“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” is an exciting crowd pleaser of a film despite its shaky plot.
The sequel to the 2018 Marvel movie “Venom,” was released Oct. 1. The movie focuses on actor Tom Hardy’s character, Eddie Brock, and his relationship with Venom, an alien parasite called a symbiote, who shares and inhabits his body.
The movie also stars Woody Harrelson as antagonist Cletus Kasady. The 2018 “Venom” featured Harrelson’s character in a cameo role, but it’s in this movie that he gets actual screen time and character development.
Personally, I didn’t really enjoy the first movie. Despite having good moments, the movie dragged along quite a bit, especially at the beginning. So, my expectations were low for the sequel.
However, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Despite some story elements and underdeveloped and utilized side characters, the movie seems to revel in its outlandish concepts of aliens and superheroes to provide an experience that left me smiling.
The movie starts with Eddie Brock and Venom continuing to live within each other as they did in the first film. The movie is a bit unclear setting up what exactly has happened since the first movie and how long it’s been since. A benefit of the second movie is you don’t have to watch the first movie to enjoy it.
The computer-generated effects of Venom visually taking over Eddie’s body and physically appearing on screen are really well done, and the characters share a lot of witty banter. The movie doesn’t take itself too seriously, and I found myself laughing at the jokes a good amount of the time.
There are plenty of rom-com cliches used to add to the humor and depth of the pair’s relationship. Although these beats can be predictable at times, it usually leads to funny interactions between Hardy and Venom.
Hardy surprisingly has great chemistry with Venom, who is entirely computer generated and also whose voice is separately and surprisingly done by Hardy. The film benefits whenever they are on screen together and falters when they are not.
It is undeniable in both of his on-screen personas, Hardy carries the movie, and I was disappointed with most of the other characters. There are several side characters, such as Eddie's ex-girlfriend and a police lieutenant. The movie wants you to be invested in these characters but does not really give them enough time to do so.
In a similar vein, Cletus Kasady is a serial killer who merges with his own parasitic symbiote to become the villain Carnage. Harrelson is exciting to watch on screen but does simply what the plot wants him to. His Carnage persona, despite looking visually strong, would have benefitted with a little more screen time.
The plot and characters may be kind of a mess, but “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” does get my recommendation. Above everything else, the movie is really fun, and it provides humor, excitement and action all while holding onto its PG-13 rating.
