Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) | Movie Review

Directed By:

Andy Serkis

Written By:

Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy

Starring:

Tom Hardy, Stephen Graham, Woody Harrelson

Genre:

Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some strong language, disturbing material and suggestive references

Tom Hardy is back as Venom and this time, there’s gonna be CARNAGE! RRRRRRAAAAAWWWWWRRR!!!!

I’m baffled for many reasons with this film. Why is a film about a character who’s main focus it to bite off heads is PG-13? Why does a short hour and a half runtime sacrifice story, characters, and pacing? WTF is Woody Harrelson doing? But I think the biggest and most disturbing question is, why didn’t I mind a single stupid moment of this?

‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ is less a continuation of the previous film, and even less any extension of another film franchise. What it is, is a fever dream written to screen by Tom Hardy after what could only be explained as a nightmare I don’t wanna wake up from. If you’ve seen the first, you know it’s not along itself seriously and neither should you!

I honestly can say I do not think structurally, narratively, or logically that this is a great film. But it’s a film that will continually make choices that are so silly that you have to admire the chaos. Tom and Woody try to out-crazy each other, while Venom (voiced by Tom Hardy) can barely be understood at times, but still works!

Certain plot points that were already included in the first film and rehashed less effectively. Andy Serkis did a good job with his ‘Mowgli’ so I’m leaning more towards the best and worst parts of the film to Hardy who co wrote it. We need to reign back a lot of elements and focus on what works, and it needs to be bloody fucking R.

Overall, ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage is silly trash. If you really enjoyed the first film you’re likely going to like this, but people that were on the fence may still be conflicted about the future of this character. Low expectations may make it more fun!’

Rating: 3 out of 5.
Patrick Beatty
Patrick Beatty

Patrick Beatty is a film critic and creator of PatrickBeattyReviews.com and the Gaggle of Geeks Podcast network. Watch him Friday’s on ABC4 Good Things Utah talk about movies and follow all his work in the link below.

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