Though it generated immense box office, the initial Venom was woefully bad and derivate of its most uninspired, dour comic book movie counterparts, so homogenized with the corrosively insipid elements of this contemporary subgenre that it might as well have been another leeching symbiote from the far stretches of outer space. A picture almost entirely bereft of personality or stylistic conviction, it was frustratingly complacent with incoherence and mundanity, regardless of its occasional yet sparse rapport between the titular creature and its humble human host, journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy).
Converse with its foreboding title, this shaggy sequel enhances the inadvertent B-movie elements of its tonally uneven predecessor into something deliriously silly and utterly deliberate, pivoting with the same shrewd precision of Venom’s caustic quips. Director Andy Serkis was initially a curious choice to helm this seemingly doomed project, having recently graduated from his flat sophomore feature back in 2018, but he smartly and economically calibrates the pulpy absurdity of this film’s parental medium, upholding sensational shocks over narrative cohesion for a rollicking, if modest, time at the multiplex.
A kitschy superhero trifle, Venom: Let There Be Carnage possesses roughly the same structure and dramatic resonance as a dusty issue one indifferently retrieves from the back shelves of a local comic book store, a mere supplement that lacks in consistency of storytelling to the grander Marvel machinations, but like those beloved ephemera, the sheer entertainment value often compensates for narrative shortcomings. Serkis is instrumental here and directs, at his best, with a keenly zany intuition that parallels the contained expanse of comic panels, an explosive rigidity that provides unique, engaging flair.
The plot is extremely wispy, even for this genre’s standards, and a clear vessel to capitalize on the film’s implicit strengths. Having survived the events of the initial blockbuster, the affectionately grim Eddie allows the grimly affectionate Venom to causally reside in his body; together, they occasionally operate as a vigilante, despite Venom’s reluctance, but predominantly struggle to coexist in a civil manner. Venom ravenously yearns for the taste of human brains, and Eddie nobly attempts to placate him with chocolate and stolen chickens, though Venom vehemently (and also nobly) refuses to gobble up Sonny or Cher, the rooster and hen he coerced Eddie into adopting as mainstays of his already-battered apartment.
“The only scoop I’m getting today is chocolate chip,” asserts Eddie to the beseeching Detective Mulligan (Stephen Graham), a line so astronomically cheesy that it should be considered the eighth wonder of the world that its audacity is ultimately justified.
“No! I get brain freeze!” the galactic parasite feverishly retorts within the recesses of Eddie’s mind.
Relishing in unhinged moments like this, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is refreshingly compact and efficient superhero fare, a breezy 100 minutes allowed to skew wacky within whatever obscure corner of the Marvel canon this eccentric odd couple giddily occupies, and this enduring dynamic reinforces its inherent nuttiness with endearing underpinnings, lacing what is just one melodramatic, rain-drenched kiss away from being a romantic comedy with a distinctly bizarre fervor.
When Eddie isn’t altercating with Venom over trivial matters like frozen dairy desserts, their abode’s waning cleanliness or mutilating people for nourishment, he’s investigating the transgressions of incarcerated serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson, capable as ever), who is on the verge of execution. Through a series of unfortunate events, Kassady unintentionally ingests a wisp of the symbiote, which eventually breeds into the deranged, violent Carnage.
Kasady and his newly fostered alter ego, both of whom are relentlessly volatile and incredibly dangerous, arrive at a mutual agreement after breaking out of prison: rescue Frances Barrison AKA Shriek (Naomie Harris, the actress seamlessly translating her prestigious gravitas to this one-note character), Kasady’s long-lost love and fellow psychopath, and also relinquish Venom. The former is exhaustively developed and undermines the film’s momentum in its lethargic second act, and the latter is entirely bereft of any compelling motivation.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage works in spades, though, when it plays within its own beautifully demented bounds. It’s both quaintly wholesome and irreverently grotesque, forming a wonderful showcase for the riotous personality of its central antihero. Hardy is simply electrifying, wholly committed to anchoring the presumably preposterous oddities of this material into something winsome and even captivating. He’s truly put his singular stamp on this franchise, like a piece of his soul is etched into this property, also serving as Venom’s manic voice and receiving a story credit.
Like Eddie’s and Venom’s contentious yet triumphant relationship, issues are not notwithstanding. Serkis may have been a pioneer of visual effects performance, but he struggles to differentiate behind the camera two contorting alien blobs combatting in a murky climatic battle. The plotting can be as erratic as this cacophonous sequence, with several choppy story beats that drag, the most blatant being Detective Mulligan’s (that’s right, he’s an actual supporting character) extraneous arc. For such an assured first half, the final chunk occasionally teeters on the generic, with dynamic performers like Michelle Williams, returning as Eddie’s estranged ex-girlfriend, having to overhaul the film back into the cheeky.
As someone who detested the 2018 misfire, however, I found this to be a pleasantly disarming diversion, a self-aware romp that certainly can’t find its pathos, or a cohesive flow, but has yuks to spare. So, before you witness the transcendent artistry of Eternals or the multiversal calamity of Spiderman: No Way Home, why not indulge in something a bit more low-stakes and unassuming to counteract all that IP investment? It’s empty calories but frenetically worthwhile, like Taco Bell on Adderall. Venom: Let There Be Camp.
Grade: B-
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is now available in theaters.
Photo Credit / Sony
