IR Film Review: VENOM - LET THERE BE CARNAGE [Sony]

The texture of the first "Venom" movie is that it was all over the place and not too finely structured. The best aspect was Venom and Tom Hardy playing against each other. While that was played up, the beauty is that Hardy did both voices and it really played into his Id as an actor. If you listen closely you can see it is a version of Bane, throttled up with some definite soul to it while not taking itself too seriously. One would hope in the 2nd film "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" it would be more refined, take what was best about the first one but give it a better core (since the first film's story structure was a bit weak). When Andy Serkis was hired as director, it was thought there would be some mythic gravitas because of his aspects of Caesar and Gollum. While Hardy and Venom in their scenes are brilliant (despite not using motion capture), it doesn't translate at all to the overall thrust of the movie which is too bad considering who he is going up against in Woody Harrelson as serial killer Celtus Kasady. This is the first time (as far as what we saw in the trailer) that Harrelson could and should truly channel Mickey Knox from "Natural Born Killers" but with a tad lighter touch in the PG-13 realm. The problem is that he gets on the edge of intimidating but it never really takes hold.

This is because the script is quite weak and he doesn't have as much to work with as he should or Carnage itself never truly took shape (like it did with Hardy) as an impetus of the Id. The story is attributed to Hardy as well as the screenwriter but it is supremely disjointed. Unlike true Marvel Universe movies where the story points are very finely combed, this seems all over the place. The build up to the finale which itself is a blur of choreography just seems rushed or not thought through. It wants to hit beats but there is a lot of subtlety that is lost...and, with a bigger effects movie like this, one really needs a better plan. With Serkis's tech know how and his undeniably ability as an actor while also learning from the best, it is disheartening that the film in many ways is worse than the first one.

Ruben Fleischer, who directed "Zombieland" had an idea for Harrelson and his Carnage. But Carnage doesn't seem to be a humorous extension of Harrelson unlike the Hardy/Venom connection. That should be part of the snark. Venom by himself and bouncing off Hardy is the only great part of the movie and it comes in spurts. A scene in a rave though funny at times is another example of the wrong scenes in the wrong places when there was such potential for gravitas while still maintaining the frenetic humor that is clearly possible. Oddly enough the only story element that is truly succinct is the mid credits scene which shows efficiency of story and what this second Venom could have been. Hardy still slams it out but the movie is a mess around him. D

By Tim Wassberg