RECENT WATCHES: Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

I don't know if anybody – at least not anybody in my circles – expected “Venom” to be commercially successful, much less good. Sony's continued attempts to build a cinematic universe around the spare parts of the “Spider-Man” I.P. they owned always reeked of desperation. How was a “Venom” story that was legally barred from mentioning Peter Parker ever going to be satisfying? And yet, somehow, 2018's “Venom” proved to be both a proper blockbuster but somewhat beloved too. Through sheer force of will, star Tom Hardy's quirky energy managed to make it a way weirder and more endearing project than it had any right to be. The sequel that the mid-credits teaser promised immediately went into production, with no less a talent than Andy Serkis in the director's chair. “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” unfolded on theater screens back in October and, predictably, became a decent sized hit.

Eddie Brock and Venom attempts to balance his profession as a journalist and the alien symbiote's desires to fight crimes and eat brains, all while pining for his ex-wife, Anne. Brock gets a break when incarcerated serial killer Cletus Kasady, who feels a bond with Eddie, agrees to an interview. Venom quickly deduces Kasady's cryptic messages to uncover where the bodies are hidden. The resulting evidence gets Cletus the death penalty. Before he's to be executed, the murderer bites Eddie and ingests some of the symbiote. This results in a new, red-colored symbiote – calling itself Carnage – bursting from Cletus' bloodstream. The empowered serial killer goes on a rampage, seeking to rescue his superpowered girlfriend, and destroy Brock/Venom. It's not long before Anne, and the police detective pursuing Brock, are caught up in this alien rivalry. 

It's pretty obvious that Tom Hardy, who has a story credit here, and the rest of the team making this sequel were aware of what did and didn't work about the first “Venom” movie. Fans really responded to the oddball relationship between Eddie Brock and Venom, which veered between the argumentative and the homoerotic. “Let There Be Carnage” doubles-down on that stuff. The bickering between the alien life form and his human host comprises a good chunk of the movie and is usually amusing. There's even a long digression, in the middle of the movie, where the two break up and Venom destroys Eddie's motorcycle. This subplot climaxes with a deliriously entertaining sequence where Venom goes solo at a Halloween parade before “coming out” while festooned with rainbow glow-sticks. (Which is only the most obvious way the movie plays with the queer subtext of its central relationship.)

While “Let There Be Carnage” gets a lot of laughs from the CGI slime monster's snide remarks and its dysfunctional relationship with Eddie, it doesn't prove to be the best showcase for its villain. The cinematic Carnage is an anemic imitation of his four color counterpart. In the comics,  the utterly depraved Cletus Kasady forms such a close bond with the symbiote, that he uses singular pronouns when referring to himself, unlike Venom's plural pronouns. The movie, meanwhile, explicitly runs with the idea that Kasady and his symbiote are in conflict. The two turn on each other before the end. Woody Harrelson plays the serial killer as a theatrical, vicious man-child that is almost sympathetic. He's been abused his whole life, can still feel love, and fuses with the alien life form mostly as a means-to-an-end. The CGI Carnage symbiote, meanwhile, is a generic rampaging monster with no personality beyond its desire to destroy its “parent.” The result is an antagonist that zips between totally bland and honestly kind of wimpy. 

Despite its weak titular villain, “Let There Be Carnage” probably still ranks as an improvement over its predecessor. While the previous “Venom” had largely mediocre action direction, and eventually degraded into indistinct CGI mayhem, the sequel overall looks a lot better. The final fight between Venom and Carnage is set in a gothic church, a compelling location. The battle between the monsters never gets tedious or hard-to-follow. I'm chalking this up to Andy Serkis having a lot more experience dealing with CGI characters than Rube Fleischer did. None of the pyrotechnics and stunts are especially memorable and some of it borders on the goofy. Like an improvised tornado or a helicopter plucked out of the sky. Yet Serkis is smart enough to cook enough humor into the action to keep things plugging along at a decent pace. 

The star of the show is obviously Tom Hardy and the weirdo chemistry he has with a toothy blob of CGI sludge. As always, Hardy's cranky, edgy, nervous leading man energy is a delight to behold. But I'm happy that Michelle Williams is brought back. She continues to have a compelling back-and-forth with both Hardy and his computer generated pal. Even if she's reduced to a damsel-in-distress before the end. Reid Scott is also amusing as Anne's beleaguered new fiancé, who proves surprisingly useful before the end. Unfortunately, Naomie Harris is completely wasted as Shriek, Carnage's girlfriend with a super-sonic scream. Harris hams it up in a handful of scenes but the character is so thinly defined that she's still not able to make the character memorable.

Much like the previous entry in the series, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” makes sure to include plenty of sequel hooks. There's a set-up for a probably inevitable crossover while a largely unnecessary subplot seems designed to introduce Toxin for a third film. Man, is Venom going to fight another symbiote for a third time? Couldn't they introduce the Jury or Knull or something as the villain? Anyway, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” is, much like its predecessor, most entertaining when following the quirky bond between its two lead characters. In a world jam-packed with superhero blockbuster distractions, it can't prove all that memorable on any of its other merits. Yet it's far from bad too. Hey, I wonder how that “Morbius” movie is going to turn out? [7/10]