Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

 Score: 4 / 5

My prayers from the original Venom came true. In another fabulous outing for the dark side of Marvel, one of our favorite antiheroes returns with kinetic panache, this time causing trouble with a favorite villain. Let There Be Carnage isn't a subtle movie, and for people long tired of CGI-laden superhero blockbusters, it will be read as messy and trite. But, much like the first one, this sequel works best for fans who can get on its funky wavelength for long enough to realize they're in for a fun, weird time. As long as they don't mind a heavy dose of soft-core gooey, amoebic tentacle porn.

This movie takes place about a year after the first one, but plot isn't really on its mind; the characters seem to be about where they were when last we saw them. Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is living an apparently happy life with his new partner, the alien Symbiote named Venom (also Hardy). They act together as a sort of vigilante, apparently, bullying bullies on the streets of San Francisco. We don't see much of this behavior, though, because the movie dives right into Eddie's new work: interviewing incarcerated serial killers. Having discovered the cache of corpses left by one Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), Eddie's career leaps forward; much to his chagrin, his ex, Anne (Michelle Williams), is now engaged to another man.

Yes, that's right, Venom is indeed a love story. But not so much between Eddie and Anne as it is between Eddie and Venom. Less parasite-host drama and more buddy comedy with cannibalism on its mind, this franchise hinges on its two leads bickering and squabbling and breaking apart before happily (and usually sensually) reuniting to kick ass. We know this already, and so this sequel just gives us a lot of what we want in that vein. Venom is Eddie's id, and thus all of ours, constantly hungry (his diet of live chickens just isn't satiating) and a little bit horny; he's a good wingman to his host, though, and occasionally urges Eddie to do the right thing, like reconnect with Anne. It's still a wonderfully queer dynamic here, maybe even a little more explicitly than in the first outing, but it reaches a new height when the villain appears. Thankfully, this movie, directed by Andy Serkis, is all too happy to dive into the weird stuff too.

Kasady, sentenced for death, attacks Eddie and bites a chunk right out of him, Hannibal style. The Symbiote piece that he takes merges with him to become Carnage, a "red one" as Venom calls it, an unholy combination of bloodlust and psychopathy. It doesn't take long for him to start his murderous and destructive spree, and so the movie zips right along; between its action, thick CGI, and delightfully morbid humor, there's barely a moment to breathe. Kasady gets some backstory -- the opening sequence reveals a bit of his sad past -- and even a romantic relationship a la Joker and Harley Quinn with Naomie Harris's new character Shriek (basically the X-Men's Banshee, but a criminal). But, most tellingly for his character, the film does not give us a single moment of Kasady discovering his powers or testing his limits. Perhaps Carnage is so powerful and dangerous because Kasady and the Symbiote are already too much alike.

Venom isn't a typical comic book movie about alternate universes and worlds ending, and its focus on a single interesting character grappling with his demons is almost refreshing. The cinematography (this time by the amazing Robert Richardson) is beautiful like last time (by a personal favorite, Matthew Libatique), though here most frames actually feel like they could be panels in a comic book; whereas the first Venom leaned into its dark, edgy aesthetic a bit more in terms of framing and lighting, this one more fully embraces the violent silliness and colorful iconography of the material. And the writing, this time involving Hardy, gives its monstrous protagonist multiple scenes of sensitive, almost sweet reflection. Who knew Venom could be such a gentle soul?

Well, up to a point. And the same goes for this movie, which ends with the most jaw-dropping moment I've had in a cinema in years. Stick around for the mid-credits scene, which (SPOILER ALERT) connects the Sony/Marvel series to the Disney/Marvel Studios (MCU) franchise. Obviously this will link the two franchises -- presumably so that Tom Holland, soon to be out of contract with Disney, is free to continue the character in new ways -- but we don't know exactly how yet. Will Holland jump over to the Sony side and leave the Avengers permanently? Could this scene be an indication that Sony will sell their rights over to Disney? The final Spider-Man MCU outing could reveal more, or it could muddy the waters for those of us eager for Sinister Six content. At least we know now that both studios are leaning in on the multiverse concept, so we can expect more surprises moving forward.