Directed by Andy Serkis
Written by Kelly Marcel
Starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Willams, Naomi Harris, Woody Harrelson (all Oscar nominees!)
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some strong language, disturbing material and suggestive references
Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes
In theaters October 1

by Ryan Silberstein and Audrey Callerstrom, Editors

Ryan: Venom surprised me back in 2018, I wrote a somewhat lukewarm review of it back then, but it has grown on me (like a...symbiote?) in the time since. While I have always appreciated the restaurant scene, the whole thing has become a sort of comfort watch. In this incarnation, Venom is a kind of weird, gross outcast who wants to do the right thing but also wants to snack on human brains. Now he and Eddie Brock (both of them are Tom Hardy) are back, this time with a story that is about love, belonging, identity, and more as they face off against a serial killer named Cletus (Woody Harrelson), who gets a symbiote of his own (also Harrelson, of course). 

But really the plot doesn’t matter too much. Under the guidance of Hardy (who worked on the story), returning writer Kelly Marcel, and new director Andy Serkis, Let There Be Carnage leans into the comedy of having a superhero argue with his alter ego. With this as the core conceit, Venom 2 segues into a full-on twisted romantic comedy between Brock and Venom. Michelle Williams returns as the other point in that love triangle. Cletus, Carnage, and his childhood sweetheart Frances (Naomi Harris) form their own dark mirror of one. The focus here on love and the things that get in the way as we exist in relationships, while trying to maintain our own identities (Venom reads the last pages of books first, Eddie probably gets salad dressing on the side) make this feel like the goth kid version of the Raimi Spider-Man movies. The film manages to thread the needle between romantic comedy and superhero melodrama, even leaning into the literary kind of ‘gothic.’ You heard it here first, Eddie Brock–moody, cynical, defiant, miserable, holder of secrets–is as much a Byronic hero as the Phantom of the Opera or Heathcliff. If you can’t tell, Let There Be Carnage was an absolute joy for me. What about you, Audrey?

Audrey: I did enjoy it, especially as it picks up and Carnage debuts. He’s all red muscle and veins and many sharp appendages to stab his victims, like a demon blood spider. The early scenes have a clumsiness to them, as if the script doesn’t know how to introduce Eddie Brock to serial killer Cletus Kasady. So we jump from location to location with only a handful of dialogue per scene and some lazy exposition. The script could have used some help in this area.

I really, really like the original Venom, even the Eminem theme song at the end, which is embarrassing, but listen. Venom was a comedy where Tom Hardy walks around sweaty and muttering to himself. The scene where he is in the restaurant in the first Venom and then submerges himself, fully clothed, in the lobster tank–terrific. It was also directed by 

Ruben Fleischer, who directed Zombieland and multiple episodes of Superstore. He knows how to keep it fun and punchy and silly.

Serkis is more adept here with the action scenes, but could have played with the comedy more. That said, I did like the scene where Frances and Cletus/Carnage were flying through the air in a car while Cletus/Carnage, using his multiple appendages, fights off cops. Another stand out scene shows Venom at a black light masquerade/rave surrounded by weirdos, all complimenting him on his “costume.” “I made it,” says Venom. I was nervous when he got on stage covered in glow stick necklaces, though. I was like, he’s going to rap, isn’t he. He’s going to rap. Look, I already saw Porky Pig rap in the new Space Jam many times, because my kid likes it. I didn’t want Venom to rap (he doesn’t).

Ryan: I am also thankful Venom didn’t rap in that scene, even if I agree with you that the song Eminem did for the first movie is, as the kids used to say a couple years ago, a bop. I think the comedy here hit me harder than the first one, though I agree that lobster tank moment is an all-timer. Serkis’ comedic take reminded me of his portrayal of Ulysses Klaue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: grimey, uncouth, a bit obnoxious, but always smiling. Michelle Williams has a bunch of dialogue that–intentional or not–I very much enjoyed how arch they are. Everyone involved seems to have embraced that this is a funhouse experience. 

I also agree that the action is a huge step up. Where the previous entry ended with a fight at night in the rain, this one at least has its nighttime final showdown in a location that is decently lit, and most of the action is easier to follow. While I am a little peeved at the way the two female leads are treated in that sequence, there is at least an attempt to give them the notion of independence, especially with Williams’ character being established before. Given the film’s relatively short runtime, I still think there is more they could have done with Naomi Harris’ Frances. 

Overall, the tone of this just hit right. When every superhero movie is either in the snarky MCU vein or the “we can’t smile” DC mold, anything that steps out of that and makes its own path is welcome. The other thing that’s embedded here that I found really impressed was the film’s handling of Eddie’s mental health (it’s not great for Frances, however). There’s a few moments where Venom and Eddie talk about how even though the symbiote can heal his physical wounds, the mind and the heart are exceptions. The film even has a decent amount of empathy for Cletus/Carnage...well up to a point, anyway. Let There Be Carnage is not the most finely crafted entry in this genre, but it places a priority on fun, story momentum, and playing up the inherent oddity of its co-leads often sharing a body. 

Audrey: There’s a break-up story in Venom: Let There Be Carnage that I found amusing and that could have been played up a bit. Michelle Williams gets a moment to be funny (which we know she can be) by flirting with Venom to get what she wants, but mostly she’s a concerned damsel in distress in a wig that can always maintain its shape. I hope the next installment is a bit tighter and goes for an R-rating, but I’m probably down for 90 more minutes of Tom Hardy in a Detroit Lions jacket muttering to himself no matter what.