‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ Review: “A Not So Symbiotic Experience”

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is an odd little beast. It’s humorous, silly, at times quite literally dragging and entertaining all in one. The sequel to Venom is in no doubt better when it comes to entertainment. But it still lacks the in-depth character and story development needed to make it satisfying. Most of all, it fell flat in bringing these Marvel characters many of us grew up watching to life.

Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock was enjoyable as the first film and it just might be the reason why many of us decided to watch the sequel besides the introduction of Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady aka Carnage. Harrelson brought a unique approach to Cletus that I wasn’t expecting. However, I had also hoped to see a reinvention of the character or anything along those lines.

Eddie Brock and Venom’s dynamic was entertaining and full of humor that worked better in this movie than in Venom. However, it felt like the writers were milking out their dynamic to have something to put into this movie. There’s nothing wrong with a movie being shorter or longer as long as it’s justifiable. For this movie, however, it just felt like they could not think of what type of story to write. It felt like they just half-assed it. Even though it has a more trim 97-minute runtime, the actual main plot felt like it was only 30-40 minutes long.

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The plot of this movie just felt too convenient. There is always plot convenience in movies one way or another for the main character’s advantage. But this movie just had way too much of that to count. There was no twist or surprise. The highlight of this whole movie wasn’t even in the movie but the post-credit scene. Tells you a lot about what it says about Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

The humor in this film is what really made it a film worth seeing. At the same time, it was at times dry, lackluster, and dragged. After seeing it, I spoke to fellow writer/critic Mark Tan, and he said the following: “Venom: Let There Be Carnage might be the worst movie of 2021 that I had an absolute blast watching”. I personally could not have put it better myself. Because in spite of its faults, the movie is still entertaining. It’s just a shame that it had so many flaws when it came to the plot.

Director Andy Serkis brought us an enjoyable film to watch but fell short in making us fall in love with the characters we read about in the comics or seen in other forms of media. It was mediocre at best. I was expecting a lot more from a film that most people were anticipated to see. – Jacqueline Lainez

Rating: 5/10

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is now playing in theaters.

Starring Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, and Naomie Harris.