Earlier today, I went to my local AMC theater to watch Venom: Let There Be Carnage...and needless to say, it was much better the second time around!
I watched the Venom sequel for the first time yesterday, and it didn't help that I was spoiled by exclusive content that was posted on the movie's Facebook page over the past few days—specifically the video at the very bottom of this review showing the scene where Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) transformed into Carnage for the first time. My expectations hampered my initial viewing of Let There Be Carnage.
It was during today's screening that I appreciated the tight storyline and editing that director Andy Serkis crafted for Venom 2. He doesn't beat around the bush in establishing the deadly relationship between Kasady and Frances Barrison, a.k.a. Shriek (Naomie Harris), and Kasady's attempt to create an equally-tense rapport with Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy).
Speaking of Eddie Brock, Tom Hardy once again did a great job conveying a humorous and conflicted portrayal of the struggling Bay Area reporter. And the writing team, of which Hardy was a part, did an amazing job expanding the ever-chaotic but warm relationship between Brock and his symbiotic alter-ego, Venom.
In regards to Anne Weying (Michelle Williams), Eddie's former fiancée, Let There Be Carnage apparently brought closure to her story in this film. Brock comes to accept that he will never get back with Anne, and watched as she and her new fiancé Dan (Reid Scott) rushed off into the night, together, at the end of the movie.
Dealing with Venom 2's visual effects, it was just as well-done as the FX in the original film. Although, I'm wondering how the CGI would've looked if the top dog of visual effects companies, Industrial Light & Magic, had worked on Let There Be Carnage. DNEG is the lead vendor that brought Venom to life in both movies, respectively.
As was the case with every Marvel flick except Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and Marvel Studios' Avengers series (somewhat), the music score was Let There Be Carnage's weakest point. Marco Beltrami—an outstanding composer—was apparently in no mood to create additional music for the end credits...with some rap song closing out the credits instead. (Compare this to the great end credits music by Hans Zimmer in each installment of The Dark Knight trilogy.)
Speaking of that end credits scene in Let There Be Carnage... Wow! I look forward to seeing Venom confront his classic foe on the big screen once again (the previous standoff being in 2007's Spider-Man 3)—though I doubt they'll have that many fight scenes against each other. (Don't forget the future Marvel movies that Sony Pictures has under its slate, like next year's Morbius.) Venom is, after all, the lethal protector. So why would one good guy continue to battle against another good guy after they've realized they're on the same superhero page?
Happy 2nd Day of October!
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