Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Starring Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris
Directed by Andy Serkis

Have you ever had a roommate that totally got on your nerves? Left the kitchen a mess, didn't pay their rent on time, or played their music too loud? Or a sibling that always stole your toys and tattled on you? An ex that was always clingy and demanded your entire attention? How would you feel if that person wasn't able to ever leave, someone who essentially and physically was a part of you? That's the premise for "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," an excellent superhero/comedy/"Odd Couple" pairing that serves a tight, lean product that doesn't overstay its welcome and provides just enough excitement and character development to keep things interesting.

Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) has been living with the alien symbiote Venom for awhile now, and the two have started to get on each others' nerves. Eddie constantly tells Venom that he can't come out and eat brains, but rely on a diet of chickens and chocolate, while Venom is angry that he can't come out to play more often and thinks of Eddie as a loser who wouldn't be anything without him. It's during this time Eddie is asked by serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) to interview him exclusively, as he's about to face death by lethal injection after Eddie (with the help of Venom) discovered Kasady's other victims. Before he's set to be executed, Cletus bites Eddie and tastes his blood, but it's not blood - it's the Venom symbiote. While in the execution chair, Cletus transforms into the symbiote Carnage and escapes the prison, going in search of his long lost love, Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris), who has the mutant ability to unleash supersonic screams. As Carnage wreaks carnage in the town, Eddie and Venom have to put their differences aside and come together to take on this powerful foe, with the help of Eddie's ex Anne (Michelle Williams) and her new fiancee Dr. Dan (Reid Scott), but this might be a fight that they won't be able to win due to Carnage's insurmountable powers.

"Venom: Let There Be Carnage" is a unique film in the spectrum of the superhero genre in that it's a scant 97 minutes long, and the last superhero film to be under 100 minutes was 2007's "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," which obviously was terrible. It was a gamble for director Andy Serkis (who's best known by most people for playing motion capture creatures Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" and Cesar in the Planet of the Apes trilogy), but he managed to deliver a fully developed story wrapped in a small box that doesn't waste a minute of time and feels like it's longer than what it is - in a good way. In many ways it's better than the original, but it also pales in comparison to a spectrum of other superhero movies, and it sits comfortably in the middle - a film that's a joy to see, but not one that you'll be hampering to see again (unless it's for that mid-credit scene, which was absolutely spellbinding).

It's not a knock on the film to say it's not great, because it doesn't seem to want to be great. It's very comfortable to be relegated to the middle of the road, where you get the entertainment you come in to see and it doesn't overstay its welcome. The film is evenly split between several stories - the on-again-off-again relationship between Eddie and Venom. The "Natural Born Killers" love story between Cletus and Frances. The continual tense feelings between Eddie, Annie, and Dr. Dan. And of course the epic action and carnage that occurs when Carnage hits the scene. Most superhero films would've focused over a half hour on each of these aspects, turning it into an elongated film that doesn't need to be that long, but due to Serkis's direction (as well as the writing of Kelly Marcel and Hardy himself), we get each of these stories in all their fullness with half the time.

The heart of the film lies within the struggle between Eddie and Venom as the two try to maintain to co-exist despite their vast differences. Eddie struggles to make a name for himself again through his journalism work, while all Venom wants to do is eat bad guys' heads. Yet despite their differences they clearly need one another, and both work hard to help the other succeed, even when they don't realize it. As much as they bicker and argue, Eddie needs Venom, and Venom needs Eddie. They are the perfect symbiotic pair, and Tom Hardy once again envelops both aspects of these characters flawlessly and with a sense of childlike glee that's infectious.

In another unique relationship, we see how Eddie and Cletus communicate with one another, as Cletus - despite being a maniacal serial killer - only seeks connection and friendship, albeit akin to Hannibal and Clarice Starling. Cletus only wants Eddie to interview him, and he becomes a bit obsessed with him - and after acquiring some Venom symbiote in him, he seeks out Eddie when Carnage takes over. Woody Harrelson is a scene stealer here, proving he has the acting chops to play a delightfully villainous role without going over-the-top. Cletus has very few morals, but Harrelson still plays them out, especially with Cletus's relationship with Frances, which couldn't be more diametrically opposed to Carnage's nature, since she has a mutant power of supersonic screaming, which of course is one of Carnage's (and Venom's) weaknesses.

If the film has one major flaw, it's how it treats the females in the movie. Michelle Williams returns as Anne, who only serves to be fodder for Eddie and Dr. Dan to go at each other over her affections. She does manage to pull off some great one-liners, but isn't wholly necessary. Likewise, Naomie Harris's Frances serves more like an object than a character, someone Cletus seeks out after escaping prison and serves to be his right-hand woman without offering anything more to the character. For two Academy Award-nominated actresses, they aren't given the depth that they deserve.

Yet that's a small issue in the wider scheme of the film, as it delivers the action and excitement, and even some deeply terrifying moments that comes naturally with a character like Carnage. Despite its PG-13 rating, Carnage still manages to wreak havoc, even if it's mostly done in the shadows and heavily CGI-laden. Again, I would've preferred the film to be a hard R-rating so Carnage could do more...carnage...but alas it wasn't meant to be in favor of opening the film up to a wider audience. Still, the action is acceptable, especially with Venom and Carnage's final battle, even, again, it's got a heavy use of CGI and night shots that sometimes blurs what's happening. Regardless, the film as a whole is an acceptable continuation of the Venom story, and also sets up for more Venom movies to come - and that's a welcoming thought.

Serving up intense action, gut-rolling comedy, and even heartfelt drama, "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" manages to encapsulate everything that makes Venom such a unique anithero as well as provide a more-than-adequate introduction of one of Venom's most dangerous enemies, delivered with pitch-perfect perfection by Tom Hardy and Woody Harrelson.

The Score: A