Film Review: Venom - Let there be carnage

by George Hornby

Reporter by day, supernatural symbiote by night, Eddie Brock and Venom return in the highly anticipated sequel to fight serial killer Cletus Kasady and the red symbiote known as Carnage.

Since the release of Venom in 2018, Sony has been attempting to create a shared universe of well known Spider-Man characters, only without Spider-Man. Of course, this was met with a fair amount of skepticism, but once Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock reached the silver screen, audiences were left wanting more of the captivating couple of Brock and his symbiotic alien partner in crime, Venom. When it was announced that Venom would return to face off against Carnage at the end of the original film, the world waited patiently to see Andy Serkis bring these iconic characters back into the limelight. But did it meet the expectations thrust upon it?

In short, not really. If you wanted a short, 90 minute action flick with Venom fighting Carnage in a giant CGI battle then you’ll be pleased. However, for anyone wanting the sequel to expand at all on the well-received first film, you’ll be very disappointed. Venom: Let There Be Carnage hits many of the same story beats of the first, including Venom and Eddie having “relationship issues”, Eddie trying to rekindle his relationship with Michelle Williams’ Anne, and Venom fighting a differently coloured version of himself. The 90 minute runtime does mean that most of the interesting character development is missed, however the entire point of the film was really just to get to the final battle and to see Venom unleash Carnage on the city (sorry).

Brock & Venom undergo the classic storyline seen in almost every sequel in cinematic history; a relationship becomes more strained and eventually a disagreement ends in the pair parting ways, only to realise that they’re better off together. Learning to work together is definitely not a new story for characters in films, and not even new for Eddie Brock & Venom, as the theme recurs in both films they star in. One of the main highlights of the original film was the relationship between the pair and sadly the sequel does little to expand on this relationship. Venom as a character is reduced to frequent lines of comic relief and temper tantrums, and although this works in moderation like it did in the first film, it has a tendency to become repetitive and annoying in Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

One of the weakest parts of the film was Naomie Harris’ Frances Barrison, also known as the villain Shriek. Introduced from the start as the love interest of Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady, she is incredibly underdeveloped, to the point in which I have had to google her character’s name just 3 days after watching the film. Her purpose is to add a reason for Brock and Kasady to have their interview, and then be a small nuisance during the final fight, where her screaming ability weakens both Venom and Carnage. Harris plays her well, and adds a level of depth to an otherwise two-dimensional character, and it is evident that she enjoyed playing the part, although that is all that she really gets to do.

On the flip side of this, Kasady, played by Woody Harrelson, is one of the highlights of the entire film. He brings the insane serial killer to life and steals every scene he is in. His rivalry with Brock is clearly shown through this performance and is probably the best part of the film, even if it is only due to the over-the-top nature of the performance. But for a film that feels almost exactly like a comic book has been translated directly onto camera, this heightens the experience. Kasady’s symbiote Carnage doesn’t get a whole lot of time to himself, even though he is one of the titular characters. We do not learn anything about his motivations, feelings or goals, only that he must fight Venom. As a villain, Kasady/Carnage is a major improvement over 2018 Venom’s foil in Riot/Carlton Drake. Carnage is actually physically different from Venom, and not just in colour, although the red does contrast nicely with the black of Venom. Carnage has a more spider-like look, with more spindly tentacles sprouting from his torso, and also a strange ability to create a tornado which is used once and once only. The final showdown between the two is immensely enjoyable, if you just switch your brain off and watch the two computer generated aliens throw each other around a church. At one point, the pair even combine wrestling moves with their alien powers. It is fun, just try not to think about it. Please.

The biggest weakness of Venom: Let There Be Carnage is Stephen Graham as Detective Mulligan (He’s the policeman - I forgot about him too). A wholly insignificant and useless part of the film, it feels as if Mulligan was only added to tease the inevitable third film, or maybe because Andy Serkis lost a bet to Stephen Graham and had to put him in his next film. Graham marks the second British actor in the film to fail at an American accent, the first being Tom Hardy. Mulligan doesn’t actually affect the plot in any way shape or form, and removing him entirely wouldn’t change anything major. It feels like a waste of a character to involve Graham, and even his minor rivalry with Frances Barrison is underdeveloped.

Overall, Venom: Let There Be Carnage won’t be the worst 90 minutes of your life, but it’s not exactly the best either. Offering very little in the way of new content or concepts, it does deliver the main purpose: Venom fighting Carnage.

Rating: 4/10