"Coming out of the Venom Closet!" - Venom: Let there be Carnage Official Review

Our resident Director takes a look at the goofy, non-sensical sequel to 2018’s Venom, and has an absolute blast the whole time!

I may not be the biggest Spider-Man fan in the world, but I remember as a kid, the concept of the villains Venom and Carnage were utterly fascinating to me. In elementary school, I had a calendar of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics which were fresh in the minds of kids everywhere when Tobey Maguire swung onto the scene in 2002…and sure enough, in August of that year, there was the character Carnage just staring at me. It was flying straight into the sky . Surrounded in a city of hell-fire, his piercing white eyes stared daggers into mine.

I’ve never forgotten that image, and even the accompanying one of Venom (the month he was under, I couldn’t tell you): a dark, empty liminal space with Spider-Man square in the middle, and the faint light coming off the walls where his great, wide mouth was open, his arms stretched out, and his head cocked ever so slightly. He was the predator, and Spider-Man was the prey.

These were the images that were caked into my head as a kid, and when I got to experience Spider-Man 3, I was personally pleased with how director Sam Raimi was able to capture the horror that comes from symbiote, in my opinion at least. But I still remember the excitement of the speculation that came with expecting Carnage to come out in the at the time fourth stab Raimi would take: people thought Jim Carrey would be Cletus Kassidy, that was exciting to dream up!

Of course, the reality was after two different takes on Spider-Man, it would take 11 years before we saw a new version of Venom in Ruben Fleischer’s titular film in 2018. And that movie was… not great. But when news of the sequel came out, I was initially turned away until ANDY SERKIS WAS ANNOUNCED AS THE DIRECTOR! Then it was confirmed that Robert Richardson (Kill Bill, Casino, The Aviator, you get it) was going to be the cinematographer of the picture -- even turning down Matt Reeves’ The Batman for it!

There was honestly a lot of talent on display for a film that quite honestly I had low expectations for. So how was the surprisingly brisk sequel to Venom?

It was stupidity at the highest level and I absolutely adored it!

This’ll probably be the easiest review I think I’ll ever write for this website, because I only have one negative with the film: the editing. It moves at a perfect breakneck speed which is honestly very refreshing for the modern cinematic landscape. The problem with this comes with the fact that it honestly feels like the film could use a break for a little bit to just breathe. Everything comes so fast that when the movie starts, you never get a chance to rest with the characters. From the first minute onwards, you’re on a marathon run all the way to the spectacular post-credits scene that the whole film feels like a roller coaster that you’ll want to get on again just to make sure it wasn’t just a blur. However, because the film is all killer (pun intended) and no filler, there’s not much to come back to as a result of it.

But all negatives aside, the positives in this film are absolutely positive! In particular, the film’s tone is absolutely perfect for what it is. For a long time, I held that image of Venom as a dark, oppressive, shadowy monster that wants to eat Spider-Man in my head for so long that I completely closed myself off from the fun and goofy antics that the character gets into in the comics as well! The chemistry of Eddie Brock (played by Tom Hardy) and Venom is just so perfect, bickering more like a married couple than a possessed monster. The absolute balls-to-the-wall insanity of Cletus Kassidy (played by Woody Harrelson) feels like a match made in heaven with the ridiculousness of the script. The highlight of this film (for me anyway) was seeing a domestic dispute between Eddie and Venom which was… so hilarious, I swear I nearly died watching it in the theater.

Not only that, but everyone seemed to be dialed into the film this time around, so everyone’s performances seem to match the material much better than the first time around. Michelle Williams feels like she knows the film she’s in now, and looks like she’s having a blast this time around. Not only that, but the highlights for me (other than the hilarious and impeccable performance of Tom Hardy giving it his greasiest since The Revenant) were Naomie Harris and Reid Scott just absolutely being foils for our protagonist and antagonists.

But the best thing about this whole film seems to be Serkis’ direction. It feels like a 90’s comic brought to life in the best way possible. Between how he and Richardson frame the shots to even the imaginative touches he brings to the table with animated flashback sequences, and the fact that reality in the film is bendable to where anything can explode with just the right touch, to the symbiote having the ability to hack computers now? It’s clear that Serkis’ top priority was to throw all sense of logic and reasoning out the window to just make a film that will make the part of you that just loves action and goof.

Finally, special mention must be given to Marco Beltrami’s score, replacing Ludwig Gorranson. While I am sad to see the old composer go, quite frankly, Beltrami brings so much to the film by giving it a gothic nightmare type of sound that matches with the moody images that Serkis brings to the table… while also not being afraid to dive into the romantic nature of Venom and Eddie’s relationship, with a track that I SWEAR TO CHRIST sounds a lot like Christina Agulera’s “I Am Beautiful,” or is an homage to “theme” by Jon Brion straight off the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack. Just listen to the track “Venom and Blues” and tell me I’m lying!

This film isn’t for everyone, and I’m not about to say that it’s the best superhero film since The Dark Knight. It’s not trying to be. In fact, it might be annoying for some people, and mileage may vary. But for me, this film got into the part of me that used to love going to the Blockbuster Video stores on Wednesday nights to rent some games, get absolutely hopped up on Dr. Pepper, and read some of the handful of comics I had in my hands. It appeals to the inner child in me, and I can’t help but be thankful that superhero films that feel plucked straight from the early 2000’s are still being made in a strictly continuity-driven structure most films of this nature are placed into nowadays.

It’s not as horrifying or as violent as people might want it to be, but sometimes we don’t need something to be so intense and scary like how it is on the page. Sometimes, we gotta look past our expectations to appreciate what we’re presented by the artists. And this film… for nothing else, might not live up to our childhood’s expectations, but it’ll live up to our childhood’s imaginations. It’s loud, it’s stupid, it’s goofy, it’s profound, and it’s got heart. If you liked this… congrats: you’ve probably made Todd McFarlane’s day.

FINAL SCORE:
8/10
A GREAT TIME!

Venom: Let there be Carnage is slithering its way in theaters right now!