Venom : Let There Be Carnage

Venom : Let There Be Carnage is more entertaining than it's dull predecessor but that's the definition of damning something with weak praise. It's a fitfully funny watch driven by an entertainingly gonzo Tom Hardy performance but it's best actor (Michelle Williams) is once again painfully underused, it's bombastic ending is something you'll forget 30 minutes after you leave the cinema and worst of all it's PG-13 rating (a very very baffling 15 cert here) means it's title is an absolute lie. Carnage? Pah. Let There Be Mild Violence And One Use Of Strong Language more like.

Eddie Brock (Hardy), a San Francisco reporter, and Venom (Andy Serkis), the symbiotic alien living inside him are an odd couple. Eddie wants to lead a normal life but it's proving hard to do when you've a brain craving visitor from outer space sharing your body. Things are getting tense in this shared sack of meat and they get worse when a visit to a serial killer called Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), who's crimes are being investigated by Eddie, goes wrong and Cletus gets infected by a drop of Venom's blood. Now he's got his own symbiote called Carnage and both have some scores to settle.

The first Venom had some memorable moments (lobsters) but it's final act was mess, reeking of recutting and studio interference. That ain't the case here, with a nice low stakes story designed to fit into a 90 minute running time. Yup, 90 minutes, a comic book movie that for once won't give you a literal pain in the hoop. In those 90 minutes we get two love stories, one platonic (?) between Eddie and Venom and the other romantic, between Cletus and his life long amour Frances (Naomie Harris) who he breaks out of prison to reunite with. Surprisingly both relationships give to the film instead of taking from it, one adding domestic chaos, bonkers humour and some priceless internal monologuing, while the other manages to create an odd feeling of pathos for two psychopaths courtesy of a eerily animated slice of backstory.

All love stories need a bit of tension and this sequel gets it when Eddie and Venom part ways during after a particularly crazy scuffle and it's here we get the opportunity to spend a bit of time with the symbiote off doing his own thing, jumping from host to host, gatecrashing a party, becoming a hit on the underground scene. He's a fun creation to spend time with and yet another CGI character given life by wonderful voice work from Andy Serkis. This poor hulking alien carnivore, he's just misunderstood god help him.  Unlike Carnage. Carnage sucks. His motivations are never explained. He's fierce dull for an alien beastie who can shred a prison in seconds. He's yet another CGI bad guy in a field riddled with them. At least when he's Cletus you can laugh at his hair.

There's a lot to like about this film. Chickens called Sonny and Cher who started as a potential food source but became loved. Eddie and Venom's deal with local shopkeeper Mrs Chen (Peggy Lu) to keep them supplied with a vital resource. Hardy's face every time Venom goes off on a rant only he can hear is the kind of thing that would never not be funny. But so much of it is squandered too. That bleugh climax. The aforementioned Michelle Williams gets maybe 5 minutes of screentime as Eddie's ex Anne and only 30 seconds of those are worthwhile. Naomie Harris is almost equally underused. Venom himself, while fun, deserves a film where the character can really cut loose, his signature move is biting off bad guys heads after all. He needs a film away from the restraints of a family friendly rating. Deadpool got that freedom, so did Logan. Look at the box office megabucks they raked in. Why not Venom? Could it be about to tie into something even more family friendly..... stay in your seat to find out.

Venom : Let There Be Carnage is out in cinemas everywhere from today.