- The “Venom” franchise has bad writing and the stories make no sense, but I can’t stop watching.
- This sequel adds to the absurdity that makes it one of the most original Marvel franchises.
- “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” Friday, May 5th: In theaters
With only two movies in the standalone “Venom” franchise, Sony has, without question, blessed us with the most outlandish movies in all of the Marvel IP.
2018’s “Venom” seemed like the latest comic book adaptation that would end up dead on arrival. Ruben Fleischer, its director, and Tom Hardy were clearly not on the exact same page in bringing the Symbiote to the center of attention. This led to a movie that was supposed to be the origin story of the iconic Marvel villain, but in fact it was a trashy mess filled with absurd moments (like Hardy’s Eddie Brock character jumping into a lobster tank mid-scene) and jokes you couldn’t help laughing at for their sheer absurdity.
But to the shock of many, “Venom” was a huge hit. Now it’s time for the sequel, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.” Did Hardy and new director Andy Serkis double down on the wackiness?
Let me put it this way, back when I wrote a review for the first one I mentioned “if the whole movie was Eddie and Venom arguing about the ethics of biting people’s head’s off… I would be the first in line for that.”
Well… they went and made that movie!
Though the big tease in the end credits of the first movie was that Eddie/Venom would next be up against Cletus Kasady/Carnage, in reality, a lot of “Let There Be Carnage” is Eddie and Venom bickering at one another about why Venom can’t just go out and eat everyone in sight. This leads Eddie and Venom to engage in a major fight, and Venom leaves Eddie’s body and sets out on its own.
Sony
Yes, there’s Harrison diving back into his “Natural Born Killers” days to play psycho Cletus Kasady, but that’s just filler. The sequel that explores Venom’s emotional core is what I want (I am half-joking… but it really happens!). Venom, who is destroying host bodies as fast as he can, sets out on his journey, and we follow him to a rave. There, we learn that Venom might be gay, and, after being covered in glow-in the-dark necklaces, he claims that he finally feels like he’s seen. But it becomes obvious that what he really wants, is to be back with Eddie.
I never thought I’d get “The Odd Couple” out of a Marvel movie, but here it is. This is why I am obsessed with this new franchise, which seems like it’s unlike any other made by a mainstream studio.
Yes, it’s confusing. Yes, it is terrible writing. Michelle Williams looks confused. But sitting in a dark theater with strangers laughing at whatever this is on screen — it just seems to work. The movie runs for a quick 90 minutes.
It’s almost as if Hardy decided that instead of trying to make himself a bigger movie star by taking on the Venom role and writing a simple story to get him there, he instead chose to burn everything that makes a franchise great and use the ashes to create a new type of offbeat formula that will bring him equal fame.
I cannot wait to see Venom again.