Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Review)
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is A Little Bit Better, A Little Bit Worse, But Just As Fun.
Admittedly, I was a bigger fan of Venom than the vast majority of critics, and by “bigger fan” I went so far as to say that it wasn’t that bad and was actually pretty fun. Venom: Let There Be Carnage gets the same level of endorsement, but for different reasons. It’s a ridiculous superhero-buddy-comedy, that bursts onto the scene with all the energy of a sugar-addled-five-year-old. Unfortunately, it also has the same coordination as a rambunctious child, because the film faceplants plenty due to a rough script and the hindrance of a PG-13 rating. Yet, there’s also the awe that comes with watching the film pick itself back up unabashedly and keep barreling towards the end, an ending that sets off ripples that will be felt for a long time to come.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a buddy movie about growing up and taking responsibility for their lives. Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is just starting to get his life back on track after the events of Venom. He and his symbiote are experiencing some growing pains, but they’ve reached an understanding. That is until serial killer and psychopath extraordinaire Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) comes between them. After an exclusive interview that puts Eddie back on top, he starts sliding into his old, selfish habits, and soon he and Venom are butting heads. They’re going to need to learn to work together again quickly because Cletus caught a little something during their last encounter. A little something called Carnage, a symbiote even deadlier than Venom. If the city has any hope of surviving Carnage’s rampage, Venom is going to have to accept his role as the self-proclaimed Lethal Protector. That might be easier said than done since those two can’t stand each other.
This time around some critics have called Venom: Let There Be Carnage “noisy, anarchic CGI-laden weeaboo porn tentacle fest”, to which I respond, “welcome to the characters.” I fully expected director Andy Serkis to nail the visual effects since he’s easily one of the most successful and respected motion-capture performers in the industry. Serkis definitely went big for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, perhaps even too big in a few scenes. However, the performances of Harrelson and Hardy under his tutelage add layers to the characters both physically and as the voices of their symbiotic companions. As impressive as the effects are at times, I was hoping for Serkis to take a more active approach with his camera work. Instead, the audience is kept at a distance through his lens in order for him to fit as much as possible into every frame. The entire movie felt a little too safe when it came to the visuals, but that might have been for the best considering it was such an overwhelming “porn tentacle fest” for some viewers.
Tom Hardy told fans recently that he actually read the bad reviews of Venom (and is currently reading reviews of Venom: Let There Be Carnage), because “ I just like to know so maybe I can do something better.” The blows to his egos from critics of Venom must have paid off, because the chemistry he has with, well, himself (he voices the symbiote as well) is much better this time around. The two remind me of the odd couple, bickering constantly, but have a deep-rooted love and appreciation for each other. Their squabbling was probably the best part of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and laughter echoed through the theater consistently through the showing I attended. Brock is also given a much more introspective arc as he is forced to come to terms with having to take responsibility for himself and his life. It would have been nice for the film to commit to an R-Rating in order to really let its “freak flag fly” like in the Deadpool movies, especially because the restraint required for the MPAA is definitely felt throughout the film.
The problems with Venom: Let There Be Carnage go deeper than the restraint necessary for a PG-13 rating. There were issues as basic as sloppy editing resulting in jarring transitions between scenes. The biggest issue I had was with the inclusion of the character Frances Barrison AKA Shriek. As much as I love Naomie Harris, her character’s sole purpose is to humanize Cleatus by giving him a love interest. In the comics, it was his lack of humanity that allows him to bond so well with the symbiote, which inevitably becomes his weakness. This would have led to a perfect ending leading to Eddie and Venom working together as two separate entities coming together on equal terms for a greater good (AKA becoming The Lethal Protector). Instead, the film plays up this Natural Born Killers idea of a psychotic soulmate relationship between the two as a counterpoint to the tumultuous old-married-couple bickering between Eddie and Venom.
The Venom series is on its way to becoming really good. Thanks to Tom Hardy’s dedication to the character, Eddie Brock and Venom have become a solid on-screen duo. “Their” chemistry is the best thing the franchise has going for it right now, but it has got to get a new writer. Venom is not a movie franchise that should be written by the same mind that brought us Fifty Shades of Grey. That said, it did have some solid underlying themes, but it rushes to the carnage rather than spending time examining those story elements. I found this odd because Venom: Let There Be Carnage is short for a superhero movie at just shy of an hour and forty minutes. Still, despite the issues Venom: Let There Be Carnage faced, I left feeling excited about the character’s future on the big screen which is a good sign in my book. In the end, I had fun watching the movie, which is probably what counts most when it comes to “porn tentacle fest” flicks.
