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Venom: Let There Be Carnage review round-up — Tom Hardy’s sequel crumbles under 'superhero fatigue'

Venom: Let There Be Carnage will release in Indian cinemas on 14 October except for Maharashtra, where it will be screened on 22 October

FP Trending Last Updated:October 01, 2021 16:42:52 IST

Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock/Venom in Columbia Pictures' VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE.

The reviews of Venom 2 are finally out! With Venom: Let There Be Carnage, actor Tom Hardy is back playing Marvel’s popular anti-hero. Directed by Andy Serkis and written by Kelly Marcel, the movie is based on a story by Marcel and Hardy, who throw light on the investigative reporter Eddie Brock’s life.

In the movie, Hardy plays the protagonist, Eddie Brock (an investigative journalist), who hosts the alien Venom inside him. Another important character Cletus Kasady or Carnage is played by Woody Harrelson.

The film also features Michelle Williams and Reid Scott, who returns from the original while Naomie Harris and Stephen Graham are also playing pivotal roles.

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For the unversed, in the first instalment, Eddie gets infected by a sentient alien parasite called Venom. Following which he gets superhuman powers. In the sequel, Kasady, a serial killer who is also infected with another symbiote (Carnage), will showcase his power to Eddie this time.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage will hit theatres in India on 14 October except for Maharashtra, where it will be screened on 22 October.

Check out some of the reviews here: 

Variety: “Managed (more than directed) by motion-capture star-turned-aspiring blockbuster helmer Andy Serkis, Venom: Let There Be Carnage has all the indications of a slap-dash cash grab. The set-pieces look sloppy, the visual effects are all over the place, and the laughs come largely at the movie’s expense. But it does introduce Carnage, so in that respect, mission accomplished. If only they had slowed things down and taken their time to hash out a better story”.

The Hollywood Reporter: “Penned by star Tom Hardy and longtime collaborator Kelly Marcel, the film does develop the chemistry between the titular alien and the human he’s forced to inhabit while inside Earth’s atmosphere. Though it will please most fans of the 2018 first instalment, Carnage proves that superhero fatigue applies to nonheroes as well”.

Entertainment Weekly: “British actor Andy Serkis, a godhead of Hobbit lore who likely knows this Comic-Con world of genre and fantasy better than most, directs the movie, though he feels more like a benevolent ringmaster here: Mostly it’s a chance to watch Hardy bicker with his CG alter ego, who looks like an enraged inkblot with piranha teeth and talks like a doom-metal frontman, about snacks and housekeeping – Venom can sate his needs with chocolate and chickens, though of course, he prefers human brains – and let Harrelson gleefully chew up the screen”.

Screen Rant: “Ultimately, Venom: Let There Be Carnage suffers a bit under the weight of expectations. Not only is [Kelly] Marcel trying to give fans of the first movie more of the dynamic between Eddie and Venom while still giving them character arcs, but Serkis is tasked with adapting Venom’s most famous and beloved antagonist in Carnage and providing a well-developed villain story in the process. The result feels like it’s being pulled in one too many directions and ends up feeling very messy. The first movie was silly and messy and fun, and the sequel is even more so but it’s still a wildly entertaining ride”.

The Wrap: “Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a bold and brisk superhero story, unlike any other mainstream Hollywood film in the genre. It crammed a heck of a lot of movie into an hour and a half, but it doesn’t feel like it needed to be longer. It just feels like we need more movies like it”.

IndieWire: “Venom: Let There Be Carnage is at its best and its most unique, amusing, and fresh — when it’s tossing out those expectations and letting its freak flag fly. There doesn’t need to be carnage (or, hell, even Carnage), there just needs to be Venom, and more of it”.