Rating: 6.7
So I didn’t like the first Venom… didn’t even really enjoy it. So it surprised me when I found myself enjoying this one! It’s pretty much what you’d expect coming out of the first Venom and just a lot of the same, but ultimately improved in some areas. The one thing that I did enjoy a lot more was that it didn’t take itself so seriously, it seemed to have a lot more fun and have a lot more jokes mixed into the movie. I especially loved the Venom and Eddie relationship and how they portrayed it as an old married couple bickering. Their relationship and arguments are easily the most entertaining parts and setup some of the best comedic moments. However the story and movie itself felt extremely short. Before I knew it, it was over and it felt like nothing major really happened. The film moved very fast and felt like was rushing through the plot points and never took any moments to breathe. It felt like it should have been 15 or 20 minutes longer as the story was just too short and didn’t seem to have enough substance. The movie just felt like it was missing something. It didn’t feel like it really had iconic Venom moments either, like in the first movie did. Tom Hardy is great as the lead once again but much like the first film, he feels underused. He is absurdly entertaining as he argues with Venom though! Woody Harrelson also seems to be having a lot of fun as Carnage but again doesn’t really have that much to do in the movie (and his wig is terrible). I also really didn’t care about Cletus’ girlfriend plot at all. And this just goes back to the story not having enough depth or substance to it. All the expositional scenes seemed to have been cut, there was nowhere for the actors to act. It felt like they didn’t know what to do with the characters, only knew that Venom and Carnage had to fight. The only character to really improve from the first movie was Anne, Michelle Williams’ character. Instead of her just being the love interest, she actually has a part in the action here. I love Andy Serkis, so I feel like I’m not the best person to critique his directing, which is pretty medium, but I feel that he brought a lot of interesting ideas to the table. Thanks to him, the CGI is much improved over the first film, to the point where the third act doesn’t feel like a complete CGI mess. The action is cool and some of the stuff with Carnage is way more brutal than I expected it to be. But it doesn’t feel like the iconic fight that it should have been. Also I’m so sick of mental hospitals being in superhero movies… it just reminds me of New Mutants (and who wants to remember that??). But, to redeem itself, the movie plays it’s one f-bomb card perfectly! The whole movie had this sort of campy and cartoony vibe to it which isn’t much different from the first film, but I’m still not convinced it fits the character that well. It’s fun but it doesn’t make for a very good or memorable movie. HOWEVER the end credit scene completely redeems it as it is extremely mind blowing and really important to see if you are a Marvel fan! Like this end credit scene makes the whole movie worth it, and is one of the most aggressive and shocking end credit scenes I have ever seen from a business and creative perspective. The movie itself has its moments and was really entertaining to me, but overall is only a slight improvement over the first film.
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IMDb Rating: 6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 59%
RT Audience Score: 85%
Metacritic Score: 47
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Sony - Columbia Pictures
Directed by Andy Serkis
Screenplay by Kelly Marcel
Story by Kelly Marcel & Tom Hardy
Cast: Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham
Runtime: 1hr 37min
Rating: 14A
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
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Eddie Brock attempts to reignite his career by interviewing serial killer Cletus Kasady, who becomes the host of the symbiote Carnage and escapes prison after a failed execution.
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Fun Fact: Andy Serkis cites "The Odd Couple" as an influence on the relationship between Eddie Brock and Venom: "They're figuring out how to be with each other. Eddie is struggling with Venom who's like a manic toddler, while Venom feels trapped in Eddie's body."
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