On many levels Venom: Let There Be Carnage is exactly what you expect it to be: a giant CGI mess of monsters getting up to all sorts of violent, incomprehensible mischief. However unlike it’s 2018 predecessor, Let There Be Carnage is unable to capitalise on the odd-couple energy of Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and Venom learning to inhabit a body together, instead bombarding you with constant, terribly unfunny dialogue whilst Woody Harrelson is vaguely menacing in the background. The story is practically non-existent, the characters paper-thin and it all culminates in the usual CGI showdown; making for one of the most dull superhero experiences of the year.
Now co-inhabiting one body, Venom and Eddie Brock (Hardy) struggle to find a balance between one’s desire to live a normal life with the other constantly craving human brains. Having re-established himself as a respectable journalist thanks to a series of interviews with notorious serial killer Cletus Kassady (Harrelson), Eddie decides it is time to give Venom the boot, forcing the Symbiote to search for a new host. Bad timing it seems, as Cletus finds himself in possession of a similar Symbiote; the red, ravenous Carnage, with the duo on the hunt for Eddie and Venom in an effort to cement themselves as the most powerful duo in town. But first there’s Cletus’ vocally super-powered girlfriend Shriek (Naomie Harris) to contend with, an obligatory damsel-in-distress appearance from Eddie’s ex Anne (Michelle Williams) and a nosy detective (Stephen Graham) to avoid before the predictably bombastic final battle.
The first Venom wasn’t great. A fairly stock standard superhero origin story, it was held together thanks to a pretty charming interplay between Eddie and Venom as they felt out a situation foreign to both of them, managing to change each others lives for the better (mostly) in the process. Here that relationship takes centre stage, confirming that too much of a good thing can indeed be bad. The “banter”, if you want to call it that, is incessant; constant bickering which inevitably leads to drawn out sequences of violence inflicted on Eddie by Venom. When you realise that Tom Hardy himself had a hand in the script, this shift in focus becomes more understandable and admittedly, it is pretty funny the first time Venom slaps Eddie around, less so the third time it happens.
This is also the only time that the film seems to have an actual story, with the pair bickering whilst trying to uncover the reason Cletus has taken such an interest in a down-on-his-luck Eddie. Once Eddie gives Venom the boot this story thread is simply never mentioned again. Cletus busts out of jail, bonds with Carnage and goes on a spree of mindless violence while we are treated to an extended montage of Venom at a rave, snatching the microphone from rapper Little Simz (who also has a hit single named, you guessed it “Venom”). It’s a strange ode to the wackiness of early 2000’s superhero films; a brief flash of stupid fun that would never find its way into the MCU, that is quickly swept away when you realise that this cute little side story is actually the main event; the film almost over at barely an hour long.
Thus begins the descent into the usual CGI nonsense: Venom and Carnage tussle, leaving Michelle Williams with nothing to do whilst Naomie Harris’ painful villain skulks around, firing off bad one-liners in an annoyingly, needlessly raspy voice. It’s hard to believe that the film was directed by Andy Serkis, a veteran of performance capture known for his precision and dedication to the craft, with nary a personal touch in sight. In fact Let There Be Carnage is one of the most generic, obviously studio-mandated superhero films in years; a pointless sequel designed only to cash in on the success of the first and set things up for inevitable crossovers going forward. When the most exciting aspect of your film is the post-credits scene teasing more films that will almost surely be handled by a better creative team in the future, it cheapens what was already a bad experience.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is not so much a film as it is a montage of painfully unfunny Three Stooges-esque slapstick comedy and over-the-top, generic CGI action. Tom Hardy is solid in the role and this is clearly a character close to his heart but the sequel functions as little more than a vehicle to move Venom into more exciting territory in the future, unfortunately wasting one of his most famous adversaries in the process. There’s only one type of carnage on-screen here and it isn’t the big, red one.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage stars Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Stephen Graham, Reid Scott & Woody Harrelson – In Australian cinemas now and available on-demand in the US.