Venom: A monster rampage wrapped in brain-eating banter

Andy Serkis' ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ seeks to turn Eddie and Venom’s dumb bromance from part one into a Deadpool-Wilson-like (minus the fourth-wall fabulous funk) camaraderie with the sprinkle of some at-your-face humour. 

The film, penned by Tom Hardy and Kelly Marcel, does build the chemistry between the titular extraterrestrial and the human he's compelled to occupy. However, massive set pieces of CG mayhem that feel just like those found in the good guys' flicks frequently drown out the uniqueness of this buddy-movie bond.

Eddie Brock, the preaching San Francisco reporter played by Tom Hardy, is basically where the last film left him. His career has revived, his romance with onetime fiancée Anne (Michelle Williams) is still deceased, and he's got a monster inside him. 

Venom, a parasitic alien, inhabits Eddie's body and can either lurk silently and growl at him in a voice only he can detect, or transform Eddie into a slithery monster with tendrils, fangs, and superhuman power. 

In any case, the monster requires food. Though his desired food is brains, he can survive on chocolate and live chickens. Eddie's efforts at times to keep Venom on a diet provide much of the script's humour. 

When Brock is given the opportunity to interview incarcerated serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), Eddie does everything he can to avoid Venom from devouring the disgruntled Detective Mulligan (Stephen Graham) who chaperones his visit. 

But it's Venom who gets bitten as Kasady bites Eddie, and a small amount of the symbiotic alien material seeps into his bloodstream. Later, when Kasady is in the execution chamber, the material combines with lethal injection drugs to turn him into Carnage, a red monster that leaves San Quentin looking like it was hit by a storm.

While Venom has his share of comic mishaps, Carnage stays true to his name. Kasady uses his new abilities to track down his long-lost love, a mutant he met in reform school-- Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris), who possesses the ability to shatter objects with high-pitched howls and has been imprisoned for years in a soundproof cell. She's just as eager to smash things as her boyfriend when she's let free.

Despite being a 'superhero,' Hardy manages to play an underdog with an endearing appeal. His intriguing superpower is that he is nothing resembling a 'hero' (apart from being the vassal of a deadly creature). 

Michelle's Anne has left with little to no voice as a result of a poor character sketch. Despite all the flaws, Harrelson shines simply by being a deranged killer. 

Shriek by Naomie Harris adds too much noise to an already tumultuous story. In a nutshell, this movie appears to be a step in the right direction, but it is progressing too slowly. The post-credit sequence builds enough anticipation for the next instalment, but it still needs a lot of revamping.

This article is written by Shadya Naher Sheyam who is a current student at the Department of International Relations at Bangladesh University of Professionals. [email protected]