The 2018 film Venom may not have met viewer expectations, however the sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage certainly has redeemed the film series.
Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) sets out to restart his career while struggling to co-exist with the alien symbiote he shares his body with, Venom. He interviews serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) who becomes the host to the alien symbiote Carnage and escapes his death sentence. Eddie and Venom need to set aside their differences to save the world from carnage.
The film focuses on Eddie and Venoms relationship, bringing the comedic side to it. The pair bicker like an old married couple who can’t agree what they want for tea. As the first film focused more of the coming together of Eddie and Venom it is good to see that it isn’t plain sailing for the pair.
Image credit: Sony Pictures
The sequel got a lot darker than the first. The film continued to hold the age rating a 15 but it definitely felt more of the 15 rating this time around. While the movie was violent director Andy Serkis told Playstation Blog during an interview that “I think we pushed it about as far as we could possibly go, without being sensationalist, overly gory or gratuitously violent. We pushed it right to the wire.”
With Venom: Let There Be Carnage only being the third film Andy Serkis has directed he has certainly done the series justice. Serkis has also directed Breathe and Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.
The increased comedy and violence in this film makes it feel similar to Fox’s Deadpool films, however, it is not quite on par with it.
Image credit: Sony Pictures
Woody Harrelson embodies the sociopathic serial killer Cletus Kasady perfectly. Carnage/Cletus Kasady was certainly a more fun character to watch than Riot/Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) in the first Venom movie. It will be interesting to see how they will top this in the third instalment.
The visual effects were spectacular in the fight scenes. DNEG was the lead VFX partner for the film. This delivered over ‘750 shots across 20 sequences’ as well as ‘leading the asset build for all the hero characters assets including Carnage’.
The film was certainly not disappointing, however, it definitely had room for improvement. While the film was overall better than the first, there are some things to think about for the next Venom film.
With a runtime of just 1 hour and 37 minutes long the film is shorter than not only most other superhero films but also its predecessor Venom. The film felt rushed in places due to this and compromised the backstories on both Cletus and more so Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris) meaning audiences didn’t get to fully know these characters.
It feels like a lot of stuff was thrown in without a thought. Things were mentioned, but not explained such as what was frightening about Carnage being “a red one”? Why is he red? Why is he different? A lot of unanswered questions that the viewers will unlikely get.
Overall, despite not being perfect Venom: Let There Be Carnage was a fun action packed film to watch. It is certainly one to watch for those who are avid watchers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the post-credit scene is not one to miss.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is in cinemas now.
Feature Image Credit: Sony Pictures
Lifestyle Editor • Fourth year Journalism student
