Despite mid-to-low reviews from mainstream critics, the first Venom film was a massive success. Star Tom Hardy, who pulls double duty as Eddie Brock and the voice of Venom, brought enough absurdist charm to the Jekyll/Hyde relationship that the film became surprisingly enjoyable, even if its place as a good comic book adaptation is up for debate. But the best part about the success of Venom is that the filmmakers and cast get a chance to learn from their mistakes and make Venom: Let There Be Carnage everything the first film wasn’t.
For the sequel, Hardy is adding another comma to his credits, developing the story with Kelly Marcel on Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Unfortunately, the narrative is no better than the first film. In fact, its haphazard construction suggests numerous editing passes and reshoots, in the hopes of eventually pulling something coherent together. For example, the film opens with a scene in 1996 that explains the backstory of its two villains, Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) and Frances Barrison/Shriek (Naomie Harris), and then makes the audience spend the majority of its present-day story watching as the characters figure out information that was made clear to viewers early on.
Overall, Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s story is a jumbled mess that barrels towards a conclusion that, while satisfying for comic book fans, has barely any weight to it. Not to mention the lack of weight inherent to two CGI characters smashing into each other, but that’s par for the course at this point.
Much like the first film, if Tom Hardy isn’t on-screen then Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a disposable comic book adaptation at best. His interactions with Venom (aka himself) are what makes this series tick and their interplay prop up the most enjoyable bits of the film. Harrelson’s Kasady/Carnage is a more fitting foil for Venom than Riot from the first film, but the conflict only manifests at the tail end of the 90-minute movie. Everything else is just wheel-spinning – waiting for an obvious throwdown with minimal stakes and B-level excitement.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the type of movie that one would expect prior to the inception of the MCU. Outside of Eddie Brock its characters are flat and one-note, its plot points are merely pit stops on an obvious journey, and its action is sparse and lacking in any real dynamism. The Venom name and brand clearly have enough cachet to bring audiences to the theaters, but for two films in a row, the filmmakers have failed to capture that potential. Carnage was Venom’s big bad, a trump card that should have only been played with the best possible script and a clear vision. Instead, Venom 2 is forgettable fluff.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
In this follow up to 2018's Venom, Tom Hardy returns as the lethal protector Venom, an alien symbiote bonded to Eddie Brock. When Eddie gets a chance to interview one of the most dangerous serial killers on Earth, Cletus Kasady, an altercation between Kasady and Brock. This leads to the former getting his own parasite, and his twisted perception of the world gives life to Carnage, a deadly symbiote hellbent on chaos and death. Brock and Venom will have to work together to stop Kasady and Carnage's murderous rampage.
