REVIEW #102 Venom 2 (2021)

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the second instalment featuring Hardy’s Eddie Brock and the symbiotic anti-hero Venom and is directed by Andy Serkis. Serial killer Cletus Kasady is visited by Eddie and soon becomes bonded to Venoms off spring Carnage, reeking havoc across New York.

CAST & THE ACTING 

Tom Hardy returns as Eddie Brock and although he does well to create really funny scenes even when he is the only actor in the shot, I do actually think I preferred his performance in the first film. Some of the voice over work he done for when Venom was in control didn’t quite match the tone of the scene in my opinion. For example there was the final battle scene where Venom has to get them out from under rubble when trapped, Eddie needs to spur him on from the inside and I don’t think the tone and emotion in the voice matched the nature of the scene. Woody Harrelson was Cletus Kasady and this was a much better take compared to the glimpse we saw in the end credit scene of the first Venom. He looked more natural and suited the role well, capturing his insanity and purpose. His chemistry with Naomi Harris’ Shriek was also pretty good, you could see how they would make perfect love interests. One casting I was looking forward to was Stephen Graham as Detective Mulligan, I am a really big fan of Graham and although it wasn’t the biggest part, he still done well to give the character a lot of personality. Michelle Williams and Reid Scott returned as Anne and Dr Dan respectively and I would say their performances were pretty average, with their main purpose to help deliver bursts of comedy into certain scenes.

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

I was so excited to see Carnage and I think they done well to show his destructive power, with so many scenes that emphasised his capabilities. They introduced the character into the film really nicely and the series of events that led up to Cletus bonding with the symbiote off spring is perfectly feasible, so that worked well. The film wanted to highlight the relationship between Eddie and Venom, that love hate nature really shown through. However my biggest criticism is that they just tried to make it too funny, I get the purpose of comedy in these films but it felt like they overdid it. The scene of Venom going to a rave was just completely ridiculous in my opinion, some people may have liked the light heartedness of it but I didn’t. I think Venom needs to be a bit darker but I fear we will never see that now that Marvel are having further influence on Sony’s films. Eddie is always the Angel on the shoulder for Venom in the films, saying that he can’t eat the bad guys and Venom listens. So how can he ever be introduced as a villain to Spider-Man because what is he actually doing wrong? To me I think they are trying to follow the Deadpool blueprint and I don’t think that’s the best route because Deadpool’s breaking of the 4th wall makes its comedy unique so Venom should follow its own path. The ending was also very anticlimactic, how they finally defeated Carnage just contradicted the power they gave him in all the scenes before that final battle. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

This was probably the best area of the film for me, they got the design for Carnage absolutely spot on! He looked great, he looked dangerous and they really showcased his power through the special effects. I think it really put Venoms design to shame. I did like the solo scenes with Hardy talking/fighting with venom, they got the movement of Hardy and the CGI perfect to create some really funny scenes and it highlighted the relationship between the two characters. When Venom and Carnage finally battled at the end of the film, that did look really good. There were a lot of beautiful scenes, especially set in the church with the light peering through the stained glass windows. So they done well here, I would expect that from a large budget sequel.

OVERALL (5.5/10)

I actually think that I am being generous here, the film was enjoyable and it was certainly a funny film but I wanted a darker Venom which I fear we will now never get. Acting across the board was pretty average and it didn’t really impress me. The way they introduced Carnage was good and they gave a lot of time to develop the Cletus Kasady character, which I didn’t expect given the short run time. The cinematography and special effects were great but overall the film was let down by the constant need to make every scene funny. I had such high hopes for this sequel as well but it left me with so many questions about the characters future. How is this incarnation meant to be introduced as a villain to Spider-Man when he attends raves peacefully and feeds on chickens? Something to think about!

Thanks for reading.

Callan