Venom: Let There Be Carnage
There’s something about Venom that just connects with me. My feelings about “Spider-Man 3” are well-documented, and even if I didn’t think the first “Venom” was a good movie, it’s still entertaining in a gonzo manner that resulted in me owning it proudly. I’m thinking about diving deep into this idea about Venom and I in the near future. For now, however, let’s discuss “Let There Be Carnage.” Would we get a good movie this time out?
How Tom Hardy has been allowed to make wild, weird dark comedies disguised as superhero movies out of one of the Marvel characters Sony has wanted to make happen on screen since they forced him on Sam Raimi for the aforementioned “Spider-Man 3” is beyond me. The biggest problem the first “Venom” was that the tone was still trying to force the film into being a conventional superhero movie. This time out, Hardy, screenwriter Kelly Marcel and director Andy Serkis have convinced Sony otherwise, and let the superhero aspects come out of the film more naturally, and lean into the dark humor. It works much better. I’m not sure if I’d still say it works well, but again, there’s something about Venom that resonates with me.
In “Let There Be Carnage,” Eddie Brock (Hardy) and Venom have developed a tenuous, but kind of endearing bond, where Venom is allowed chocolate instead of brains, and Eddie some semblance of a life as a journalist. (The apartment is a disaster, though.) Early on, he is brought in for an exclusive interview with notorious serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson). In the prologue, we see Kasady at a home for abandoned kids. He has grown fond of a young woman in there, Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris) with a Hell of a scream. She is being taken to a special location to be studied, but not before there’s an accident, and she is presumed dead. Cletus knows otherwise, though, and hopes Brock can get through to her. Brock does more than that, though, and it leads to a chain of events where Cletus gets infected by Venom, and breaks out of prison as he’s getting ready to die. That’s not even everything Brock and Venom have going on.
Anne (Michelle Williams) is still with Dr. Dan (Reid Scott), and they are looking to get married. This causes a significant rift in Brock and Venom’s relationship, and both are brokenhearted about it. But even before that, there seems to be tension between the two, whom feel either like a bickering married couple as well as the Odd Couple. The way these scenes are directed by Serkis and played by Hardy, it’s as physical a performance we’ve seen from the actor, and some of the most bizarre shooting and editing of character moments. But the tone feels right, and we get a sense of the struggle Eddie and Venom are engaged in for supremacy. They eventually have the second act split we’ve seen in many love stories in the past, and it liberates the two, especially Venom, who sees an acceptance of himself he doesn’t feel exists with Eddie right now. When Carnage enters the picture, however, they need to reunite, resulting in easily my favorite bit of acting Williams has delivered in these movies. Trust me- you’ll know it when you see it.
Woody Harrelson is delightfully unhinged as Cletus, and seeing him relive his Mickey & Mallory days with Harris when he springs her is a highlight, even if I wasn’t a fan of that film personally. (I’m due a rewatch, though.) One of the strongest aspects of Marcel’s script in the third act, even as it devolves into superhero movie action cliches, is that it deals with the idea of a symbiotic relationship between Eddie and Venom compared to Cletus and Carnage. It not only gives us a reminder that Venom’s bark is sometimes stronger than his bite, but also a sign that some relationships aren’t meant to be, not when the heart is split between two different people.
Overall, I’m not sure a “Venom” movie will ever reach the heights of what we’ve seen in other movies, be it “Spider-Man 2” or “Black Panther” or “X2: X-Men United.” I wish the film did more with Venom in terms of creating a character with genuine emotions, and Eddie Brock doesn’t really grow in any way between these films. We’ll see how they finish the trilogy. But in a way, that’s what’s so wonderful about these movies, and especially “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”- not everything lands, but they land enough of the big punches to be something we’ll carry with us, and leave with a smile on our faces.
