There are two kinds of sequels in the filmmaking industry: sequels that give audiences basically the same experience as before (same amount of action, laughs, heart, etc.) and sequels that look at the previous film and try to shake things up. Usually, in the superhero genre, examples of the latter often involve making things more serious. Look at “Captain America: The First Avenger” in comparison to “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”
“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” doesn’t do that. It definitely makes some changes from the first film, all of them welcome, but it doesn’t get more serious. In fact, it takes an approach rarely seen in this kind of blockbuster filmmaking. Its relationship with the first film is most comparable to “Batman” and “Batman Forever.” That is to say, “Let There Be Carnage” is absolutely buck wild.
Tom Hardy (“Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Band of Brothers”) returns as both Eddie Brock and the voice of Venom, continuing to deliver more of the exhausted, hyper exaggerated performance from the first film. Like before, this is an incredibly physical performance, and it allows Hardy to really throw himself into a role like this. It continues to show his strengths as one of the few actors who can convincingly play against a CGI character, which is to say, nothing.
Michelle Williams (“Brokeback Mountain,” “The Greatest Showman”) also returns as Eddie’s ex Anne, as does Reid Scott (“Veep,” “My Boys”) as Dan, her fiancé. The pair are fine, acting more as straight man styled foibles against the insanity that Hardy brings. Scott does get in on a bit more of the action this time around, which is fun. Naomie Harris (“Moonlight,” “28 Days Later”) is here as Frances Barrison, aka Shriek. This classic Spider-Man villain is a fan favorite, and Harris is clearly having a blast hamming it up and playing to the cheesy, borderline parody tone the film has established.
And then there’s Woody. Cletus Kasady and Carnage are both performed, in the same way as Venom is, by Woody Harrelson (“Zombieland,” “True Detective”). How to describe his performance… well, it certainly won’t be called subdued. Harrelson’s acting is a perfect example of the bizarreness going on in this entire film. In any other superhero movie, hell, any other movie, Harrelson’s performance would be lambasted as over the top and ridiculous. Yet, because of the very specific tone cultivated in this sequel, it just works impossibly well.
That’s where director Andy Serkis (“The Lord of the Rings,” “Breathe (2017)”) and writer Kelly Marcel (“Saving Mr. Banks,” “Fifty Shades of Grey”) have succeeded where so many others, arguably including the first “Venom”, have failed. The pair establish a firm and concrete tone from the beginning and stick to it. This is a film that is absurd, plain and simple. It’s a roller coaster that invites you to either put up or shut up and never offering any respite for those who might be on the fence.
Its big and loud, exhibiting some gorgeous moments of CGI symbiotic gooiness when required, but it also spends a shocking amount of time exploring who Venom and Eddie are and why they need each other, emotionally as well as physically. Remember when the first film was released, and the internet exploded with pieces of fan art of Venom and Eddie just going about life, Eddie teasing Venom for not liking vegetables or Venom trying to compliment Eddie in his own weird way? That’s basically the entire film, and you’d be hard pressed to find a better cinematic definition of the word “unapologetic.”
Little moments like Venom extending a tendril to fix Eddie’s hair before he sees Anne again or the pair having breakfast together sell this relationship and because its at the center of the film, it sells the movie. It also helps that the entire thing is mercifully short for a superhero film. Whereas works like “Shang-Chi,” “Black Widow,” or “The Suicide Squad” are all over two hours long, “Let There Be Carnage” gets audiences in, right to the good stuff, and out in a breezy 90 minutes.
There might not be a lot of substance to “Let There Be Carnage” but it does a remarkably good job of making an impression. In an age where even the best action films can sometimes blur together, Serkis and Marcel commit to a very particular identity. This is a movie about an alien inside a guy’s body and it presents that concept like a bickering married couple. It should not work. Maybe it doesn’t, but during the brief time it takes to get through this sequel, you’ll be hard pressed to care if it does.
“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” is the rare studio film that goes for broke. Taking the thinly spread elements that the stood out in the first film and going absolutely balls to the wall. It cranks everything to eleven, doubling down on the relationship between Eddie and Venom as well as the idiosyncrasies of the messes they make. It’s a pulpy, big budget b-movie combined with a work of AO3 fanfiction where Venom gets to say, and I quote, “I have come out of the Eddie closet!” It might just be the most inspired piece of lunatic-tastic cinema this year. 4/5
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