Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Synopsis
Your favorite head-eating superhero(?) returns to the big screen in Venom: Let There be Carnage. The sequel finds Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) still host to the Venom symbiote, a gooey alien that resides in Eddie and can turn him into a sharply-toothed and long-tongued alien behemoth. However, Eddie’s relationships with both Venom and Anne (Michelle Williams), his ex, are on the rocks. After Eddie and Venom discover the location of imprisoned serial killer Cletus Kasady’s (Woody Harrelson) missing victims – much to the dismay of Detective Mulligan (Stephen Graham) – Cletus asks Eddie to visit him before he’s executed. However, an altercation between the two imbues Cletus with Venom’s ‘offspring’, Carnage, whose appetite for death and destruction is even greater than that of his new host. Once Cletus and Carnage free Cletus’s true love Frances (Naomi Harris) – a woman who can belt supersonic screams and has a bone to pick with Mulligan – Eddie and Venom must resolve their issues if they wish to stop the deadly duo from completing their vengeful rampage.
Analysis
I really liked how this sequel doubled down on what worked well in the original: the completely insane relationship between Eddie and Venom. Firstly, they’re given enough dimension to make them feel like two distinct individuals – even though they share a body. Eddie’s still torn up over his breakup with Anne and would rather be a reporter than a superhero, while Venom feels burdened by Eddie’s desire to settle and yearns to bite off the heads of evildoers every night. This difference in priorities makes for a ton of hilarious scenes, including times where Eddie appears to be having a psychotic episode as he tries to discreetly argue with Venom – which just looks like he’s arguing with himself – or when the two get into physical fights and throw each other around. The movie also temporarily separates them to give each character room to breathe, and this significantly helps flesh out Venom since he wasn’t given that much depth in the first film. At the same time, the movie explores why the two work well together. It demonstrates how Venom is an asset to Eddie both on and off the battlefield, and how Venom needs Eddie to reign in his more chaotic tendencies – in addition to providing a suitable host body. This establishes a much better reason for the two to stick together rather than just it’s comic accurate. Finally, the movie effectively progresses their relationship through stages of contention, separation, and resolution. So by the end of the film, the two’s relationship evolves to the point where they legitimately feel like they’re in symbiosis. The movie’s treatment of their relationship thus felt earnest instead of indifferent.
While it may seem odd to point out, I think this movie should also be commended for keeping the stakes relatively low compared to most blockbusters. For one, it’s an excellent way to maintain a simple plot that’s devoid of unnecessary complications. The story can essentially be broken down into four parts: Eddie visits Cletus, Cletus gets Carnage from Venom, Cletus reunites with Frances, and Eddie and Venom must defeat them. What you have here is a story that traces a clear line from points A to B and is absent of any awkward attempts to expand the lore or tie into a greater cinematic universe. But more importantly, low stakes ensured that delivering on spectacle didn’t take precedent over having a character-driven plot. Each decision a person made felt in line with their character, and through their actions rather than some outside force the plot progressed. I got emotionally invested in the story given how personal the motivations of the protagonists and antagonists were. And unlike most big superhero films, here I couldn’t just assume that everything would work out the way it should precisely because of how real versus grandiose the stakes were. So, delivering a self-contained and character-driven story with somewhat low stakes kept me actively engaged.
[***SPOILER WARNING FOR NEXT TWO PARAGRAPHS***]
At the same time, I felt that the film failed to properly hype up the Carnage vs. Venom conflict. One reason for this is Cletus comes across as more eccentric than menacing. We learn about how “savage” he is based on news reports and exposition, but the killer we see in the present-day primarily speaks in odd riddles and has a bad fit of the giggles (woah that rhymed haha). I can only think of two times when Cletus’s murderous tendencies were shown, but those moments were brief and watered down. So even though the movie wants us to believe that Cletus joining with Carnage is a horrific union, it doesn’t feel like that big of a deal when it happens. While Carnage is much deadlier, the movie doesn’t give a clear sense of how he measures up to Venom before the third act. This is mainly because Carnage doesn’t even face Venom until the finale, and leading up to that the only “enemies” Carnage faces are prison guards and police officers. And more broadly speaking, the fact that Venom and Carnage don’t meet until the third act reduces what should’ve been the film’s central conflict into a standard third act superhero battle. In this regard, I think that having Carnage meet Venom before the finale and win one/multiple fights against Venom would’ve been a big improvement. Specifically, this would’ve strengthened the film’s focus on the conflict between Carnage and Venom, better depicted what made Carnage such an intimidating threat, and made the viewer more engaged by at least posing the possibility that Eddie and Venom really could lose.
Lastly, I felt that the movie often wanted me to accept things as fact without providing me with a convincing reason. Instances of this include:
· Eddie and Cletus have a history. Well, can you show/tell me what that history is rather than just assume that I know what happened?
· Venom is Carnage’s father. Wait, how? Why is Carnage so hellbent on killing Venom? Is that just a normal part of symbiote life?
· Carnage is dangerous because he’s red. Why is that such a big deal? Are symbiote colors important?
· Detective Mulligan now has powers. Hold up, I thought Frances killed Detective Mulligan. Why is he still alive and how did he get powers in the first place? What even are his powers?
Yes, I understand that nearly every film requires a suspension of disbelief, but the examples above are important plot details that the film makes a point to address without any explanation. These shortcomings didn’t necessarily make the movie overly convoluted because they could’ve been fixed with either a scene or a couple lines of dialogue. Then again, the fact that these loose plot threads could’ve been closed so easily – especially given how short the movie’s runtime is – made the film feel unjustifiably incomplete.
Conclusion
In summary, Venom: Let There be Carnage makes for an entertaining yet tame watch. Its focus on characters and relatable stakes is refreshing, but the Carnage vs. Venom conflict doesn’t seem like that big of a deal and I left the theater with more questions than answers. So while the film makes for an ok ride, it’s unlikely to leave that big of an impression on you. I’d still say it’s worth the watch though for the crazy mid-credits scene alone.