If any Director in Hollywood knows about playing CGI Villains that are the heroes of their own story, it’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage Director, Andy Serkis.
Serkis takes the helm of this sequel and puts all the moving parts into a fun, three ring… Well, Serkis!
The Plot – Venom Let There Be Carnage
If you have the time, a re-watch of the 2018 first film would help. First, you’ll develop an appreciation for how much better a film Venom 2 is. And, a refresher of many of the finer plot points, which play heavily into the storyline from the second act of the sequel onward.
Cletus Kasady Origins
The film starts with a glimpse into Cletus Kasady’s youth, or more specifically, the living hell that would shape the future serial killer. We also see the one ‘healthy’ relationship Kasady has, with girlfriend Frances Barrison.
Quickly, the couple are torn asunder, as Barrison moves to another sanitarium where no one can hear her scream. Needless to say, Cletus is none too happy.
Couples Fights
If Venom 2018 was all about the start of the relationship, or symbiosis, for Eddie and Venom; then the sequel is all about the couples fights that happen after the honeymoon is over.
Our symbiote relationship is well past the getting-to-know-you phase, and well into the getting-on-each-other’s-nerves phase. Our couple moved in with each other quite quickly, and share Eddie’s tiny one bedroom apartment.
Venom insists on making breakfast for Eddie, when all Eddie wants is to be left alone. Eddie struggles to teach Venom our culture, even when Venom compromises on only eating bad guys. Venom doesn’t feel Eddie acknowledges how hard he’s working, when Eddie feels he’s contantly cleaning up after Venom.
The Bromance has faded.
Eddie and Cletus
This is where re-watching Venom 1 before seeing the sequel will help.
After the events of the first film, Eddie Brock’s career as an investigative journalist and TV Show host lies in ruins.
Cletus Kasady, now a convicted serial killer on death row, summons the disgraced reporter to tell his life story.
Eddie Brock gets an exclusive story that will get his career back on track. And, Cletus Kasady gets to tell his story as Cletus sees fit, along with the public attention of being on newspaper covers. Eddie hates the idea, but needs the boost. Cletus feels the clock ticking, and loves making Eddie dance.
The X-factor is Venom, who quickly complicates the story, and raises the tension for the second act.
The Good – Venom Let There Be Carnage
The Squabbling
The relationship squabbling between Eddie and Venom – Ed-nom, Ven-die, VEDDIE, that’s the Celebrity Couple name – drives much of the film.
Veddie are the annoying couple at the restaurant. They are the old married twosome who won’t stop the bickering, but are the first to fiercely defend each other if attacked.
That energy, that emotion, that familiarity; grounds the film and provides the forward momentum for the entire picture. The whole film is seen through the lens of the ups and downs of couples life.
Even as Eddie gets a mysterious text from his Ex, Venom can’t hide his excitement for what that means for Eddie.
The CGI
Anyone who knows my taste, knows that I H-A-T-E Computer Generated Images, or CGI. I recognize that CGI has become the industry standard for special effects filmmaking, but the quality of the BEST CGI is still worse than even average practical effects.
That being said, Director Andy Serkis, clearly brings the best practices for working with CGI to this, his third feature film.
The ‘quality’ of the CGI for Venom clearly is a generation better than the original film. But, it’s not the number of the pixels, it’s the artists painting the CGI picture.
K.I.S.S. Rule
Smartly, Serkis keeps it simple. Most of Eddie being in charge is shown just with Tom Hardy walking around town, and a CGI Venom arm extending out of his back when need be.
Most of Venom being in charge is shown as a fully CGI character, without mixing in human images that don’t match well with the CGI. Also, the fully CGI Venom shots are often hidden under low light night time images, avoiding the greater visual scrutiny our eyes would see in broad daylight.
Andy Serkis’ experience playing Gollum in six Rings/Hobbit films, playing Caesar in three Planet of the Apes films, and even Snoke in two Star Wars films; makes him the best possible Director for making the CGI character moments and fight scenes look good, and he totally delivers.
The Bad – Venom Let There Be Carnage
Rough Edges
Venom Let There Be Carnage is a fun film that always keeps moving. Translation, don’t stop to look at things too closely, or think too hard.
The runtime for this film is EXACTLY 90 minutes, getting you in and out in an hour and a half. This fast pacing helps with the frenetic energy of being caught inside of a couples fight; where time seems to both stand still and speed by. It also helps with the fight scenes between Venom and Carnage by not dwelling too long on any particular shot or scene.
But, the storytelling does suffer from this pace. By taking what FEELS like over two hours of storyline and compressing it down to 90 minutes, much of the character motivations and development are lost.
And, some of the subplots introduced early in the film go unfulfilled later in the film. Most notably, Cletus repeatedly states he feels a connection to Eddie, but that connection is never really explained or flushed out.
The Action
The action and fight scenes also suffer slightly from the pacing.
The build up to and resolution from these scenes is surprisingly short. The story starts moving toward a confrontation, and the fight starts before you know it. Even within the big fight scene at the end of the film, most of the action happens so fast, you barely have a chance to see who won.
The Review – Venom Let There Be Carnage
Overall, Venom 2 doesn’t try to overcomplicate things.
This is a film about relationships, and the fights that happen along the way.
The attention is taken off the fact that these are sentient oil slicks from outer space that feed on humans to survive; and focus instead of the very human connection with their hosts.
The storytelling is oversimplified to the point of having to turn your brain off to enjoy this film, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Ultimately, this is a funny and visually stimulating action film, that does exactly what the movie trailers sell you on. It’s a fun and quick hour and a half, just don’t stop to think too hard.
Totally worth watching in theaters!
Additional Information
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Tom Hardy brings both Eddie Brock and Venom to life in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Director Andy Serkis brings the sequel to life.