“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” Movie Review
Get ready for the return of Tom Hardy arguing with himself.
“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” is the superhero sequel to “Venom.” It is also the third movie Andy Serkis has directed.
Serkis is well-known for his motion capture work and animation that he carries over quite well for this CGI filled film.
“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” is about Eddie Brock and Venom coming together to try to bring back Brock’s reporting career by taking down serial killer Cletus Kasady and his symbiote Carnage.
The detective part of the movie was very interesting, but weird. To make Brock look like a loser they make Venom the better journalist. So, the movie struggles to make the audience believe and relate to the idea that Brock before he meets Venom was one of the best journalists there is.
Venom also carried Brock in daily life or action scenes, so it is hard to believe that Brock provides anything to the relationship besides giving Venom a host for the symbiote and permission to do things.
Brock’s arc of going through a “break up” with Venom and his ex-girlfriend reappearing while regaining his journalist career was an interesting, but at the same time less interesting than Venom’s.
Venom was trying to break out of his shell and be himself. But like any true bromance, all each other wants is the respect or approval of the other.
But whenever Brock and Venom appear on screen, the movie is humorous and fun. Their bickering and weird symbiotic friendship shines light into every scene they’re in.
The main characters and actors are Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and voice of Venom, Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady and voice of Carnage, Michelle Williams as Anne Weying, Stephen Graham as Detective Mulligan, Naomie Harris as Shriek, Reid Scott as Dr. Dan Lewis and Peggy Lu as Mrs. Chen.
Hardy managed to convince the audience that he was having a real argument with himself for most of the movie. His portrayal of Venom and Eddie Brock are the highlights of the whole movie.
Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady was very well done. He gave off major serial killer vibes and gave his all into the psyche of a serial killer that wants love from Shriek and the friendship of Eddie Brock. But there is an issue with Carnage.
For a movie about Carnage, the carnage is very mild.
The issue with a character like Carnage was that the movie was PG-13. The violent nature of the movie and character would have been done better if the movie was allowed to show more gruesome deaths to really feel the carnage.
Also, Carnage just felt like a killing machine and not much else. Carnage would just fight everyone including Kasady, which is supposed to be his biggest weakness, but it felt very forced.
Kasady’s love interest, Harris’ Shriek, was only put in to help strengthen Kasady’s character and to provide a wedge between Kasady and Carnage. Due to her only being there for another character, she barely gets any development and very little screen time. Her only traits are that she can scream loud, something that hurts symbiotes like Venom and Carnage, she loves Kasady and that she wants to kill Detective Mulligan.
Detective Mulligan, played by Graham, was just a stereotypical bad cop. His presence was unneeded and had some value but very little. It is very hard for one to relate to his character and enjoy his presence on screen.
Williams’ Anne is relatively the same as she was in the first movie. She has a fun presence on screen but her character relationship with Brock and Venom is weird, especially since she is getting married to fiancé Dan. Her relationship drives the stakes of the movie and helps the plot, so it is easy to forgive while watching.
Scott’s Dan was not really needed in the movie and Venom even makes a joke about it in the movie, so the film was very self-aware about not needing him but added him for comedic presence which worked well.
Lu’s Mrs. Chen was one of the funniest characters of the movie. Her interactions with Venom, Brock and Anne were some of the highlights of the movie. It was nice to see her get a larger role in this film compared to the last.
The comedy of this film was great. Normally, vulgar humor is seen as the lowest form of humor, but this movie perfectly places its cursing to make the audience laugh.
The constant bickering between all the characters is relatable to any friendship and tends to be very humorous as well.
The action was also well done. It could’ve been done better with an R-rating with these characters, but it is still fun CGI action of just characters causing mass destruction and it's very amusing.
The most important and fun part of the movie is its mid-credit scene. The mid-credit scene will leave any superhero fan with their jaws dropped.
Overall, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” is a fun, cheesy, CGI filled movie and the strong performances from most actors and actresses, especially Hardy and Harrelson, made it a fun, cheesy action film even with a very lackluster story.
Rating: 3/5 stars
Ethan Hetrick is a first-year majoring in communications. To contact him, email eth5186@psu.edu.
