Venom: Let There Be Carnage - Review

 

Back in 2018, the original Venom was released to mixed reactions to say the least. Very few people would try and argue its the masterclass of moviemaking, but its ridiculously silly premise and equally silly execution had an odd charm. Don’t worry, it’s definitely a bad movie, but it’s one that finds a way to be fun, something the sequel matches, and to some extent, even plays into this time around. 

After finding a host body in investigative reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), the alien symbiote must face a new enemy, Carnage, the alter ego of serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson).

The silver lining of making a ridiculous first entry is that expectations for the follow-up could be found securely in the basement. And if anything competent comes out of the production, it immediately exceeds those lowly ideas of what the sequel could be. Venom: Let There Be Carnage has done just that. Its tone is a little more even, fully committing to the silly, romantic, bickering couple angle at the center of the relationship between Venom and Eddie. And cutting out a lot of fluff to a 90 minute runtime does wonders for its less than stellar story.

With the origin story out of the way, director Andy Serkis gets to dive right into the insanity that is a Carnage and Venom story. It’s a pretty simple premise, get Eddie Brock and Cletus Kasady in a room together, raise the tension, and introduce a little anarchy by giving a serial killer a taste of an alien symbiote. Throw in some splashy effects. Profit. The story and the narrative are less than important here, and they know it. People want to see Venom and Eddie Brock together fighting one of the historically weaker written characters in Marvel comics in Carnage. 

Of course it doesn’t hurt to have Tom Hardy back and fully committed to the chaos for the full hour and a half. It almost helps that there’s someone on the other side of the line that can match it in Woody Harrelson. The two of them are just crazy enough for this premise and their rivalry and conflict to work. There is a little bit of padding to make it more than just Venom vs Carnage, which arguably drags down the parts that do work, and you find yourself just itching for more of the symbiote action at the heart of the film.

Look, no one expected Venom: Let There Be Carnage to be great. It’s probably at the bottom of the list for most people in terms of comic book adaptations in 2021. But the product, while mostly bad, is entertaining. It’s an hour and a half of insanity that doesn’t try to be anything more than it can be, and swiftly exits stage right when it’s run its course. With most movies ballooning to ridiculous lengths and over-complicated lore, its nice to have some mindless entertainment from time to time.