With a terrible 37% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Venom: The Last Dance is no critical darling. Fans seem to have enjoyed it more (it has 80% on the review aggregator's "Popcornmeter"), but what about Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima?
The Japanese video game creator is widely considered a visionary and frequently shares movie reviews on social media; however, they're either very detailed or simply an acknowledgement that he's watched something...and that's typically an indication he didn't like it.
For those of you who aren't aware, Kojima isn't one to criticise the work of other artists so refrains from sharing negative reviews. Instead, he'll give a one-line verdict like the one you'll see below which, in many ways, says it all.
Previous examples include Madame Web ("saw Madam Web at the theater"), Captain Marvel ("Saw Captain Marvel"), and, believe it or not, even Black Panther ("saw Black Panther at IMAX theater").
In contrast, his Dune: Part Two review was 110 words long, so Venom: The Last Dance clearly doesn't earn a thumbs up from Kojima...
While we're waiting on final box office numbers, Venom: The Last Dance underperformed in North America this weekend with a disappointing $51 million. However, it overperformed overseas with $124 million to take its global debut to $175 million.
This takes the Venom franchise's total haul to $1.5 billion worldwide. So, yeah, if you don't think Tom Hardy will return as Eddie Brock, guess again!
In other box office news, Joker: Folie à Deux has finally managed to limp past $200 million worldwide following its recent Digital release. As a result, comparing that sequel to the Sony Pictures threequel makes no sense.
"The most cinematic, monumental Venom movie to date, we said in our recent review of the movie, "The Last Dance leaves room for improvement but by upping the stakes and allowing Eddie and Venom to bond, it’s epic and heartfelt enough to leave us hoping this is far from Tom Hardy’s last whirl as the Lethal Protector."
In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel's greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie's last dance.
The movie stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach, Stephen Graham, and Rhys Ifans. Kelly Marcel directs from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel. The film is produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy and Hutch Parker.
Venom: The Last Dance is now playing in theaters.