It’s been six years since Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and Venom burst onto the big screen, but now it’s time to say goodbye. The band is playing their song, and it’s one of the swan variety; as this is indeed Venom: The Last Dance. For a big finale, you’d imagine an equally large ending would need to be in the offing.
And with that comes another question that’s worth asking: To 3D or Not To 3D? Or better still, to 4DX or not to 4DX? That’s right, friends, the final chapter in Eddie Brock’s adventures splashed out big time! As such, we now have another combined 3D/4DX evaluation to discuss, and there’s a lot to talk over as well.
For a more traditional viewpoint on how this romp plays as a film, check out Eric Eisenberg’s Venom: The Last Dance review. Otherwise, slip on your glasses and hold on tight, as it’s time to decide whether Venom and Eddie shine in the ultimate premium experience, or if you’re better off investing in some more comics.
Overall Fit Score - 5/5
The Venom trilogy has always been a superhero story. Following anti-heroes Eddie Brock and Venom (Tom Hardy) has always offered the sort of superpowered capers you’d expect from a film that feels inspired by the pre-MCU era of Sony. Those sorts of thrills are an obvious fit for potential thrills that use both 3D and 4DX bells and whistles to their fullest potential.
But as we’ve known even as far back as Venom’s 3D presentation in 2018, it’s not the fit score that usually dings the overall product. Since we’re now adding 4DX into the mix, that sort of thinking is doubly present, as we’re taking in two different premium angles in one ultimate experience.
Overall Planning & Effort - 3.5/5
In terms of Planning & Effort for this overall premium experience, Venom 3’s preparation clearly favors the world of glasses-enhanced thrills. Which isn’t a surprise after this year’s Godzilla x Kong 3D presentation, which was overseen by the stereo conversion team over at DNeg! That same company was credited as working its magic on The Last Dance, and it is a visually stunning product.
However, the 4DX side of things took a bit of a hit, especially with the seemingly total absence of one sensory enhancement altogether. Naturally, motion effects are royalty in Venom: The Last Dance’s 4DX lineup, and if you’ve been wondering about how the Venom Horse scene felt, that’s one of the two major highlights to this thrill ride.
3D Before The Window - 3/5
In a really good “Before the Window” example of 3D conversion, you’re consistently feeling like something’s going to poke out at you. Fingers, guns, tendrils and a combination of any of those items, mixed with objects just being flung out of the screen, are expected by discerning audiences.
While I admit that Venom: The Last Dance doesn’t totally waste this opportunity, especially when in some scenes you can literally feel General Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) pointing out at you with an order, it isn’t all that much to hype up. Alien creatures and images of Knull (Andy Serkis) holding his blade in front of him pensively do tend to pop, but it’s not as immersive as I’d hoped for a movie where Tom Hardy throws a Croc at a hardened criminal.
3D Beyond The Window - 5/5
I was really impressed by the final Venom picture’s Beyond the Window work, and that’s mostly because it came from visual moments I didn’t expect to shine so brightly. One moment is part of the footage they showed at New York Comic-Con this year, in which the Venom Horse chase leads to a skirmish in a river between Eddie and the soldiers under General Strickland’s command.
Underwater-based imagery, as well as personnel being shown dangling in mid-air all exhibit the spacial reasoning and depth you’d want from the top shelf. Those same sorts of advantages are shown in the handful of scenes where Stephen Graham’s Patrick Mulligan is in captivity at Area 55.
In a room that looks more like a cramped Apple Store than a prison cell, there’s a lot of depth drawn with merely Graham and some light furnishings to break up the canvas. The entirety of Venom: The Last Dance lives up to this result, whether Eddie Brock is riding the open plains or he’s standing in front of a wall in a dark alley in Mexico.
3D Brightness Score - 3.5/5
It’s funny that in both Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s 3D variants, there’s a problem with brightness. I say this full well knowing that mileage may vary for you viewers out there, as theaters maintain their projectors to varying degrees of efficiency. But even without looking at the scores first, I can tell you that I have stark memories of both previous entries being dark!
While The Last Dance doesn’t offer a marked improvement on this factor, and with a half a point open to even this score out, I’m willing to give this movie the advantage over its older siblings. There’s still a bit of darkness present with the glasses in place, which is something I’ve noticed in each of the 3D/4DX screenings I’ve attended at this very same theater. But there are still some seriously crisp images at work; especially the first Venom 3 post-credits scene involving Knull himself.
3D Glasses Off Score - 5/5
Believe it or not, the 3D in Venom: The Last Dance stays turned on throughout the entire movie. From the studio logos to both teases included in the end credits, you’re going to get your money’s worth in this particular section. And with all of that third dimensional enhancement that’s on display, you’re going to want to slip your glasses off from time to time, which will reveal a healthy blurring effect on the picture.
This is where you’d normally see the level of manipulation that ensures only the best 3D thrills, and the Venom finale takes advantage of that field quite a bit throughout. You want wide shots that look like you’re seeing double? You’ve got ‘em. Up close sequences that use 2D anchor points to ensure characters and objects are projecting properly? That’s here too.
