Movie Review: Venom: Let There Be Carnage Is Bloody Comical
At 90 minutes, Venom: Let There Be Carnage can’t really go wrong. It reminds me of the many times my professors told me to keep things concise. Why use 5 sentences for what can be said in one? On October 1, a “one sentence” is about to be released, and I liked its point.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (VLTBC) might feel like a strange addition to the plethora of Comicbook films that, currently, are over two hours and feel like they give people their money’s worth. In those, at times near three hours, I get comedy, drama, action, and even psychological thriller. I get multiple genres via superheroes. Yet, while comic books can be like that, they are brief and chaptered. In a way, this film reminded me that. A true comic book is like a burst of color, puns, and misadventures; often, being read in one day. VLTBC felt like a true, comic book, and we were plopped into a day of Eddie Brock’s massive screw-ups.
In an odd way, Tom Hardy’s second-round of “Eddie Brockism” feels closer to the comics. In Venom, he was the suave guy, of which life went wrong for him. In the sequel, there is more accountability to be had. Eddie Brock, in comic book and film, knows how to screw himself over better than anyone, and he completely self-sabotages himself with Cletus Kasady/Carnage (Woody Harrelsson), who feels straight out of the comics. Admittedly, Harrelson, as an actor, has always felt charmingly outlandish, and his coupling with Naomi Harris’ Francis Barreson, definitely echoed some Natural Born Killer vibes. Both feel out of the ordinary, and that is what comics are: extraordinary.
Truthfully, I was happy with Michelle Williams’ turn as Anne and the return of her fiancé Dan (Reid Scott). They felt more like Eddie’s big brother and sister this go-around and kind of echoed the dynamic between Ant-Man and his ex-wife and her new husband. They were family bound by a shared child: Venom. It is a dynamic rarely explored in movies because, by all means, Anne and Dan have chosen to be Eddie’s family, but that is what makes their loyalty and the laughs had at their expense so rich. They have become parental figures to a grown man and an alien symbiote, which is why, in this turn, Venom is more emotional and the wedge between him and Eddie is one of sentimental validation. Why can’t these two apologize and validate how the other feels?!!!!!!!! This leads to hilarity and the overall breeziness of this film.
In visuals, the movie reminded me of Sam Raimi’s Spiderman, and even felt like that in plot. There was something very colorfully clunky to Andy Serkis’ direction that made the film feel packed and endearing while being as quick as Thanos’ snap. With a mid credits scenes that is BOUND to make multiverse theorists VERY HAPPY, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a good film that stands on its own but alludes to so many more connections. Check out in Theaters October 1.
