In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, director Andy Serkis continues the Marvel comic adventures of Venom and his human host, Eddie. It’s a fun, wild ride that should appeal to fans of the original film.
In 1996 at a reform facility, young Cletus befriends a girl, ‘Shriek’, who has mutant, destructive powers of sound. When they are separated, Cletus, now an adult serial killer (Woody Harrelson) in San Quentin prison, requests an audience with reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) who lives an uneasy existence with his alien alter ego and symbiote, Venom. Cletus is due to be executed, and when the two meet again, Cletus attains some of Eddie’s Venom in his system resulting in a new symbiote who breaks Cletus out of prison. Meanwhile Eddie’s former girlfriend, Anne (Michelle Williams), announces her engagement to her boyfriend, and when Cletus orchestrates a plan to marry Shriek (Naomie Harris), he wants to exact revenge on Eddie and Anne. It all leads to a climactic battle of symbiotes with Eddie and Venom fighting for their lives.
What makes the film
fascinating is watching this odd couple of Eddie and Venom co-exist and bicker. It’s clear that they have a
love/hate relationship as Venom has trouble adapting to Eddie’s notion of
morality while starting to experience human emotions. There are amusing scenes including Venom trying
to cheer up Eddie by cooking breakfast and later attempting to blend in with
humans by wandering amid masked party revelers.
Hardy
is the best thing about this film, and Harrelson is perfectly cast (kind of a variation
on his Natural Born Killers role).
The film sets up a sequel, and there is a mid-credit scene with significant
implications.
*** of **** stars (add ½* for Venom fans)
No comments:
Post a Comment