Review: Venom: Let There Be Carnage

I've always been a fan of the Venom character ever since I was terrified of it during its appearance in the 90's Spider-Man animated series.

The way it consumes and haunts you made it a very effective villain. Since then, it just hasn't been the same.

From the poor shoe-in use of it in Spider-Man 3, to the strange and peculiar approach to the character in the predecessor to this latest release.

But with me being a sucker for the character and any superhero film as well being a big Tom Hardy fan, I couldn't resist checking this sequel out.

With me already used to the strange and dark comedic tone of the first tone, my mindset was already prepared for that style. The opening act already had me laughing at a few of the jokes. At this point, I'm not sure if it was either due to my awareness of the first one, or that it was being better written.

The longer the film went on, the more I realised that they got the tone they wanted as their execution of the gags was pretty consistent on the whole.

I was also surprised how quick the film went. The pacing is fairly frenetic. But I think my enjoyment during the 97 minutes duration made the film move even quicker. Before I knew it, the credits were rolling. So if you end up hating it, the pacing will help the pain.

Also, I felt the pacing enhanced the comic book style of the story. I think along with that style, the added silliness and over-the-top nature of the story reminded me of Punisher: War Zone for some reason.

On the acting side, it was perfectly fine. Tom Hardy makes his character and relationship with Venom believable. He continues to commit and embrace the concept as well as the tone.

Woody Harrelson I felt gave a solid debut for the character of Cletus Kasady and Naomie Harris surprised me by basically revisiting her Tia Dalma character from Pirates Of The Caribbean in her performance. It was nice to see Stephen Graham continue to find work in major studio productions. It's amazing how much career has elevated in recent years.

The visual effects are easily its strong aspect. They make great use of the Venom and Carnage look and I feel fans will be pleased with the look of both characters. If I wanted the full Carnage experience though, I would have liked his voice to higher-pitched and crazier i.e. like in the animated series.

However, I did have some issues with the editing and cinematography. At times, it felt chaotic and not in a good way.

But while I felt it was silly and over-the-top, it was most importantly fun. Which is why this does enough to get a pass from me. Not all the comedic moments worked. But there was enough laughs in there for the comedy to make it somewhat of a success. This is definitely better than the first Venom.

I have to give the final mention to the mid-credits scene. Audiences will go nuts for this. It managed to be the highlight of the film, as it leads to some very interesting possibilities for the franchise.

A nice surprise and I feel intrigued where they are going with this franchise.

Rating: 7/10