Review of Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) by Brengeltiger — 06 Oct 2021

Not so much leaning on the comedic side of the character as much as it is throwing itself headlong into it with a brick in one hand and an engagement ring in the other.

Tom Hardy hits the delivery of the dumb jokes while also nourishing that disaster bi energy that he brought to life in the first movie. Venom is a queer icon now and it's great.

Woody Harrelson knows how to do creepy characters and is a good fit for Cletus Kassidy/Carnage. I liked the part where he said the word 'carnage' for the fifty-eighth time. I really liked the part where he just bellowed the name of the movie completely unprompted during a fight and the editors just kinda... cut to and away from him as quick as they could.

Naomi Harris leaning in to the edginess of it all is either a good fit for the character or a tad bit cringe-inducing, depending on who you ask. Real aficianados of the comic medium will recall how Shriek, in the Maximum Carnage run, actually said, "Make mine MURDER!" so take that as you will.

Michelle Williams somehow getting less agency in her character than in the first movie. Stephen Graham played a cop who shot a black woman.

Reid Scott got a paycheck.

But, for my money, the real star of the show was Peggy Lu as Mrs. Chen. Gotta give it up, some solid creative decisions in her scenes, not even joking.

The writing's at it's best when Tom Hardy talks to himself. Honorable mention to Woody Harrelson speaking like he's spiraling down, down, down, down giving cryptic lines and the occasional Shakespeare quote (SoMeThInG wIcKeD tHiS wAy CoMeS oOoOoOoO).

I found the editing to be a bit messy. Some odd decisions all around, really. Extreme closeups on faces that look pretty unenthusiastic, stage-fighting masked by cutaways that are juuuuust too late to hide how awkward the hits are, etc. At least the CGI monster fight didn't look like a swamp orgy. Thank you, Andy Serkis, for bringing your expertise to the table. Here's your Oscar for Venom: Carnage 2 Carnage.

I give this rating with all the love in the world. But all-in-all, this just kind of solidifies my position that, as amusing as the Brock/Venom dynamic is, they are not solo movie material and work better as a foil/secondary character/comic relief.

Kinda like what they did to The Hulk.

Or Spider-Man.

Hey, maybe if/when Venom and Spidey meet, Peter will stop simping over billionaires and actually become relatable to anyone who's not invested in whatever crypto that Elon Musk shilled on Reddit.

But enough about parasites. Go see Venom if you like dumb fun with symbiotes and pg-13 violence.

And stay tuned for Venom 3: Another Goddamn Symbiote Tries to Kill Everyone Again.