Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Starring: Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham
Directed by: Andy Serkis
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) faces off against a deadly serial killer (Woody Harrelson) who manages to isolate some of the Venom symbiote.

Review:

Tim: I... I'm not entirely sure what to say here. Picture me sighing in exasperation. It's kind of interesting to see how determined Sony is to build their own Marvel Universe and how wholly unequipped they are to do it. They already spoiled the first Venom movie, so it makes total sense that would ruin another character by introducing Carnage here and then surrounding him with an absolutely disappointing film. The problem is that people actually went to the theater to see this movie, so that will give Sony momentum to continue.

I actually had some level of hope when I saw that Andy Serkis was going to direct this film. I haven't seen any of his directorial work, but he's a craftsman and I hoped that would translate to the screen. That doesn't happen here. This movie is actually worse than the original, but some of that is certainly due to the badwill the first movie generated. Still, this is a superhero movie that feels like it was ripped from the mid-1990s. It's a movie made by studio executives who don't have the first clue about what makes these movies work. It's loud, visuals-effects heavy, full of unfunny humor. It ultimately feels as flat as a comic book page. In short, it's a major step backwards for superhero cinema.

There's plenty of blame to go around. I like Tom Hardy, but I cannot fathom why he's doing this. His Eddie Brock leverages none of his natural strengths as an actor. The banter between Brock and Venom is cringe-worthy. I just wanted to scream at all the unfunny back-and-forth. Eating brains wasn't funny in the first movie and this one just doubles down on that prepubescent humor. It's just all so mind-numbling stupid. Hardy is fine as Brock, but it's a forgettable performance on a weak, underdeveloped character. Hardy needs to go do something that leverages his talent.

I actually loved the casting of Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady. Harrelson does unhinged really well and it was fun seeing him in this role. The problem that the script does him no favors. He's oddly restrained in this film. I wanted to see him go all out and that doesn't happen. Harrelson is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the film and he makes the movie better than it otherwise would have been, but his talent isn't even close to being leveraged here. The portrayal of Carnage felt flat and anticlimactic. His motivations felt so disappointing. He's doing it all for a girl- Naomie Harris, who is criminally underutilized here. It felt so boring to see Kasady, one of the most chilling villains, reduced to what we get on screen. Carnage should have been a seemingly unstoppable force, a frightening maelstrom of destruction. Here, he's a throwawy comic book villain. This is quite disappointing.

I also don't understand why Michelle Williams is back, other than she was contractually obligated to do so. Her role is about the same as in the first one- she's underutilized and looks silly. The script tried to give her a bit more to do, but it doesn't work well. Williams is a strong enough talent that she tries to elevate the character, but she can't win over script and direction. I like Stephen Graham and thought he was decent, if forgettable in his role.

The biggest problem here is that the script just never clicks. One example is the scene where Venom is trashing Eddie's apartment. They have this fight and it involves (sigh) a chicken hostage. I'm watching this lunacy and just became so aware of how devoid of fun the entire movie is. It's just a chore. That being said, the movie has a few somewhat enjoyable moments- it's obviously fun to see Venom and Carnage battle it out. Their climatic battle feels pretty small, but I did have some level of fun seeing them collide on screen. That's fine, but it's not enough to save this movie. I know Sony doesn't care much about quality- this movie brought in enough money for them to greenlight a sequel. It's just frustrating to me that they can't even get close to the quality of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They aren't even keeping pace with the DCEU and we all know how that's going.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage isn't quite a bad movie, but it gets pretty close. It's horribly disappointing to see two of the greatest Marvel characters reduced to this paint-by-numbers approach. This is a forgettable, discouraging film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



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