Just in time to mark the start of spooky October, Venom has slithered his way back to theaters in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, a title so ridiculously bad it sounds like it was coined by an edgelord from DeviantArt. The film follows journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), who’s having a rough time adjusting to having an alien parasite living in his flesh. Things only get worse after he heads to a prison to interview murderer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), who then escapes with the help of another symbiote.
So, just being upfront, I’ve never seen the first Venom, and truth be told, if the second Venom is anything to go off of, I don’t think I ever will. Not that I had a completely awfully time watching Venom: Allow Some Slaughter. I wasn’t cursing or fuming with rage, but sitting in silent indifference is not much better.
Let’s break it down, starting with the story. The main conflict in the film is that Eddie Brock and Venom are going through a rough patch, bickering and fighting over who needs who more. It’s a break-up and make-up story, and it’s just not engaging. They grow frustrated with each other in the first act, split up in the second, and because circumstances require it they come back together for the third. They fight the big bad, and that’s supposed to mend all wounds between them.
I’m not saying that using tropes is a sin, of course not. The sin here is in not doing anything interesting with them. Eddie and Venom don’t get frustrated at each other for any reason that’s key to the story, they just do. When they’re split up, Venom goes out on its own to some Halloween party. You get some fun visuals, but there’s nothing that establishes why he stars missing Eddie; he just sort of does. Weak.
Speaking of weak, there is a lot of humor in this film, mostly from Venom, and it’s mostly annoying. Usually he adds a quip onto the end of another character’s sentence, or just says something ridiculous that we’re supposed to be funny because it’s this deep-voiced monster saying a silly thing. Venom isn’t the only one pulling this; there’s this character named Dan who is just as bad, but Venom’s the main culprit, and I don’t understand it. Why turn this dark anti-hero entity into a joke, and a bad one at that? And if you’re trying to make it funny, then go all the way. Have the gonads to go full schlock; if Venom is going to step in front of a crowd of partiers and pick up a microphone, have him rap or something. Go all the way, go absurd. That would have actually made me laugh, but no, that would have been disrespecting the character.
Woody Harrelson is solid in Venom: Let There Be Carnage
It’s not all bad though; there are some things to like in Venom: Authorize a Bloodbath. Cletus Kasady is a pretty cool character, from his backstory (told through a Tim Burton-esque cartoon) to his Hannibal Lecter vibes. And I thought Woody Harrelson did a bang up job playing him. Ditto for Naomie Harris, who played Frances Barrison, aka Shriek. I wish she was in it more, because her dynamic with Cletus is the most interesting part of the movie; her power actively counters both him and Venom. I thought there was much more room for play in that relationship.
So would I personally recommend Venom: Permit Me a Massacre? Nope, not really. If you’re like me and you aren’t really into the superhero genre to begin with, then for sure don’t, because there is nothing in Venom 2 to recommend it to an audience that isn’t already on the superhero hype train. It’s no Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse.
And if you are into superhero movies, I still wouldn’t recommend it. The action is okay, but the climatic battle is the only real fight we get. The jokes are rough and the story isn’t really compelling. I honestly can’t say it’s worth going to the theaters to see, superhero fan or not.
Grade: C
P.S No, I didn’t stay for the mid-credits scene. I don’t care about them. You ask me, these credit scenes are just cheap gimmicks to continue the never ending roller-coaster of superhero movies, making the audience think about the next film before they even have time to decide whether they liked the one they just saw. It was interesting after the first Iron Man, but now it’s just a trope being run deeper and deeper into the ground.
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