Synopsis: Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and the alien symbiote Venom are still struggling to learn how to successfully co-exist within the same body. When a part of Venom attaches to deranged serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) to transform him into Carnage, Venom and Brock need to learn how to work together and use each other’s strengths to keep the carnage at bay.
Breakdown: The Venom films are filling a much needed gap in my movie-watching life. They are the perfect bite-sized action comedies to watch in between bloated blockbusters and grittier dramas. I absolutely loved this film, particularly the chemistry between Brock and Venom. Hardy pulls double duty here, obviously portraying the slightly more confident Brock but also voicing the hilarious Venom. The interactions between both characters is the highlight of the film, and the director and writers know this and smartly keep that focus front and center for the slim 90-minute runtime.
Speaking of director, what an inspired choice to have Andy Serkis direct this film. Better known for his performance as Gollum from The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films and Caesar in the recent Planet of the Apes films, hiring a veteran motion capture performer to direct the film was a stroke of genius. Yes, Venom and Carnage are CGI creations, but they feel so real and that is due to the marriage between the voice performance and the graphics.
Harrelson delivers a truly deranged performance as the dangerous Kasady, keeping you on your toes as he slinks from happy-go-lucky to love-sick to murderous at the blink of an eye. And the titular villain, Carnage, absolutely delivers, with the fight scenes between the two symbiotes being just awesome to watch.
The plot is what is lacking the most in this movie, and the b-story with Shriek (Naomi Harris) left a lot to be desired, but this movie is about two things and two things only: the dynamic between Brock and Venom; and the fight scenes between Venom and Carnage. And in those two aspects, the film absolutely delivers.
Verdict: Venom: Let There Be Carnage isn’t going to win any awards, nor will it top any lists of best films of 2021. But it wasn’t created to do either of those things. The movie was made to have people check out for an hour and a half and just have pure fun watching a silly, action-packed and fun film. I hope that each subsequent Venom movie keeps this formula up – get in, make a splash, and get out before you overstay your welcome. And with that absolutely bonkers, universe-shifting mid-credits scene, I absolutely can’t wait to see what Venom does next.
**This movie review is part of a series of reviews, where we are watching one Spider-Man movie a week leading up to the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home. You can read more about this review series here.
To see the other reviews, click the links below (we’ll update this list each week as we release new reviews):
- Spider-Man
- Spider-Man 2
- Spider-Man 3
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Venom
- Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Spider-Man: Far From Home
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Movie Marathon Review: Spider-Man Recap
Mark Pereira is a senior writer for Boss Rush Network. He loves all video games, but his top three favorites are Skyward Sword, Super Mario 3D World and Batman: Arkham Asylum. You can find him on Twitter where he’s usually talking about Nintendo, video games, movies, and TV shows.
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