Main cast: Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock), Michelle Williams (Anne Weying), Naomie Harris (Frances Barrison), Reid Scott (Dr Dan Lewis), Stephen Graham (Patrick Mulligan), and Woody Harrelson (Cletus Kasady)
Director: Andy Serkis
Now that the origin story is done with, Dumb and Dumber are back to kick off another bewilderingly successful movie. By now, Eddie Brock has mutated into a buffoon that is nothing like the smart and savvy journalist he is said to be, while his alien symbiote Venom is equally dense in its “Must! Devour! Now!” antics.
This time around, Dumb and Dumber are pitted against Cletus Kasady, the serial killer on death row that appeared in the previous movie, and his girlfriend, Frances, who has the power to pull a Sindel and scream everyone to death. Thanks to Venom being an idiot, Eddie manages to give Cletus his own symbiote, Carnage, and with Carnage’s help, Cletus goes to break Frances out of Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane.
Eddie’s now ex Anne Weying appears and, shocker, she exists solely to be kidnapped by Carnage for the grand rescue.
Oh, and there’s Detective Patrick Mulligan, who isn’t sure whether he can trust Eddie.
I don’t get this movie. What is trying to do? It’s R-rated, right? I’d think there would be some mature approach to violence or moral complexity here, but no. Venom has a Scooby-Doo villain voice, and Eddie acts like Shaggy on steroids and cocaine. They keep arguing among themselves like some new WWE heels that play up to some mentally handicapped gimmick.
The plot is predictable, and everything boils down to tedious, tiresome CGI diarrhea scenes that just drag on for what seems like forever. I suppose Woody Harrelson is okay for playing another variant of the roles he usually picks up these days, but on the whole, this whole thing feels like a failed stand-up comedy hour. The whole thing feels disrespectful somehow to the whole concept of an R-rated superhero movie, as it even goes out of its way to avoid having Venom gorge joyously on brains.
All in all, Venom: Let There Be Carnage feels like some cringe-filled fratbro comedy pretending to be a Marvel movie, powered by the main characters’ stupidity and fueled by the same brand of stupidity to the finish line. If I wanted to cheer, it’s because the whole experience is akin to watching a crippled, mentally-handicapped kid finally drag his way to the finish line after having gone the wrong way six times in the past three hours. I’d be cheering not because the whole thing is an enjoyable experience, but rather because everyone’s misery has come to an end, we can stop pretending to be awed by the kid’s ability to finish a race, and now, we can all put the whole ordeal behind us.
This movie is better than the even dumber previous movie, but seriously, let there be some signs of intelligent life in the next movie.
