THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

So I went to watch Venom: Let There be Carnage because of course I was going to! I surprisingly enjoyed the first instalment (surprising because I’ve never been into Venom) and so I was eagerly awaiting the sequel.

Did it meet my expectations? Yes.

It was a good movie with a succinct plot. This was a big pro for me.

I really enjoy movies that have a clear plot, clear goals, and stick to them. There were no plot holes and it had good continuity from the first film.

Speaking of continuity, I was expecting Eddie to get together with Anne. I thought that was where the sequel was going to pick up. I did think that the first movie was a romance between Venom and Eddie but at the end of the day studios usually put the male lead with a female love interest.

However, they did not end up together! They even doubled down and had her get engaged to Dan! They are the endgame couple and I am surprised but delighted. It makes for a change. Plus, it’s more realistic.

I do like that Dan and Venom got to know each other better; that their relationship had an arc. Again, this was not something that I expected to happen but I thoroughly enjoyed.

My favourite scene being when Venom bonded with Mrs Chen and we, the audience, didn’t know until Anne clocked it. I honestly just thought Mrs Chen didn’t like Dan. That part made me chuckle.

I am sad that we won’t be seeing Mrs Chen again. She was a nice part of their family. The fact that she was willing to be a host for Venom, to help them, said a lot.

Another thing I liked about this movie is that Venom got more character development. It is known that Venom is violent and helps Eddie win fights physically but what I did not know was the extent of their intelligence. Venom makes a good pair with Eddy in that they truly helped him with his investigative journalism.

Ah, the journalism, that brings us to our main villain of the film, Cletus.

I know nothing about the Venom universe, all these characters were new to me, so I did appreciate the introduction they got at the beginning of the movie but… if you get shot in the eye how can you survive? How?!

Also, what did they do to Frances all those years in the Ravencroft Institute? I was curious about that.

Side Note: It was good to see Naomie Harris again. She plays these characters well.

Their love story was cliché. She is his one redeeming light and vice versa, blah blah. It did shed a light on how bad the social service system can be for troubled children but that’s not news.

At the end of the movie, Cletus is like to Eddie, “You didn’t even hear my side of the story.” “You didn’t even think to ask why I killed my family.” And we find out that the reason was, they were abusing him.

In Eddy’s defence, nothing in Cletus’ letter mentioned anything about abuse. Also, Cletus is a serial killer. It is sad that that was his early life and that he had to go through that but he still killed people and didn’t feel bad about it. It’s hard to be on his side.

The movie left me thinking it was a shame he didn’t get help as a child and they really need better options for troubled teens but what he did as an adult can’t be brushed aside. So, I was more with Venom on this one.

Side note: Screen Junkies raised this question but what happens when Venom bites people’s heads off? Does Eddy digest it? Because Cletus said man tasted like ham… so they can taste it?

I always find it interesting, as a Brit, that California has the death penalty when it’s the free love and liberal state.

Moving along from law and moral questions, the fight between Carnage and Venom was good. Carnage’s abilities were impressive and made for good action sequences. It was a shame that they had short screen time.

Then again, sometimes it’s better that way to make a bigger impact and to not drag things out.

It was interesting how Frances’ abilities were in direct opposition to Carnage and Cletus’ and thus messed with their symbiosis. Was that a metaphor? Was that meant to show how their love was never going to work out?

Also, how was she so strong? Even without her banshee powers she took on that cop like she hadn’t been locked in a cell for years. Again, what did they do at that institute?

Side note: what is the bathroom situation? In fact, thinking about it, how did Magneto go to the bathroom in his hovering plastic cell? They keep expecting these villains to be sane and repent after being locked in solitary with questionable bathroom situations.

It was a shame Frances died. I would have liked more from her. She was an interesting character.

I did like how they explored Eddie and Venom’s relationship more in this movie. Every couple goes through their rough patch, especially when they start cohabitating, so I felt their problems were accurate. (Venom was whiney though) They needed that time apart to truly appreciate each other.

So yeah, that’s it. They’re building a solid franchise and I am in for the next instalment.

But wait! The half way end credits scene! They’re going to be in the spider-verse!!!!!

I did not know this was going to happen so I was very delighted by the turn of events.

Eek!

I am so ready for the Spider Man movie.

Does Tom Hardy do the Venom voice acting?