I went against my usual self with the first Venom (2018). The critical consensus was that it wasn't very good, and yeah that critical was right in many ways. It was a heavily flawed film and was mostly very dumb. But I like me very dumb and adding Woody Harrelson chewing the scenery to a sequel basically had me sold immediately. Was I expecting much from Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)? No. But that isn't an issue with big dumb films like this. The film has us back with Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Venom trying to coexist and struggling to do so, eventually falling out. But they must reunite when serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) is infected by the Carnage symbiote, and they go on a rampage.
Does the first half of that synopsis sound weird to you? We'll get to it, but first of all, this is a pretty perfect sequel to Venom. Not in The Godfather Part 2 (1974) sense, but more in the fact that it is just as flawed while remaining just as fun. Yet again, this isn't a great film and yet I found myself enjoying it once again. I am a sucker for big monster looking things fighting each other and it delivers on that, but I would be remiss to not delve into the poorer aspects of the film. The script at times is very shoddy, both in dialogue and general scenes that feel out of place. And this leads to the biggest problem with the film for me, and that is that it feels like it has been edited to high heaven. I have no idea if a lot of the film was cut out, but it definitely feels that way because it rushes so much. In a way, I think this is a positive because it means the film doesn't get bogged down in character moments that no one cares about and moves at a blistering pace, but it also means there is no emotional heart to the film at all. I don't think the film cares about that and, cool, whatever. But is a hindrance to the film being much more than a turn your brain off kind of film.
Now, it may be silly to say as I have just come out of this film and I haven't seen Venom in a long time, but I do think this one is better. Why? Because it is so weird. This goes back in some part to those scenes that feel out of place. They don't only feel a bit out of place because of the editing of the film, they are just also bizarre. The main one is where Venom goes to a club. Yes, that happens. There is also a scene that shows Cletus' backstory, and it is done in animation. It is visually impressive, but it feels do weird happening in this film and reminds me of a similarly out of place animation scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010). Most of all though, is that this film is basically a buddy comedy. Genuinely, the film is basically Eddie Brock and Venom getting into comedic shenanigans. It very much takes precedent over the 'superhero' aspects of the film. It even has the structure of one of those films, the two struggle to get along, fall out, then come together at the end after realising they are stronger together. Tale as old as time, but not one I expected to see here.
This film was very much more of the same while also being completely unexpected. None of the unexpected aspects are strong enough to make it worth watching if you didn't enjoy the first one, but if you did you then it is worth your time. Also, if you do watch it make sure you stick around until the very end…
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