Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Original title:	Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Director:	Andy Serkis
Release:	Cinema
Running time:	97 minutes
Release date:	01 october 2021
Rating:

Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the deadly protector Venom, one of Marvel's biggest and most complex characters.

Marianne Velma's Review

There's going to be trouble. And not just a little! That's the promise of Venom II in a nutshell. Making a sequel to a failed work is a real challenge. Let's be honest, despite Andy Serkis' good will, and his virtuosity in some purely graphic sequences, this Let There Be Carnage does not succeed. Simply because it takes more than a few nasty monsters and a couple of turns of the digital palette to create good cinema.

Let's be clear. Obviously, Venom is not meant to be a three-hour essay on the meaning of life. However, the total absence of dramatic stakes, the caricatured and limited writing of the couple of villains and the botched secondary story arcs prevent us from being interested in the film beyond its first half hour. Fortunately, the studio's executives had the good idea to collect this chaotic raw material in only 97 minutes.

The humor comes, at times, to wake us up from the hypnotic torpor in which the film plunges us. Not only because it proves that the franchise doesn't take itself seriously, but because it highlights the few metaphysical crumbs that the script was willing to leave us: the schizophrenic link between Eddie and Venom. Tom Hardy, despite his falsely blasé airs, uses and abuses his low tessitura to interpret this double role.

The madness, the real meaning of the film, should have been found in this apparently antinomic relationship, this duality between the self and the over-self, between the two sides of the same coin. Alas, the script uses it only as a recurrent gimmick, without exploring all its semantic disorder. This is probably too much to ask from an entertainment that is supposed to sweat rage and fake hemoglobin and yet it is really the only thing that would have deserved to be spared from the carnage.

One last piece of advice, finally. If you made it to the end, don't run away just yet. A little spidery surprise awaits you in the now inescapable post-generic scene.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Directed by Andy Serkis
Screenplay by Kelly Marcel
Story by Tom Hardy, Kelly Marcel
Based on Marvel Comics
Produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy, Hutch Parker
Starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Woody Harrelson
Cinematography : Robert Richardson
Edited by Maryann Brandon, Stan Salfas
Music by Marco Beltrami
Production companies : Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Tencent Pictures, Pascal Pictures
Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Release date : September 14, 2021 (London), October 1, 2021 (United States), Octobr 20, 2021 (France)
Running time : 97 minutes

Seen on October 5, 2021 at Publicis Champs-Élysées

Marianne Velma's Mark:

Juliette's Review

Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the fearsome protector Venom, one of the most impressive and complex characters in the Marvel universe. Directed by Andy Serkis, the film reunites Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris and Woody Harrelson as the villainous Cletus Kasady, aka Carnage.

At the helm of Venom: Let There Be Carnage is Andy Serkis. The actor known, in part, for his role as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings is not a first-time director. We owe him notably Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, released in 2018. He joins the Marvel franchise and succeeds Ruben Fleischer, who is busy with the post-production of Return to Zombieland. And it must be said that this turn-over had good. The film is more rhythmic, funnier and especially less long than its predecessor, 1 h 37 instead of 1 h 52.

This second opus tightens around the relationship (couple?) of the symbiote and the journalist. Since Venom chose Eddie as his host, the two strong heads had to learn to live together. And this gives rise to some very funny scenes, including the one of the incredible preparation of a breakfast. Once again, Tom Hardy plays the role of this good guy, a bit of a loser, who doesn't know himself how he managed to become a journalist. Fortunately, his sidekick is there to lead him on the trail of the best scoops.

Starting with an exclusive interview with notorious serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), just days before his execution. But not everything goes according to plan. By biting Eddie, the criminal will in turn become the host of the symbiote. He will then do anything to save his childhood sweetheart (played by Naomie Harris) and create chaos around him. Venom and Eddie will of course get in his way. The result is some impressive action scenes. As for the script, nothing very original. But the cast and the touches of humor throughout the film make for a good time.

