Venom: Let There Be Carnage

(M) ★★½

Director: Andy Serkis.

Cast: Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu.

The battle for the chicken had begun.

This is damning it with faint praise, but at least this is better than the first Venom film.

In fact, this sequel to Sony's obvious attempt to milk it's Spider-verse cash cow is reasonably enjoyable in places. It fixes things that were broken in the first film (the tone, the script), and ensures what worked remains (Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock and his relationship with Venom).

But it's by no means a great movie. It feels padded and devoid of heart - it's a big, dumb, silly piece of fun and nothing more.

Brock is still a washed-up reporter, living an Odd Couple-style existence with the symbiote Venom, which continues to share Brock's body. But Brock's career looks to be on the up when Death Row serial killer Cletus Kassidy (Harrelson) picks Brock as the man to share his story with. Unfortunately, that spells bad news for Brock and the city of San Francisco.  

The muddled tone of the original is gone, and new director Serkis leans into the dark comedy that provided the better moments of the first film. While it's still bloodless, there's a darker vibe due to the big bad being a serial killer, as if the movie is slowly edging closer to a time when we can have an R-rated Venom film where heads are actually seen to be eaten. That this is all played for laughs is a relief after last time.

The comedy duo of Brock and Venom is entertaining, and Hardy once again gives his all for the underappreciated role. Harrelson is also wonderfully OTT, and the script attempts to give Kassidy a bit of depth, even if it's all done very simplistically, but at least they made the effort. 

However the film still can't shake the feeling that they don't totally know what to do with these characters. Venom is at his best when he's fighting Spider-Man, and until Sony gets their wish, they're treading water and re-running ideas from the first film - namely that it's symbiote-vs-symbiote, and that Brock and Venom have to get along because they're stronger when they work together.

The script feels padded given the story's simplicity, and could've been done in half the time, but at least the padding is more enjoyable than in the first film. There's some welcome humour that works better this time around, even if the script is still pretty silly (a clue is found carved into a tree for chrissake).

Given the comparative post-COVID success of this, a third film is inevitable. It's hard to see where they'll take the franchise, because it's already starting to feel tired. Sony is absolutely jockeying to get Venom into the MCU, so let's hope it doesn't drag that franchise down to the level of this one.