Venom: Let There Be Carnage review - Save yourself from this drab sequel

2.5/5

Eddie Brock attempts to reignite his career after living with alien symbiote Venom as his partner. He starts by interviewing serial killer Cletus Kasady, who eventually becomes the host of another symbiote Carnage. Kasady escapes prison after a failed execution and it's a clash of the humans in the form of aliens.

Let there be carnage, but not in Venom! The second instalment brings back Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock still struggling to adjust to life as the host of alien symbiote Venom. The alter ego-like relation shared by Eddie and Venom appears more to that of Odd Couple. They stay the same throughout expecting each to understand the other more. Venom being Venom declares that he is the alpha in the relationship while Eddie wishes to not have a conversation regarding it.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is more about Eddie and the alien resident in his body than the battle against the actual villain. Having veteran and legend in himself Woody Harrelson as a psychotic serial killer Cletus Kasady turned Carnage brings nothing much to the table. The film lacks the character build-up of a villain who could have been stylish and looked more upon the antagonist.

But the makers focus more on the domestic relation of Eddie and Venom. They even have domestic violence which ends up in a much-needed breakup.

Let's focus on the villain Carnage now, which is a less-explored backstory that reads like a letter with a 'xoxo'. Every villain doesn't need a lover but Kasady has one who herself is a mutant. Played by Naomie Harris, Frances Barrison aka Shriek's superpower is her alias name. Her screams are manipulative and pretty similar to that of Banshee from X-Men (who is not a villain, though).

Kasady and Shriek create fireworks when they are together which even need PG. But they are very much wasted with limitations brought into their character sketch. There's a sequence where Carnage creates a Whomping Willow like the image from the Harry Potter series with his tentacles while standing on a vintage car turned into a flying car. The scene is very similar to a sequence from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

This is not just one reference drawn from a popular franchise. We also have a Red Wedding which sounds as dreadful as the one from Game of Thrones. But, one should not expect that level from any other movie or TV show ever.

Meanwhile, Hardy has three roles played in Venom 2 as he even co-wrote the film. Sadly, this one is not desirable and he could just have not ventured into it. Sorry to say, actors should not be involved in writing a script even if they think they can be a silent catalyst. The actor penned the screenplay with Kelly Marcel who has also written Fifty Shades of Grey. However, they both bring no new shades in their shoddy screenplay and blah dialogues. If they were intending to crack jokes, sadly each one of them was deadpan and won't even bring a smirk on your face.

Superhero films live on CGI and if it's an Andy Serkis directorial you should be expecting it to be mind-blowing. But this time it was the other way round, drawing inspiration from Godzilla vs Kong in Carnage vs Casady (yes, that happens), repetitive fight sequences and no end to it.

Adding to it is the disappointing editing by Maryann Brandon and Stan Salfas who jump from Brock/Venom to Casady and Shriek as if they are intertwined. It's not even justified to an inch why Casady was after Brock. All the more, the screenplay focussed more on Venom's diet plan including chicken and chocolates.

There are only a few actors who reprised their roles, namely Michelle Williams as Brock's ex-fiancee Anne Weying, who gives a not-so emotional ride and brings no depth to her character. While Reid Scott as Dr Dan Lewis, now Anne's fiance is wasted, let's put it that way. Even Stephen Graham as Detective Patrick Mulligan brings very little to the table. While Peggy Lu as Mrs Chen stays in her usual self. But collectively, they all are unworthy in the film and bring nothing which could have helped in taking the story forward justifiably.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage has a runtime of 97 minutes which has more fillers than the actual scenes which could have made the film visually appealing. But running for less than 100 minutes makes it slightly less tiresome if you are watching it on the big screen.

Expect more bromance between Eddie Brock and Venom than a war against the hell-ish Carnage in this dry and humourless superhero sequel.