Special Venom-themed 3D classes? No, they don’t do those anymore. This isn’t 2012, despite what this movie’s use of Maroon 5 as an emotional button would suggest.
4DX Water Effects: 4/5
You will believe Eddie Brock cannot bartend, but you’ll also believe that you were there to experience it in Venom 3! The MVP sequence that most struck me with the 4DX water effects was the fact that I was lightly sprinkled when Venom tries to make Eddie a cocktail upon returning to their home dimension. It also made me want to try whatever that concoction was on screen, as I have to wonder if good old Mr. V is as heavy of a pour as I am when making friends drinks.
Otherwise, Venom: The Last Dance gives us some pretty solid, yet intermittent showers throughout. While we obviously can’t be submerged for the river chase, moments where Venom and his pursuers splash about in the water result in some minor waterworks. I also thought it was kind of wise not to turn the sprinklers on when certain acid showers were going off, as who wants to feel like they’re being melted alive? (Which offers a prime moment to remind you all that yes, Wicked: Part 1 will be in 3D/4DX!)
4DX Scent Effects: 1/5
It’s time to break out the obvious pun, folks: the scent effects in 4DX for Venom: The Last Dance absolutely stunk. It seriously felt like there were no additional scents pumped into the room. In fact, the only light scent note I thought I picked up on was a smokey charring that went off when we were first introduced to Knull in the cold open.
The absence was felt so hard, I had to question whether certain scenes with Eddie Brock included cologne notes or if that scent was thanks to the person in front of me wearing their own. To be fair, it unintentionally added more to this screening’s olfactory showmanship than the actual movie did, and the patron in question's cologne did smell pleasant. So thanks to the random audience member from my Venom 3 screening, it still felt like something was there.
4DX Light/Air/Smoke Effects: 3/5
Remember how I like to rail on 3D movies for their lack of proper brightness? 4DX may have its own perpetual thorn in my side, and it’s the light/air/smoke effects used to make up the entire package. We do get some flashes of strobe lighting with Juno Temple’s tragic lightning strike backstory, and there are some pieces here and there that get lit up as well.
But even in these limited uses, much like Transformers One’s 3D/4DX version, inconsistency reigns. Also, the air effects fare better than the smoke in the remaining run of aspects in this section’s criteria. While I’m starting to doubt that anything will match the scene where Alien: Romulus’ 4DX experience safely makes you feel like you’re in a rapidly decompressing airlock, feeling the wind in my hair during the ride of Venom Horse felt rather nice.
Last, but almost least, the smoke effects were not as prolific as I’d hoped. With plenty of opportunity to greatly enhance desert chases with a lot of sand, and a huge moment of fire based peril in the third act, those opportunities were either not taken or lost in the shuffle.
4DX Motion Effects: 4/5
I won’t go too deep on the motion effects of Venom: The Last Dance, as they’re as solid as I’d have expected. We’re a long way from the DBox era where people questions what exactly the seat movement was supposed to convey, and if you enjoy feeling like you’ve got a Symbiote poking out of your back, this is going to be a lot of fun for you to behold. And if you’ve seen the 2D version of this movie and wondered what purpose the A*Teens-backed dance scene between Venom and Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu) had, it’s to give us a scene where we can actually feel Venom dancing.
Other than that prime segment, you get the obvious joy out of riding a Venom Horse, so that’s another thing to look forward to. However, there are some questionable movements included, like making us feel a camera pan around the Statue of Liberty. However, if 4DX was around in the days of pre-MCU blockbusters like Fantastic Four and Daredevil, you know that would have totally been present; so I can’t harp on it too much.
Overall Audience Health - 5/5
Are you worried about becoming nauseous during Venom: The Last Dance? Don’t be! The motion effects are hardly the roughest I’ve ever felt in a 4DX screening, with that crown still belonging to Twisters’ record breaking showing this summer. And the 3D, while still dimmer than I’d like it to be, is very much watchable; even in a prison made by a bunch of vengeful Symbiotes. It’s still advised you check out the official 4DX safety guidelines before taking younger audience members along for the ride, as they were written with everyone’s best interest in mind.
Final Verdict: 42/55
If you’re going to see Venom: The Last Dance, you need to go all the way and see it in 3D/4DX. But if you had to choose one format over the other, 3D would be the premium rush you should seek out thanks to its well-crafted spark of madness. If previous films in the format were allowed to carry over during bigger pictures’ waning weeks, I’d actually recommend seeking out The Wild Robot 3D/4DX adventure.
Alas, that’s not a thing that happens, and we’ll instead have to wait for the next thrill to come around in November. Which is already promising the arrivals of Red One and Gladiator II, along with Wicked: Part 1, in time for the holiday season. Though if anyone knows of any lingering shows of Joker: Folie á Deux and Smile 2 in 4DX, let me know. I’d love to keep sharpening my skills until the next time we meet, if only to distract me from the final bow of Venom’s cinematic history so far.
