Venom: Let There Be Carnage Review: In a nutshell, Eddie Brock, played by Tom Hardy, must stop a serial killer Cletus Kasady, played by Woody Harrelson, who gets infected with the Carnage symbiote.

Reluctantly accepting his fate, Eddie Brock tries to co-exist with Venom. However, it’s a rocky relationship, to say the least. Brock also attempts to revive his career by interviewing Cletus Kasady, a serial killer who doesn’t trust anyone else. But things go wrong when Cletus also gets infected with a deadly and bloodthirsty symbiote. Brock must quickly find a way to work with Venom and deal with the Carnage brought on by Kasady.

Although the plot is pretty straightforward for a comic-book flick, the banter between Brock and Venom is often the film’s most fascinating element. Brock is constantly trying to quench Venom’s thirst for, well, brains, leading to some amusing exchanges – even if the humor won’t necessarily satisfy everyone’s taste. Nevertheless, Tom Hardy’s performance with the CGI character carries the film through some rough patches. Like Hardy, Woody Harrelson fully embraces the film’s quirky, often absurd tonality and certainly enjoys playing the antagonist. Together, they make some of the apparent plot holes easier to ignore.

When it comes to the runtime, it indeed is breezy at an hour and a half. But this does a disservice to its secondary characters Anne Weying (Michelle Williams), Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham), and Francis Barrison (Naomie Harris). They have potentially intriguing roles but don’t get much development beyond some hasty plot beats. As a result, they end up being the story’s weakest links. In addition, the editing is slightly jumpy in places, indicative of significant trimming, although this isn’t entirely distracting.

The third act is definitely satisfying once the two sentient aliens finally battle it out. There’s a substantially marked improvement in the CGI over the first film, as the experience of director Andy Serkis clearly comes in handy. The action is easy to follow and looks great in 3D and 4Dx without being overbearing. While the film meets the basic requirements for comic-book movie enjoyment, its most essential sequence is the post-credit scene that raises the bar for the Venom character. Not only does it change the scope for where he and Eddie Brock will show up next, but it also makes this problematic yet oddly entertaining sequel more than worthwhile.

In-depth Analysis

Direction: 7.0/10

Dialogues: 6.5/10

Screenplay: 6.5/10

Music: 6.0/10

Action: 7.0/10

Comedy: 7.0/10

Visual appeal: 8.0/10

Special Effects: 8.0/10