Venom: Let There Be Carnage
In case you missed the world-wide memo, people can’t get enough of comic book movies at the moment. The latest release to tempt movie goers is the sequel to 2018’s Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Once again we’re following Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his body snatcher symbiote Venom as the odd couple struggle to live, quite literally, together.
Meanwhile, Cletus Kassidy (Woody Harrelson), a serial killer sentenced to death, finds himself overcome by symbiote powers thanks to stealing a bit of Brock’s blood. He escapes Death Row and goes on a rampage to find his childhood sweetheart, Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris), a woman with an ear-exploding scream. Cletus and Frances enjoy their new found friend Carnage, as they seek revenge on those they believe have wronged them.
This very loose plot competes with the film’s determination to be a romantic comedy, with Brock and Venom squabbling throughout the first act, until finally Venom has had enough, and jumps to a new host. This is the comic book world so clearly they’ll need to reunite and fight off the bad guy at some point.
Marvel movies in particular are known for their comedy as much as their big budget action sequences. In the case of Let There Be Carnage, however, the former might have gone a bit too far. Every single scene has a joke in it. Every single one. There is no tension because the audience is never given the opportunity to invest in anyone or anything. The best chemistry is between Brock and Venom, and to Hardy’s credit, he does a good job at acting with himself. The other characters are just there. They interact in a one dimensional way that doesn’t allow any development or attachment to occur. The poor writing is not helped by the choppy editing. It’s welcome to have an action movie that clocks in at 90 minutes, but there is a feeling of something missing in the case of this film. The action sequences are fun with some very impressive CGI, but the inconsistent editing not only takes away from the story development, but it’s very distracting from a visual perspective as well.
Anybody who enjoyed the first Venom film, will undoubtedly enjoy its sequel. Let There Be Carnage is a superior film, but that does not mean it’s necessarily a good film.
Movie Review By Sofie Marsden