Venom: Let There Be Carnage Review
Kajzahna Gray-Richardson '22 Staff Writer
Diving right into the plot, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the sequel to Venom, takes place in San Francisco, a year after Eddie Brock (played by actor Tom Hardy) becomes host to a shape-shifting extraterrestrial alien symbiote named Venom. Eddie and Venom struggle to coexist but are forced to put their differences aside when serial killer Cletus Kasady (played by actor Woody Harrelson), becomes host to another symbiote named Carnage. The fact that I could summarize the plot to just the “aftermath of the first Venom” proves the plot not only resembles the first movie but lacks any sense of structure. The key elements in the film such as characterization, comic relief and romance are created and destroyed within the first 15 minutes of the movie. Venom 2 opens with a scene of Eddie and Venom doing a series of mundane tasks and abruptly switches to the villain's origin story. This flashback also introduces the villain, Cletus Kasady's, love interest, Shriek (played by Naomi Harris). It’s too much. The rest of the film shows Eddie and Venom's day-to-day life until it finally reaches some sort of climax. By this point, it’s easy to predict what happens next. Surprise: they have to work together to destroy the villain at the end. The movie felt rushed yet drawn out. The first few minutes of the film are overloaded with information and the rest of the film lazily draws out the obvious. The plot is so poorly developed it would be impossible to believe the movie is based on the Marvel comics books if the movie didn’t have the exact same title. The title of the movie “Let There Be Carnage” was named after the villain's symbiote, Carnage. Even the title lacks artistic effort. They should've just copied and pasted the comic’s plot to the script while they were at it. The only thing that saved this film from being banned in all 50 states was Venom's jokes. Which it barely did. I was so tired of Tom Hardy’s character that I was desperate to laugh at just about anything. The introduction of Venom in the first film made it hilarious and exciting but was overdone in this movie, making it predictable. Venom is attached to Eddie and talks to him constantly, and the majority of his comments come off as more insulting than funny. The comments that were laugh-worthy were clearly reused. Luckily, I saw the movie in 2D and didn’t waste an extra 7 bucks to see the film in 3D. Regardless, after watching this movie I want to contact Marvel studios and sue for my 12 dollar ticket and emotional distress. All movie theaters in Howard county still have COVID restrictions that consist of wearing a mask and social distance seating, fortunately for the other people in the theater since they couldn’t hear my dispirited sighs. Out of 10, I would rate this film a 4 and wouldn’t recommend it to my worst enemy. But if you enjoy watching and making fun of awful films, Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage is only streaming in theaters at this time. Calling this movie a dumpster fire is too kind. I wish someone would have warned me before I wasted 2 hours of my life and half my brain cells trying to tie the plot together. Please let this review be enough, and don't watch Venom 2.