‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ Review
PG13: Intense sequences of violence and action, some strong language, disturbing material, and suggestive references
Runtime: 1 Hr and 37 Minutes
Production Companies: Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Tencent Pictures
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Director: Andy Serkis
Writer: Kelly Marcel
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Woody Harrelson
Release Date: October 1, 2021
In Theaters Only
Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the lethal protector Venom, one of MARVEL’s greatest and most complex characters. Directed by Andy Serkis, the film also stars Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris and Woody Harrelson, in the role of the villain Cletus Kasady/Carnage.
(Damn, Sony, y’all didn’t give anyone shit!)
A few years ago when Venom came out, I wasn’t a fan of the film at all. If anything, I saw it as a poor desperate attempt for Sony to have any kind of ownership to the Spider-Man property to some extent, even though they shared joint custody with the Mouse House. For a dark anti-hero, the movie was poorly paced and bizzaringly campy where it felt like a product of the Daredevil days of superhero movies. With this follow-up, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Sony honed in on all of the stupid campy energy from the first, mastered it, and somehow delivered the most hilarious and entertaining romp of a comic book movie I’ve seen in quite some time. I shit you not when I say that this is the best rom-com I’ve seen this year thus far.
The sequel centers around Eddie Brock and Venom (Tom Hardy) who are both still adjusting to being symbiotically tethered to one another, especially establishing rules regarding how to “lethally protect” the city of San Francisco. Venom has developed a stronger appetite for human flesh and Eddie tries to keep him at bay with chocolates and chicken. In the midst of being at this odd couple stage of their relationship, Eddie revamps his journalistic career and is covering the story of psychopathic serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) who grows a weird attachment towards him. Eddie and Venom inadvertently help solve the case of the dead bodies Cletus buried in his murder spree. This results in Cletus ending up being put on death row, but not long after the two have a little altercation, resulting in Cletus developing a symbiote of his own named Carnage. Now with this newfound power, Cletus escapes prison and plots his revenge against Brock, along with the help of the superpower love of his life Shriek (Naomie Harris).
From the moment the title card begins and we see Eddie and Venom have their first comedic argument, Let There Be Carnage completely goes all in with the odd couple feel and it surprisingly works effortlessly. By making it a silly, balls-to-the-wall rom-com, the film does a stellar job furthering the relationship between Venom and Eddie in a bold unconventional light that exudes nothing but delight. Seriously, there’s no subtle ambiguity regarding Venom and Eddie being boyfriends because that’s the basis of the narrative. Tom Hardy and screenwriter Kelly Marcel, who both crafted the story together, took the most insane and functional ingredients of the first film, applied it to this, and I’ll be damned that it works spectacularly. It’s very attuned to the Lethal Protector antihero storyline, and you do see great development of their relationship. It finally gets the spirit of the character correct, but pin him enough to make him feel more fleshed out and distinct. The movie makes it clear when She-Venom took over Anne (Michelle Willams) who kissed Eddie, it was really Venom because he is in love with him. The movie is so on the nose with its rom-com sensibilities and is unapologetic about it, giving this its own identity in a scene of superhero movies that try so hard to either be edgy or expositional to set up another phase in an ongoing franchise that is playing it by the books. Venom follows the beats of a standard romantic comedy, and while it’s uproariously funny seeing it enact all of the tropes in context, it’s executed in such a vibrant and charming manner that you end up rooting for Eddie and Venom’s relationship.
While the first film’s campy tone only works in spurts for it’s tonally all over the place, this ups the ante with confidence. Everyone close to Eddie who knows about Venom also has some sort of a relationship with him as well. They know that they are different and even the writing accomplishes that too. The jokes are still on an Adult Swim sitcom basis of humor, but man, did it give me nothing but belly laughs throughout. I nearly lost my breath because of how hard this movie had me rolling. Don’t get me wrong, like the first, the story is completely dumb. In fact, at times it goes full dumbass but it never even tries to act self-conscious about it and that’s what I genuinely adore about it. Much like Venom himself, the film embraces its stupid identity, learns from its past mistakes, and actually dares to be different even down to being over 97 MINUTES LONG! Where superhero movies have always strived for a bloated runtime, Venom 2 keeps it short and quick and it moves at a breakneck speed, though at times it feels incomplete where pieces of the story are left on the cutting room floor. For the longest time, superhero movies have been conditioned to be nearly two hours or longer, but director Andy Serkis said, imma do this shit in 100 minutes or less. So, while the jokes keep on coming and you’re laughing at the absurdity and earnestness of the LGBTQ+ representation to an anti-hero, by the time you hit the climax it feels like hardly much time has passed at all. This is why I see myself more inclined to rewatch it instead of Shang-Chi or Black Widow which, outside of a few great moments of action, either takes itself too seriously or unnecessarily overlong with its runtime.
Though I wouldn’t necessarily say that Andy Serkis’s direction brings any newness to this entry, I admire him for managing to deliver chaotic and zany action that helps make it stand out in both location and blocking for CG effects. The action sequences are CG heavy and over the top which at times may vary in quality but it manages to be self-contained enough where it thinks of how to utilize their weakness as part of the stakes itself. Like there are actual stakes here that had me at the edge of my seat. Plus, he explores a bit of effective horror that works especially with Carnage’s introduction scene.
This movie was bound to have a variety of flaws. It’s chock full of misfires that prevent it from being a great sequel apart from just a marginal improvement. As far as the story goes, it doesn’t feel as complete as it should be. Due to so many different powers at play, from Cletus’s rise to power and Eddie and Venom’s rift in their relationship, it’s all spanned out in a short amount of time so areas, unfortunately, feel rushed.
When all else fails, the film pulls major convinces out of its ass as an excuse to push the story along. Maybe I’m just not that knowledgeable about Carnage’s powers, but he does random shit that makes no sense, but hey, if it looks cool, go ahead. The biggest example of this is during a scene where Carnage goes on a computer, turns his finger into a USB port, and instantly creates his own web browser with a red and black color palette, and then instantly gains access to confidential police reports. It continues the predecessor’s pattern of undefining the symbiote’s powers, and once you question it, your brain is gonna immediately melt.
Whether you like it or not, Venom: Let There Be Carnage has its early 2000s, silly energy, but it has its own madcap identity unlike anything else today, while taking bold risks that places like the MCU would give brownie points to. It isn’t trying to be meta or self-aware or (for the most part) try to push a new phase, but be its own self-contained sequel that actually adds development to the titular lead’s identity. The silly tone has been upgraded with more confidence and doesn’t care what you think of it at all. It’s not trying to appeal to die-hard comic book fans, but instead, decides to follow the beat of its own drum. This movie struts its stuff on the runway like nobody’s watching; being unapologetic and different enough from the rest of the popular kids in the room, and you have no choice but to stan. This movie had the insane batshit confidence of Napoleon Dynamite’s dance, and like that performance, it leaves you wanting to stand up and cheer. If you can’t beat ‘em, Venom.
