Venom 3 first reactions have divided critics, but most agree it's a fun "guilty pleasure" send-off for Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock

Venom in Venom: The Last Dance — (Image credit: Sony)

The first reactions to Venom: The Last Dance are in – and it's split critics.

"Venom: The Last Dance is a whacky buddy roadtrip that stretches its PG-13 rating as far as it will possibly go," ComicBook.com's Chris Killian wrote on Twitter in a post that mirrors much of the early critical response to the threequel. "Simply put - Venom 3 is classic guilty pleasure cinema. Turn your brains off and let #Venom snack on ‘em."

Digital Spy's Ian Sandwell wrote, "Venom: The Last Dance is the most entertaining of the trilogy.It's largely a funny and sweet road trip with Eddie and Venom living their Thelma & Louise fugitive dreams, including car karaoke and dog rescuing. You might even find yourself getting emotional."

New Rockstars' Erik Voss described The Last Dance as a "very weird, very fun" movie and a "confidently bonkers road trip." The Wrap's Drew Taylor remarked, "The insanity has been ramped up significantly, but so has the heart."

Others, though, were a little more unconvinced by Venom: The Last Dance, which sees Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock and his symbiote go on the run, all while symbiote king Knull waits in the wings.

"It’s basically two movies stitched together," Inverse's Jacob Kleinmann wrote. "One is a fun roadtrip adventure that gives fans the bromantic comedy they want. The second is superhero slop (breathless exposition, macguffins, and soulless CGI monsters) that the studio clearly demanded. The result is a mishmash of a movie that sometimes works but ultimately feels like the work of someone who didn’t get why the previous Venom movies were good."

Sean O'Connell from sister site Cinema Blend is also less enthusiastic about The Last Dance. He wrote: "I think #VenomTheLastDance is the best of the three, while still being incredibly bad. It’s bizarre, and watchable, because it’s willing to try anything…I laughed a few times, but this trilogy accomplished very little."

No matter how the general audience reacts to Venom upon its release, it appears that The Last Dance's Big Bad Knull will return for more movies.

"This film introduces Knull, but it just touches the beginnings of his story," director Kelly Marcel told IGN. "We were always aware of Knull, but knew that we needed to lay the foundation of the Venom character, and his relationship with Eddie, before introducing him. This is just the beginning for Knull."

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.