Film Review: Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Images courtesy of Sony Pictures.

I’ll be honest, I don’t remember much about the first Venom movie… Now don’t act better than me when I say that. I know damn well that most of us enjoyed Venom for being something better than we expected, but nobody I’ve talked to can tell me a single plot point, bar some silly-ass quotes from that lovably corny Eminem song (which isn’t the plot, ok?). Well apparently, after Sony remembered it was dealing with a billion-dollar franchise, they got their act together.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a wild ride through unexplored terrain in recent superhero – err... I mean, anti-hero(?) – movie history. Sure, Deadpool is zany and somewhat… shall I say, scandalous, but Venom just scratches a different itch. Venom feels like something that wasn’t supposed to work, but now it’s a runaway success and those behind it aren’t ready to waste an opportunity (see the post-credit scene to find out what I mean).

Woody Harrelson makes a great Cletus Kasady, a simple man plagued by his inability not to kill. Let There Be Carnage takes a while to warm up, coating the audience in humour and relatability as Venom attempts to soothe Eddie Brock’s broken heart, while Cletus yearns to relocate his one true love. Cletus has fun, just like Woody has fun in every movie these days, but not every movie has the budget to turn him into a symbiote hell-bent on bringing a city to its knees.

The special effects in this movie aren’t exactly Marvel standard – you’ll notice some funky-looking lip-sync effects on Venom and Carnage during some of the more dialogue heavy scenes – but the explosions and speedy vehicle sequences more than make up for the corners of a mouth not exactly matching words in a realistic way. Besides, with the pace of this movie you’d have to be anticipating writing a review after watching it to even take in these minor details.

Let There Be Carnage is just over 1.5 hours and it knows how to use it. I was worried it might be a little on the stumpy side of narratives, but this movie isn’t in the habit of wasting time. I can’t deny I would’ve liked to see a little more of the climax as beautiful architecture is torn apart at its seams, but beggars can’t be choosers, and in a world where aliens eat heads and Spider-Man isn’t around we are all beggars.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is showing in cinemas from the 25th of November.