When Venom arrived in 2018, it was almost treated as a lone wolf operation . It wasn't tied into the broader MCU or even the current Spider-Man franchise-making it the rare major non-original superhero movie that was working with something that at least resembled a blank canvas. The results were an unwieldy yet entertaining film that had a couple of unusual secret weapons up its sleeve: Tom Hardy happily digging into his cartoony acting bag to portray the dual role of the titular fan favorite Spider-Man villain and Eddie Brock- the sad sack investigative journalist whose body he's inhabited and a super campy tone that allowed the chaotic dynamic between Brock and Venom to flourish. The sequel, Let There Be Carnage, commits even harder to the cartoony 1-2 punch that made the extremely weird, 90's-esque original work and quite frankly, it's all the better for it.
While the arrival of serial killer and fellow Symbiote possessor Cletus Kasaday (aka Carnage)- whose played with a formidable goofy swagger by Woody Harrelson-may be what drives the plot to Let There Be Carnage forward, that clash of the Spider-Man villain titans is really just a side dish for the main attraction: Watching Brock and Venom interact. Like Crockett and Tubbs and Lowery and Burnett before them, they're a do-it-all dream pairing with a chemistry so strong it could burn up the fucking sun. They're able to improvise brilliant slapstick comedy bits at any given moment. They solve and fight crime together like an old buddy cop duo. They constantly get on each other's nerves as they squabble like a couple that's been married for decades, but ultimately both know that can no longer live without each other. If the content of their arguments wasn't almost exclusively sick and silly, their relationship might even be kind of poignant. How an odd couple friendship/love story ended up being the avenue in which the Eddie Brock/Venom dynamic was explored in the movie format is a surreal reality that's kind of hard to believe, but thankfully the higher-ups at Sony gave screenwriter Kelly Marcel and Hardy a chance to head down this wild-ass trail without ever asking them to pull back.
Let There Be Carnage is so fun as a screwball pseudo-romantic comedy that it's actually kind of unfortunate whenever it goes back to being a superhero movie. Seeing two CGI aliens wrestle in confined spaces and Kasaday reconnect with his own demented love interest (Naomie Harris) is just no match for the joy of watching Brock lecture Venom about what (and who) he can and can't eat or Venom confidently parade around a rave before hopping on stage to deliver a heartfelt monologue about how mankind needs to learn to coexist with killer intergalactic species like him. Let There Be Carnage shows off a really weird, silly soul in these little character moments that makes it standout and as long as it continues to prioritize Hardy's committed dual threat performance and the lovingly combative interplay between the characters he plays over its generic superhero elements, the Venom brand will continue to be this refreshing little outlier that offers up bite sized pieces (like its predecessor, Let There Be Carnage runs for about 90 minutes excluding credits) of self-aware absurdity in between the genre's genres larger projects.
Grade: B
No comments:
Post a Comment