Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) Review

 

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

Let There Be Carnage follows Eddie Brock, who is still struggling to coexist with Venom, but when deranged serial killer Cletus Kasady also becomes host to an alien symbiote, Eddie and Venom must put aside their differences to stop his reign of terror.

The sequel to 2018’s Venom, Let There Be Carnage pulls directly from the Sony sequel playbook and gives us the break up. No, I don’t mean the 2006 movie with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, I mean the break up between Eddie and Venom (just like Peter and Spider-Man or Peter and MJ or Peter and Gwen, all occurring in the 2nd movie oddly enough). Their less-than symbiotic relationship causes strain on the two and while they make a good pair, the two have a hard time making it work. Of course, nothing brings a bickering, old married couple back together like murderous super villain though, and we finally get the on screen debut of Carnage (one of my favorite Spidey villains). 

Gotta say though, this was a letdown and a half. While Carnage fairly lived up to his namesake (and looked good doing it), the human side in Cletus Kassidy was 6 degrees of stupid, giving off more of a Jared Leto Joker vibe and less of the crazy, frightening, serial killer that Kassidy is (even dressing him up like a cornball). To make matters worse, the script and dialogue was utter sewer trash and wrote like the bad class clown who only knows dick jokes, though even that would be rated R. Most of the Venom material, I didn’t mind a bit though, as the bickering relationship between Eddie and Venom, and Anne as well, was quite frankly hilarious at times. Those connections feel tried and true and always felt reliable among the rubble. 

Not a bad cast here either, starring Peggy Lu, Tom Hollander, Stephen Graham, Naomie Harris, Michelle Williams, Woody Harrelson, and Tom Hardy. Hardy and Williams were probably the two saving graces of this film, and while it’s not saved outright, they brought a reliable energy and humor to it that almost always felt natural. Harrelsom however, isn’t given a lot to work with and while I was initially excited for his Carnage, a lot of his character gets bogged down with the dorky Bonnie & Clyde element with Harris. 

Let There Be Carnage, directed by Andy Serkis, is one of those movies where you know exactly what to expect going into it, and while it offers some good laughs, that still isn’t enough to let you down in the end, especially after such a long wait to see Carnage and Venom really go at it. 

5.8/10