Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

Sometimes a movie comes along that really highlights the divide between audiences and out-of-touch movie critics. Venom was one of those movies. It was a mess, particularly during a CGI-filled third act, but it was also a whole lot of fun. Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a sequel that stays very comfortably in that messy fun zone. It's also just as good as the first film, and benefits from not having to set up the central Venom/Eddie Brock dynamic, positing them from the very first scene as a standard "odd couple", good friends who also irritate the hell out of one another.

After talking to the notorious murderer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) finds his star back on the rise. He might be moving from loser to less-dismissable loser. The fact that his story actually came from information detected by Venom means that his body-sharing symbiote personality is, to use the technical term, ready to go in a big huff. Venom rarely gets to eat the food that he likes best, he doesn't get credit for his work, and he's fed up of the way Eddie is resolutely not making the most of his life. He might even leave Eddie's body and look out for some other host. That timing wouldn't be very good, because Cletus Kasady has his own symbiote about to reveal itself, a red beast named Carnage. 

Andy Serkis is the director for this instalment, taking over from Ruben Fleischer, and Kelly Marcel is now the lone writer, although Hardy is credited with helping shape the direction of the series. Everyone involved maintains a nice consistency, developing the humour that was quickly set in place in the first film while also increasing the threat level. Not only is Carnage a stronger and more dangerous foe, he has a potential partner who goes by the nickname Shriek (Naomie Harris). Shriek has a power that you might be able to guess from that name, and that may well prove a vital advantage while fighting Venom.

Everyone here knows exactly what they are a part of, a silly film that can bob and weave around moments of seriousness. Hardy is a real hoot, playing an exasperated “partner” who has to admit that he should try harder in a relationship he unwittingly got dragged into. Harrelson plays his deranged killer with a good balance of sadism and wit, and just a hint of a tragic past informing his motivation. Stephen Graham is a cop wondering how Eddie Brock gets his information, and both Harris and Michelle Williams (returning) get to do enough to feel like more than just token females dragged into the plot. Okay, Williams is put in peril at least once, but she is also responsible for forcing her ex, Eddie, to acknowledge his flaws and acknowledge the feelings of others.

The CGI is less murky than it was in the first film, although the finale is still essentially one computerised blob fighting another, the fun factor is ramped up further, and there are some very enjoyable cameos scattered here and there (the most notable being a stinger at the very end). It may retread familiar territory, and some may still bemoan the fact that Venom has had his sharp corners smoothed down, as it were, but this is a film that I can easily recommend to fans of the first. In fact, watch one immediately after the other and you have one near-perfect Venom epic. Without the need to actually go . . . EPIC!

8/10

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Venom (2018)

The more I think about Venom, the more I find to like about it. The fact that it is such a strange . . . mess (not unlike the titular character) just adds to its appeal, and Tom Hardy gives a fun central performance, both physically and vocally.

The basic story goes like this. Hardy is Eddie Brock, a journalist who has a habit of pushing things too far in order to get to the heart of any story. His latest story concerns shady happenings at a science facility, overseen by Carlton drake (Riz Ahmed). He ruffles feathers, he gets sacked, and he ends up with a symbiote attached to his body. This is a creature that can stay hidden within Eddie for some time, but breaks out when the host body is put in danger, or when it gets hungry. It can appear at other times but those are the two main motivators. But will it destroy Eddie, or will the inevitable pile of corpses end up with his own being the last one upon it?

I just described the performance by Hardy as fun but that's really the word that I should use to describe this entire film. It's fun, it's a romp, and there are times when it's madder than a bag of badgers. Full marks must go to the cast and director Ruben Fleischer, because everyone somehow knows the best way to work with material that has the potential to vary wildly in tone, yet manages to remain consistently darkly comedic.

The script, written by Kelly Marcel, Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg, manages to stay just the right side of dumb. The characters aren't very complex, the main baddie is obvious from the very first scenes, and it seems that everyone understands that viewers want to see Tom Hardy developing new powers and transforming into something that will happily bite the heads off people.

This is Hardy's show, from his conversations with himself to his manic nervousness as he tries and tries to get his body back under his own control, and he's a star completely unafraid to throw himself completely into things. It's easy to praise actors as fearless when they're cast in roles that require them to bare themselves completely, both emotionally and physically, but Hardy is equally fearless in a different way. In fact, it's at least partially down to his sheer presence and force of will that this ends up being as entertaining as it is. Ahmed is fine, although there are a number of scenes when his more understated performance feels a bit out of place, and Michelle Williams plays her part, which leaves her sidelined for a lot of the movie, with a twinkle in her eye that suggests she got paid a decent amount for a role that let her have more fun than many of her more prestigious turns.

Is there anything here to dislike? Of course there is. The CGI is varied in quality (sometimes excellent, sometimes eye-searingly awful, especially in one or two scenes that have far too much going on), the grand finale is a bit of an anti-climax, and, perhaps worst of all for fans of the character, Venom has been turned into a softened version of the beast that comic readers have enjoyed for many years. That will upset some viewers. But it doesn't harm the film in any way, and I already have high hopes for the inevitable sequel.

8/10

Venom is available to buy here.
Americans can pick it up here.