Take a look below at which 14 actors hated the movies they starred in.

• Arnold Schwarzenegger — ‘Red Sonja’

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  Of the 1985 fantasy film, Schwarzenegger called it "the worst film I have ever made." He once said the film is so bad, he used it to punish his kids. "When my kids get out of line, they’re sent to their rooms and forced to watch 'Red Sonja' 10 times. I never had too much trouble with them."

• Ryan Reynolds — ‘Green Lantern’

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  2011's 'Green Lantern' was so bad, Reynolds couldn't bring himself to watch the movie all the way through. Even his Deadpool character made fun of it in the first 'Deadpool' movie, saying, "Please don’t make the super-suit green…or animated."

• Michelle Pfeiffer — ‘Grease 2’

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  In a 2007 interview with 'Hollywood,' Pfeiffer said that she hated the 1982 sequel "with a vengeance." She said she was young at the time and "could not believe how bad it was." The actress rose to prominence the following year after starring in 1983’s 'Scarface.'
• Jessica Alba — ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’

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  Playing the Invisible Woman in the 2007 superhero sequel, Alba previously told 'Elle,' "I hated it. I really hated [it]." She recalls a scene she was dying in and the director Tim Story told her, "'It looks too real. It looks too painful. Can you be prettier when you cry? Cry pretty, Jessica.'" At the time, the experience made her question not only her worth as an actor, but also her worth as a human being and said, "F--- it. I don't care about this business anymore."

• Channing Tatum — ‘GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra’

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  Of the 2009 action/adventure movie based on the toy line, Tatum said, “I’ll be honest, I f---ing hate that movie." Not only was he pushed into doing it, he also said the script wasn't any good. On top of that, Tatum said didn’t want to do something that was bad, as he was a fan of GI Joe animated series from the '80s and "watched every morning growing up."

• Brad Pitt — ‘The Devil’s Own’

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  Pitt called the 1997 thriller, in which he starred alongside Harrison Ford, a “disaster” and “the most irresponsible bit of filmmaking, if you can even call it that, that I’ve ever seen." There was even drama between Ford and Pitt, with the two butting heads about agreeing on a director and Ford's desire to have his character have a more complex storyline like Brad's.
• Halle Berry — ‘Catwoman’

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  When the actress accepted her Razzie for Worst Actress in 2005, she told the audience, "Thank you so much. I never in my life thought I would be up here." She then hilariously thanked her manager, saying, "He loves me so much that he convinces me to do projects even when he knows that it is s---." Berry took the criticism in stride, later telling 'Vanity Fair' in 2021, "I always learned that if you can't be a good loser, then you don't deserve to be a good winner. So I went there and made fun of myself. I had a great time and then I set that thing on fire."

• Charlize Theron — ‘Reindeer Games’

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  In this 2000 crime-thriller starring alongside Ben Affleck, the actress told 'Esquire' in 2007 it was "a bad, bad, bad movie. But even though the movie might suck, I got to work with John Frankenheimer. I wasn’t lying to myself – that’s why I did it.” Director Frankenheimer was known for his classic 1960s films like 'Birdman of Alcatraz' and 'The Manchurian Candidate.'

• Ryan Reynolds — ‘Green Lantern’

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  2011's 'Green Lantern' was so bad, Reynolds couldn't bring himself to watch the movie all the way through. Even his Deadpool character made fun of it in the first 'Deadpool' movie, saying, "Please don’t make the super-suit green…or animated."
• Robert Pattinson — ‘Twilight’

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  Though I was absolutely a "Twi-hard" when the movie came out and read the entire series, it was well-known that Pattinson hated playing the role of Edward Cullen. Interview footage of the actor circulated social media before the final 'Twilight' film hit theaters. He said, "It’s weird kind of representing something you don’t particularly like." A few weeks later, he said he would have “mindlessly hated” the series if he wasn't starring in it. He also joked that he "stopped mentally progressing around the time when I started doing those movies."

• Sylvester Stallone — ‘Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot’

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  In 2006, Sly called the 1992 action-comedy, "Maybe one of the worst films in the entire solar system, including alien productions we’ve never seen… a flatworm could write a better script than 'Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.'" Stallone signed onto the project after he heard that his infamous action rival, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was interested in the part. However, in 2017, Schwarzenegger revealed he pretended to be interested in the movie to lure Stallone towards the “really bad” script.

• Alec Baldwin — ‘ Rock of Ages’

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  The actor said of the jukebox musical comedy: "It was a complete disaster." Baldwin told 'The Wrap' of the remorse he felt early on: "A week in you go, 'Oh God, what have I done?'" He even Baldwin to have his role replaced shortly before the beginning of production. The film's ensemble cast of Julianne Hough, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Åkerman, Mary J. Blige, Bryan Cranston, Russell Brand, and Tom Cruise still couldn't save the negative critic reviews.
• Ben Affleck — ‘Daredevil’

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  Before he landed the role of Batman, Affleck played the role of Daredevil in the 2003 Marvel movie. The actor told 'Entertainment Weekly' in 2007, "'Daredevil' didn’t work at all. If I wanted to go viral, I would be less polite."

• George Clooney — ‘Batman & Robin’

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  There have been many actors who took on the role of Batman over the years, but only one had a batsuit with nipples -- and that was Clooney's in the 1992 Joel Schumacher-directed film. The actor thought he "destroyed the franchise until somebody else brought it back years later and changed it," adding that at the time he thought it was going to be a very good career move. "It wasn’t."

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Author Meltdown

Category:

• Meltdown
• Entertainment