Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) is directed by Andy Serkis and stars Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Stephen Graham, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Peggy Lu, and Sian Webber. This is the second installment in Sony’s Venom franchise and picks up with Eddie Brock (Hardy) as he attempts to reinvigorate his career by interviewing Cletus Kassidy (Harrelson), a psychotic serial locked up in a maximum security prison. After biting Eddie’s hand during one of these interviews and swallowing some of his blood, Cletus becomes the host of a rouge symbiote called Carnage. Once free from prison, Cletus sets out to find his lost love, Frances (Harris), so they can embark on another cross-country killing spree. Before he can stop Carnage, Eddie is forced to try to reconnect with a moody Venom who has become annoyed with Eddie’s strict “no eating human brains” policy. On top of this, Eddie’s forced to contend with a hardass detective (Graham) who is convinced he has something to do with Cletus’ escape. 

Tom Hardy as Eddie/Venom once again steals the show and the script doubles down on what worked about these characters in the first movie. Venom is essentially just an alien parasite who wants to eat brains, but he’s likable because he’s almost like a wild animal. Venom doesn’t mean anything evil by wanting to eat brains, he’s just hungry. He comes off as similar to a bear or a lion. You’re almost more annoyed with Eddie for trying to repress Venom’s nature than with Venom for wanting to eat brains. The script also has a lot of unserious fun with Venom, putting him into distinctly human situations that brilliantly clash with his alien-like nature. 

The villains are a step up from the first movie, but that’s not really saying much. Harrelson is often way too over-the-top, his portrayal of crazy just being to open his eyes as wide as he possibly can. Because the movie takes such a comedic approach, the attempts to make Carnage intimidating fall flat. He pretty much just comes across as a discount Hannibal Lecter. The same goes for Naomie Harris, but she also gets the short end of the stick in terms of focus. There is some interesting history established between her and Stephen Graham’s detective character (who’s a welcome addition), but the movie is in such a hurry to power through its story that it forgets to let anything develop. 

The film is fast-paced and entertaining, but also very inconsequential and safe. It retains the honest and goofy heart that made the first film so special, yet it naturally just feels like more of the same. The comedy is even “dumber” than the first movie, and that’s fun in a certain sense, I’m just not sure if “stupidity” is something that needed to be leaned into further. Dumb comedy is a tough balance to strike, so it’s not a great idea to mess with the formula if you already have it right. This results in the comedy sometimes feeling childish as opposed to stupidly funny. 

The script feels like it skips a lot of exposition, but it’s clear that this isn’t the kind of movie concerned with the smaller details. It’s not deep, but it’s a more streamlined script than its predecessor and there isn’t a single boring scene/sequence. The cinematography is also a step up and you can tell that the visuals have taken a step up (even if they still don’t look that great). 

Overall, this is a sequel that is an improvement on its predecessor in a lot of ways but ultimately suffers from the typical symptoms of “sequelitis.” It’s silly, juvenile, and ultimately just more of what we got in the first movie. That being said, it’s still a fun, quick, and weirdly heartwarming experience that’s carried by the brilliance of Tom Hardy in the lead role. I can’t believe it’s getting this high of a review, but if you like the first movie, it’s on par. C+