HOLLYWOOD—I might be one of the only ones, but I thought the 2018 flick “Venom” was a hoot. It was perfect casting for Tom Hardy to play reporter Eddie Brock, who finds himself battling with his inner demons when an alien attaches itself to his body transforming him into the villain, Venom who gave Spiderman a headache in the comics. Let’s be clear the 2018 film was a standalone entry that turned that villain into an Anti-hero.
The box-office success would eventually led us to the long-delayed sequel, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and let’s just say, I see why the release date kept being pushed back. I could not take this movie serious even if I wanted to. The banter between Eddie and Venom has run its course in this movie, and I mean that literally. It feels like the first act is just all wise cracking jokes between this alien and the human being whose body he has encapsulated.
It is fun until it’s no longer fun. As for the plot, yeah, I couldn’t find one even if I wanted to give you one. You have Venom and you have Carnage (Woody Harrelson), another nemesis of Spiderman that audiences NEVER got to see in the film version. Harrelson plays this twisted serial killer to a heightened degree so much to the point you feel sorry for the actor. Look at the film’s title and that is EXACTLY what the audience gets absolute carnage and chaos that is supposed to entertain, but it’s not a satisfying form of entertainment.
Does the film have anything stellar going for it? The visual effects are eye-popping, fascinating and will leave you in awe, but visual effects alone cannot save a movie. However in Hollywood so many seem to think otherwise and that is a definitive mistake to say the least. “Venom: Let There be Carnage” is missing a story that draws the viewers into the characters orbit for the first 45 minutes it just seems to be people moving around as if they have nothing to do.
We learn about Cletus Kasady and how authorities are searching for his victims, and thanks to Venom they discover them, but that ultimately leads to Kasady having a bone to pick with Brock as a result. There is this huge buildup of this massive battle between these two aliens and when it happens it’s fun to watch, but nothing that blows your socks away. It’s almost forgettable. Making matters worse is the waste of talent this film has on such spectacular actors.
I mean Hardy, Harrelson, Michelle Williams and Naomi Harris, all Oscar-nominees and this is the best they get to showcase for this movie? It is an absolute travesty to see such talent wasted on the big screen America, I’m sorry. This sequel suffers greatly from a poorly written script that wasn’t sure where to take its title character after such an impressive first outing.
So if the franchise is planning a third outing it has plenty to make up for this lackluster sequel, like a focus on a story that evolves our title character and brings in more characters whose stories can be unwrapped only pushing the narrative that much more. We might have gotten “Venom: Let There be Carnage,” but it ultimately turned into chaos and not in the best way.
