Venom stans rejoice! Venom returns for a much anticipated sequel in Venom Let There Be Carnage. For everyone else, Tom Hardy brings one of Marvel’s most popular anti-heroes back for another round of CG… Well, Carnage.
Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is still struggling to coexist with the shape-shifting extraterrestrial Venom. When deranged serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) also becomes host to an alien symbiote, Brock and Venom must put aside their differences to stop his reign of terror.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is really a tale of two halves. The first half opens with a Odd Couple-esque comedy driven narrative until, Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady is introduced proper and it then unfolds into what can only be described as a CGI Soup of chaos, which for the most part is a complete mess.
Hardy and director Andy Serkis have certainly done their homework for this sequel. Sticking fairly close to the source comic book material, storewide, Venom: LTBC is at times impressive, with the returning Michelle Williams, the film jaunts along at a brisk pace with some fairly amusing moments to be had. Things take a turn for the darker with the introduction of Harrelson and Naomie Harris (As Shreik). Throw in Tom Hardy’s mate, the ever dependable Stephen Graham and elements of Venom: LTBC gives you hope. However once Carnage takes centre stage however, all the good work done to this point is completely thrown out of the window as the CG takes over almost in the same fashion as one of the symbiotes takes on it’s host. Much like the themes held in the film, the CG symbiotic mesh, just doesn’t gel.
With a sturdy final act in a church with the final battle between the CGI anti-heroes escalates so does the volume and the visuals that become totally unwatchable. With a blink and you’ll miss it (possible) introduction of Anti-Venom for what is most likely the third instalment’s main protagonist, Don’t expect any other real surprises before the final credits, it’s in the final credits that the films best moment arises from the one and only cut scene, mid-way through the credits, which we won’t spoil here, but you most certainly should stick around for.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage won’t add any new fans, but it will most likely keep the Venom faithful happy enough until Spoiler and Venom Part 3 arrives.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is in cinemas nationwide now
