Bad outweighs good in new Venom “Carnage”

By Savannah Cooks | Entertainment Editor

    Savannah Cooks

Venom: Let There be Carnage was a great way to continue Venom and Eddie’s story but the way it was executed made it unsatisfying. 

Released Oct. 1, Venom: Let There be Carnage directly follows the events of the first movie and dives into the relationship between investigative journalist Eddie Brock and the alien, Venom, all while battling a new enemy. 

Going into the movie, I was really excited since I enjoyed the first one and with it being on the top of my favorite movies list. With all the rumors surrounding the sequel, I had high expectations for what was to come. I can’t say that I am content with the end result nor disappointed. Just like the first movie, it was really fast-paced but for the record, it is about 45 minutes shorter. Of course, we got those comical scenes between Eddie and Venom where they bicker back and forth. There is even a joke thrown in there that they need “couple’s counseling” which to me made the movie 10 times better. I also liked how they showed more of Venom’s personality; we get to see that he is a laid-back guy who just wants to be accepted. And I can’t forget the adrenaline-rushing post-credit scene that had us on the edge of our seats in anticipation.

But with all the good comes the flaws. A lot of the scenes seem very unnecessary. If they were to take those out, they could’ve gone more in-depth. The movie is very fast-paced. They don’t really take the time to explain things, they just throw it at us. I do not really see why they need to rush things since most Marvel movies run for about two hours. 

The relationship between Eddie and Anne seems unnecessary. They only talk about it for a couple of minutes and pepper in a few jokes throughout the movie. It doesn’t seem like a plot point that is needed, if they aren’t going to explore it more. And it wasn’t just in this movie. They did the same thing in the first movie, even when Anne is a bigger influence. The emotional aspect of the relationship seems forced, and it has no effect on the end result. 

Another thing that bothered me is how they present Carnage. They don’t get into the science behind how he was produced. If you aren’t paying close attention, you will probably miss it. They show a 15-second clip of Carnage entering Cletus’ body, then a few minutes later we see him in a fight scene. Speaking of Cletus, he is a very one-dimensional character even though he is the main villain in the film. We don’t see much of his personality, only his love for Frances. They really don’t give him a justified reason as to why he hates Eddie to the point he wants to kill him other than the fact that he got him on death row, which he is already on and it is kind of his fault for requesting to talk to Eddie. Also, he says that all he wanted was to be Eddie’s friend which kind of comes out of nowhere; we don’t get any back story as to why he feels like this and how he even knows Eddie. 

We are introduced to Frances Barison, the love interest of Cletus. She is another thing that is just thrown at us. Since she is the only human in both movies to have actual powers, I would  love a back story on her, especially the origins of her powers, but instead, all we are given is her love for Cletus. Although, out of all the characters, she is the only one with a justified reason to get vengeance.

The character of Carnage is just a disgrace to humanity. Although the CGI is amazing, the way they present the character is horrible. They give him no personality. He throws in a few jokes here and there, but otherwise he is just a weapon for Cletus to use. They throw out there once that he wants to kill Venom to grow stronger, but it is never addressed again. I would love to see him have more of an impact since the movie is basically named after him. I would like to at least see him have more jokes, maybe a few more conversations to get the feel of who he is. 

Overall, the villains of this movie are weak, especially compared to the first movie.

The final battle scene, like the rest of the movie, is rushed. They fight for a few minutes and out of nowhere, Venom and Eddie get this overpowered will. Not to mention, out of the whole 1 hour and 30 minutes of the movie, this was the only time they fought against each other. The one thing that I really like about the fight scene is the location at the church. Especially with the bell ringing affecting both Venom and Carnage (due to their sensitivity to high frequencies), it brought my memory back to Spider-man 3 where Peter removes the symbiote from his body and it goes into Eddie, creating Venom (in that universe).

The last scene right before the end credits is so random, which left me confused. They gave little to no context and didn’t mention it all during the movie. 

Although I listed more cons than pros, I can say I did enjoy this movie, although I may be biased because of my love for Marvel. For a person who watches this just for fun, I can positively say that they would enjoy the movie and find no flaws. But if a hard-core Marvel fan watched it, they would be a very harsh critic of it, just like the first movie. Just seeing Eddie and Venom together on the screen again, bickering back and forth was enough for me to say this movie is a must-see. 

I do recommend watching Venom: Let There be Carnage in theaters. Seeing it on the big screen makes it feel so much more special. If you don’t want to see it because you are not really a fan of Sony’s Venom franchise, I recommend going just to see the post-credit scene. It changes the future of Venom and Marvel for the better.