Venom: Let There Be Carnage

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the sequel to 2018's Venom, this time seeing our two protagonists face off against a psychopathic serial killer armed with his own symbiote. Initially in the first act we get to see a lot of the more compelling aspects around how Eddie and Venom's relationship has developed, and how they can utilise one another to solve mysteries. I thought this quite an engaging new direction for the pair to take and it laid out some groundwork for them becoming a hero. As small of a plot point that it was I also enjoyed seeing how Eddie and Venom reacted to Anne in this film, pining for her and struggling to move on made for a nice aspect of continuation from the first film. The special effects are probably the main reason to see this feature as they are definitely a step up from the first feature; the detailing on the symbiotes looks nice and they stepped up how symbiotes look fighting one another which is one of the vast improvements.

 

Woody Harrelson, who played Cletus Kasady, really proves his mettle as an actor in this film by doing some great work with such a poorly written antagonist; Harrelson feels a little wild and unpredictable and very consistent in his undying love for Harris' role. Michelle Williams, who played Anne Weying, wasn't my favourite role in the first film but really stands out as a top performer in the sequel; this time around Williams gets to have more fun in attempting to mend the relationship between Hardy's two lead characters. Peggy Lu, who played Mrs Chen, is one of the best side characters from either Venom film; Lu's terse yet caring relationship for Eddie and Venom is a nice continuation from where we last left these characters.

However, the best performance came from Tom Hardy, who played Eddie Brock and Venom. These films have always consistently been carried by a very steady performance from the leading performer. The great thing about Eddie is that he isn't a classic superhero, he carries a certain level of selfishness and indifference with him wherever he goes. Yet I like that Hardy is very sincere in those scenes in which he has to recapture his role's hard-hitting reporter side or the more emotional moments in which he is devastated by Anne moving further apart from him. At the same time Eddie is a very fun role who clashes with Venom in a way only those paired together can. Hardy doubles up by doing the voice work for Venom too and the delivery in this feature is very different for this film. Venom has a lot more presence than the last feature, berating Eddie and trying to have an even say in matters. There also some nice character moments for Venom too in which he tries to comfort Eddie and later reacts strongly when Eddie rejects him and the bond they share. It's a very fun dynamic all played out by one performer who is leading these films extremely well.

This film is ironically quite the opposite from the first Venom in that all the best aspects are in the first act and the later acts is where the feature really drops off. The pacing for this particular feature is really poor, it almost rushes towards action sequences and doesn't take time with characters and what they're thinking or feeling unless their name is Eddie Brock or Venom. In fact a number of the characters in this film would've worked better with a few more introspective scenes. I felt the weird 'break-up' Eddie and Venom go through halfway through the feature is treated more as a long running gag rather than a genuine character moment. Seeing these two curse at one another, brawl and then see Venom go out for a night on a town fails to serve the plot and is an odd series of scenes smack bang in a rushed plot. This is a film that chooses to rush at every turn so slowing up for this running joke is a strange choice. The real glaring flaw of the film however is how the antagonists of the film are written: Cletus Kasady, Carnage and Frances. The disturbed criminal kids being madly in love but forever separated is the way this film starts and it comes across as a very rushed idea. Making Cletus a lovelorn serial killer makes him neither sympathetic nor does it make him more of a compelling villain, if anything it takes away from his overall menace. We are told this is the man who ruthlessly kills with no holds barred but he never convinces us off this, he's more that Hollywood brand of 'crazy, unpredictable villain'. Cletus dances through destruction and steals cool cars and has one thing that keeps him 'human' but it's never enough to make him stand out. But when the film pushes Frances into his life again, who has powers for no reason, it becomes this poor conflict between Cletus and Carnage for control. The final act fight is such a massive moment visually but there is no motivation there beyond shallow themes of revenge. Ultimately the film doesn't have a lot of cohesion and seems to race towards the scenes it wants to show; there needed to be more time to make a cohesive whole. The cinematography set up good special effects shots but there was no consistent style, certainly not within the dialogue scenes. The score for the film is quite the generic blend of action blockbuster fare, the soundtrack has a few good moments but is torn between wanting comedy and grit. 

 

Naomie Harris, who played Frances Barrison, is such a bizarre character that the film pushes roughly into the narrative; Harris makes the choice to make a street level antagonist blended with the voice of her Calypso role from Pirates Of The Caribbean in what is one of the more inexplicable characters of the year. Reid Scott, who played Dr. Dan Lewis, did a great job in the first film but falls more squarely into the comedic new boyfriend this film; the slight rivalry between Scott and Hardy has majorly lost its appeal and they haven't attempted anything new. Stephen Graham, who played Detective Mulligan, is yet another disappointing new arrival; Graham's entire character has a very two-dimensional character motivation and only seems to be in this to push towards a role in the inevitable third film.

 

Venom wasn't a strong start but this sequel is so much worse; the script felt like it had barely gone through a couple of drafts. I would give Venom: Let There Be Carnage a 4/10.