[7]
In this age of superhero fatigue, I was surprised to enjoy the first Venom movie so much. Color me equally surprised that they could pull off an entertaining sequel with Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Tom Hardy returns as Eddie Brock, a beleaguered journalist who, in the previous film, was possessed by Venom, an alien ‘symbiote’ — a black, tarry looking shape-shifter that can enter your body and wrestle for control of it. The first film was interesting to me because it was essentially a buddy cop movie, only both cops share the same body and come to have a tenuous respect for one another.
The sequel furthers this provocative relationship by seeing Venom leave Eddie’s body after the two suffer irreconcilable differences. But has a hard time finding another host body that doesn’t reject him, and Eddie is a far less effective journalist without Venom. The timing of their breakup sucks, because the film’s arbitrary villains (Woody Harrelson and Naomie Harris) have escaped prison and are laying waste to the city. The main plot concerning these vilains is the least interesting part of the movie, unfortunately. The relationship between Eddie and Venom is everything. The film is at its best when this relationship becomes a threesome, with Michelle Williams returning as Eddie’s former lover. She has no intentions of getting back with Eddie (and Venom), but she still loves these characters. So when Eddie is incarcerated without Venom, she finds Venom and lets him inhabit her, mediating their reunion — and restoring one of cinema’s strangest bromances.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage moves fast — maybe a little too fast in the first act, because I was confused by the plot in the beginning. But it’s never boring, sprinkled with dark humor, interesting visuals, and most importantly, characters we care about.
Directed by Andy Serkis. With Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, and Peggy Lu.