Either you’re on “Venom’s” wavelength or you’re not. If you are, you’re not alone, because it turns out a lot of people are. Sony’s hugely successful Marvel series consists of three parts: oddly compelling comic book movies Tom Hardy’s take on journalist Eddie Brock and his sassy “symbiote” sidekick Venom (also voiced by Hardy). The third installment, “Venom: The Last Dance,” completes the trio of films that are both honest and irreverent, creating a bombastic tone all its own, distinct from more self-important superheroes or cynically self-referential films. ones.

Much of this unique humor comes down to star Hardy’s performance and writing contributions as both Venom and Eddie (he has story credits on both 2021 stories). “Poison: Let There Be Carnage” and this new film, as well as the actor’s close collaboration with longtime friend Kelly Marcel, who wrote all three films. Marcel makes his directorial debut with “The Last Dance,” which announces itself as Venom’s potential final return to the field.

The real appeal of these movies has always been the relationship between Eddie and his alien friend Venom, who pops up frequently to say hello and can cleverly take over Eddie’s body with his cracking, tar-like mass and giant fangs. Furious Venom loves animals, eats brains, and lets music move him (in the second episode, the characters go wild; in this one, it’s a choreographed disco dance on a Vegas rooftop).

This continues to be the focus of “The Last Dance”, where Eddie and Venom try to get from Mexico to New York City and end up stranded in Area 51, as aliens are wont to do. In no small part, we learn that this pair has become a codex, or key, that will unlock some kind of galactic prison where a stringy-haired dark lord is locked up by his symbiote children. Now Eddie-Venom has sent an army of crab-like aliens through portals to retrieve the codex and save himself.

Once Venom is fully revealed, the duo becomes a tracking device and the codex can only be destroyed if one of them dies, so the story is essentially a chase movie set in the American Southwest. with Colonel Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his special forces and alien-sympathetic scientist Dr. Payne (Temple of Juno) try to recover the samples, chaos breaks out in and around Area 51, which will be decommissioned in three days.

Desert setting and tearing apart alien monsters give “Last Dance” a whiff “Starship Troopers” a soup of “Tremors” that nods to those self-conscious B-movie creature features of the past. This “Last Dance” can be fluffy, silly, and even a little silly — and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, especially when it’s so winking at its genre play.

There’s a sense of serendipity to this journey, but Hardy’s quirky charm and great score go a long way to smoothing over the bumps in the road. The movie is also a comedy comedy in which Eddie encounters different people, including an alien-obsessed father (Rhys Ifans) takes his family on a pilgrimage to Area 51 in their hippie Volkswagen bus, and his old friend Miss Chen (Peggy Lu) runs the slot machines in Vegas. These supporting actors have the important task of playing directly as Venom’s clown. Ever since Michelle Williams in the first film, it’s imperative that those around Venom understand the mission but let him shine, and this cast never cracks.

But ultimately, what makes “Venom” what it is is not the supporting characters, stories, set pieces or special effects, but Hardy’s chemistry with himself as dual, dueling characters. Maybe it’s his friendship with Marcel that makes these movies work, because you really believe in the connection between Eddie and Venom; They care about each other as much as they fight. While the concept may be running out of fuel and it would be nice to give Hardy room to do other things, this is a fitting send-off for the cheeky alien with the thousand-watt grin.

Katie Walsh is the Tribune News Service film critic.