Seen on October 5, 2021 at Publicis Champs-Élysées

Juliette's Mark:

Mulder's Review

Going to the cinema to discover a new movie inspired by the Marvel universe should be synonymous with discovering a great movie with a plot that holds together, spectacular special effects, a sustained rhythm, a neat photography and above all inspired actors who take pleasure in interpreting characters adored by comic book readers, including us. In other words, everything that Venom: Let There Be Carnage is not. After a first part directed by Ruben Fleischer with Tom Hardy in the lead role, we find here in the script Kelly Marcel (already present in the same position but supported by Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg) and in the direction Andy Serkis (Breathe (2017), Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)). As much as Andy Serkis proves to be gifted to give life to characters in motion capture, we must admit that as a director his direction never manages to be convincing but above all he seems to obey the dictates of the studios and offers films seriously lacking bite (his previous film was released directly on Netflix and was massacred by the American critics).

Yet the character of Venom, a sentient alien symbiote in amorphous and liquid form, who survives by bonding with a host, has undeniable potential to bring to life in theaters Marvel Universe films in the Deadpool tradition, that is to say, more violent, more mature and minimizing the violence with an omnipresent humor. Appearing for the first time in the comic book The Amazing Spider-Man #299 (April 1988) (we advise you to stay until the middle of the end credits to see one of the rare successful scenes of the movie and linking Venom to the recent Spider-man cinematographic universe), the character of Venom created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane has established himself as one of the most important enemies of Spider-man. It is not by chance that the character appeared for the first time in the cinema in Spider-man 3 (2007) before being interpreted by Tom Hardy.

The duality between the characters of Venom and Eddy Brock has been much talked about, given its romantic undertones as well as the fact that it reflects the duality of a man between good and evil, between his wild impulses and his calm character. Undeniably, the fact of having chosen Tom Hardy to give life to Eddie Brock and Venom is an excellent idea, but it would have been necessary to find ambitious directors and above all screenwriters capable of finding intact all the essence of these Marvel characters and of proposing films flirting with the horror film and capable of proposing scenes as violent as they are enjoyable. The first film was disappointing because of its chaotic editing, this one doesn't make up for the first one's shortcomings, but also because of its short duration and its bad photography, it doesn't even manage to give the main characters any depth and is content to propose one big fight between Venom and Carnage, which is too long and very badly choreographed

Venom: Let There Be Carnage picks up after the post-generic scene in which Eddie Brock meets Cietus Kasady (Wood Harrelson). While Eddie Brock manages to restore his image and find the bodies left in Cietus Kasady's wake, Cietus Kasady bites Eddie and ends up with a symbiote that will be called Carnage. Clearly more destructive and ferocious, Carnage intends to impose its presence through violence. Eddie's troubles also escalate when Venom decides to leave Eddie's body and live his life as he sees fit. When the deranged serial killer Cletus Kasady also becomes a host to an alien symbiote, Brock and Venom must put aside their differences to end his reign of terror. The film offers little in the way of subplots, and instead focuses on Cietus' past and his strong bond with the mutant Shriek (Naomie Harris), who is also imprisoned because of the danger she represents. As Eddi's ex-fiancée Anne Weying (still played by Michelle Williams) reunites with Dr. Dan Lewis (Reid Scott), Eddie's life becomes a nightmare.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage could have been an excellent sequel as the link between Venom and Eddie Brock is perfectly put forward and allows to bring a lot of humor to this movie. In the same way, we can understand that the director orientates this film towards a horrific comedy with two characters who are possessed by alien entities but it should have been proposed perfectly choreographed action scenes and not only a confrontation in a church and in the dark. The result is a disappointing movie for both Marvel comics fans and for those who like blockbusters for their striking scenes. We will appreciate on the other hand the scene in which Venom, separated from Eddie, speaks in front of a microphone and shows the affinity he has with him as well as the scene in the restaurant which shows the comic potential of Tom Hardy.

So carnage there is by the way the film ransacks a Marvel universe that is holding and that shows a break between Columbia Pictures and Marvel Entertainment. While the latter continues to offer perfectly mastered and impressive movies, this Venom turns out to be a real disappointment and despite a great success in the United States, we hope that the next movie will finally give Venom the place he deserves in the Marvel universe and better approach his motivations and his impressive strength. A confrontation against Spider-man would have the potential to bring in a lot of spectators and above all to finally offer the movie we are waiting for about this cult character.

Seen on October 15, 2021 at Gaumont Disney Village, Room 2 seat A22

Mulder's Mark: