Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Director: Andy Serkis

Writer: Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy, Todd McFarlane (original creator), David Michelinie (original creator)

Starring: Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Grham

Reason for watching: new release…and because the first one was dope even though it was a terrible movie

Number of times I’ve watched it: first time viewing

***

Dysfunctional couples make for drama, tension, and (in the case of an alien life form and one weirdo who played by Bane from The Dark Knight Rises) comedic shenanigans. Venom: Let There Be Carnage really is not all that different from a romantic comedy when you get down to it: a couple doesn’t see eye to eye, they split, they realize what they had with each other, and they get back together. It’s not that complicated and honestly, I think the lack of complication plus the 90-minute runtime (GOD BLESS YOU ANDY SERKIS) make for an incredibly enjoyable experience at the theater.

We pick up a few years after where we left off from the first Venom movie. Eddie Brock (Tomy Hardy) and Venom are living in relative anonymity. Tension grows between them as Venom wants to eat more human brains than Eddie will allow, and Eddie wants Venom to get his aggression under control. While on a visit to notorious serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) before his death, Kasady manages to break Eddie’s skin and draw some of the symbiote out and into Casady. Venom and Eddie finally split up as they continue to fight. Eddie makes some progress in looking into Casady’s past, and Venom goes on a partying spree. Meanwhile, after bonding with the new symbiote who calls itself Carnage, the two escape death row and wreak havoc throughout San Francisco. Kasady goes to free his childhood love, Shriek (Naomie Harris), who happens to be able to unleash hypersonic sounds from her mouth, a weakness that Carnage and Eddie share. After seeing the terror that Carnage and Shriek can unleash, Eddie’s ex-fiance Anne (Michelle Williams) and her new fiance Dan (Reid Scott) convince Eddie and Venom to get back together to take down Carnage. The final act of the movie consists of a massive fight between the two characters.

First of all, the comedic chemistry between Hardy and…well himself is exemplary. It’s fun to watch the two argue like the craziest married couple you can imagine. Their internal dialogue adds the insanity of how Brock is perceived by the outside world as well. The CGI in the movie is a major improvement over its predecessor. One might imagine that has something to do with Venom’s box office performance and the studio’s elevated trust in what the movie can be capable of. And that trust by Sony seems to have paid off with the sequel’s release too. That higher amount of money and better CGI really gets shown off in the action scenes, which are well choreographed and demonstrate the power of the symbiote well.

Personally, I do have to push back on Harrelson’s performance as Casady/Carnage and the overall writing of the character. While Harrelson can do unhinged and crazy quite well, he doesn’t go to quite the levels of insanity that I think are necessary for the character. I can’t believe I am saying this but if Jared Leto showed up and had the same energy he did in Suicide Squad he would have made for more accurate Carnage. The biggest problem for this movie though is the lack of violence that Carnage dishes out. Yes, he kills people and gets in some solid punches on Venom. But this is a comic book character who literally pulls people’s heads off. He cannot really be done justice until we get to see him dishing out Deadpool-level violence.

I keep going back to the higher quality in almost every aspect of this movie though. When a studio lets a director make what they want and then stays out of the way, you can get a good superhero movie. Comic books are known for their quirkiness and how relatable they can be for a specific audience. The Venom movies have found that audience for themselves, and I hope we keep getting more of them.

7/10

Until I see another one

PS - I won’t spoil the mid-credits scene, but WOW!!! It is something.