After a year of living together, the relationship between Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Venom (also Tom Hardy) is strained. While Venom wants to get out there and munch on bad guys, Eddie is trying to keep a low profile as he tries to get his life back together. But when the pair visit Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), Venom accidentally shares a piece of himself with the death row inmate, resulting in the emergence of a new symbiote - Carnage. This allows Kasady to escape his execution and bring chaos to San Francisco. And the only one(s) who can stop him, aren't getting along right now.
Sony's superpowered antihero odd couple are back, and with the both of them stuck in Eddie Brock's body, things are getting tense. Imagine what it would be like sharing your body with a toddler on a sugar rush, that's Eddie's life with Venom. How do you enforce rules on a being that's a) more powerful than you, and b) can control your body? The answer being; with great difficulty. After seeing Hardy play both Reggie and Ronnie Kray, he is the perfect choice to play Brock and his symbiote pal. His portrayal of both sides of the buddy duo continues to be a lot of fun as the pair clash over how to live their combined lives. Their arguments are rather hilarious, most of which end with poor Eddie flying across the room. That said, Eddie's struggles with trying to work and get his life back on track are quite relatable, imagine trying to concentrate with Venom in your ear - like trying to do most things whilst also dealing with a grumpy toddler.
However, with the focus of the movie very much on their constant bickering, other parts of the story fall by the wayside. Although, seeing Venom wrapped in glow sticks whilst hitting the club scene in San Francisco is rather amusing. For an investigative journalist, Eddie doesn't get to do a lot of investigating or journalism, even if at times it is hinted at. Like when Venom notices some markings on the wall in Kasady's cell, it felt like there could be some sort of mystery for the pair to investigate, but we never really get into the deep and meaningful of it all. Instead it's over pretty quickly.
The whole movie, in fact, feels rather rushed. As if they were trying to cram as much as possible into 90 minutes. This leaves very little time for the returning characters, let alone the development of the new ones. That's not to say the performances are lacking, quite the opposite. They just aren't given a lot to do. Apart from a brief mention of their engagement there's not a whole lot going on for Annie (Michelle Williams) and Doctor Dan (Reid Scott), with said engagement serving more as an influence for Venom than anyone else. Stephen Graham's 'Detective Mulligan' does very little except get angry all the time. He ends up much like Michelle Williams' character in the first movie, in that he could get a more important role in future movies.
Which brings us to the villains. Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the first of Sony's Marvel movies to feature a superpowered character that doesn't host a symbiote. As her name would suggest, 'Shriek' has a rather powerful voice, which makes her an interesting partner for Carnage. Naomie Harris may not be given any real time to shine, but she does a brilliant job of bringing some intensity to a character that has been locked away most of her adult life - even when stood next to the big red guy. Now, way back in the first movie Cletus Kasady promised us that if he ever got out of prison there would be "carnage". Seeing Woody Harrelson in that cell meant Cletus' escape and his pairing with a symbiote was something to get excited about. And while Harrelson is given opportunity to turn on the "creepy serial killer thing" somewhat, the serial killer/symbiote combo never really make it past mild disruption. Leaving us, once again, with a disappointing symbiote villain.
Carnage certainly looks like he could be Venom's greatest adversary - the combination of a twisted serial killer and an alien symbiote killing machine does sound rather formidable. And thanks to some very impressive visuals he is pretty scary looking, all of the symbiotes are. But he never really gets to be the major adversary he deserves to be. With the crammed runtime we get a little bit of Eddie and Cletus dancing around their rather weird relationship, as we build towards Venom and Carnage's one and only confrontation. Granted, Carnage does get a few moments to show off his talents for mayhem - his escape from San Quentin is rather exciting - and the fight that we've all been waiting for is definitely worth the wait. It's a significantly better fight than the one Venom had with Riot in the first movie. Although I still think these movies would benefit from a little gore, after all our boy's signature move is biting off the heads of his enemies.
Ultimately however, Venom: Let There Be Carnage will mostly be remembered for one thing; the mid-credits scene. The revelation held within it is quite something - I witnessed one cinema goer practically jump out of his seat when he saw it. What it means for the future of Sony's Marvel universe isn't exactly clear. Maybe Morbius will help with that one, when it finally gets here. But it's a shame to think that instead of seeing the epic clash of titans we were hoping for, we got a surprise setup for the future, one pretty decent fight and not enough carnage.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage has its moments, and the relationship between Eddie Brock and Venom continues to be fun. But ultimately it does not deliver on the carnage it promises.
6/10
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