"All I ever wanted in this circus of hell is carnage."

In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Eddie Brock attempts to reignite his career by interviewing serial killer Cletus Kasady, who becomes the host of the symbiote Carnage and escapes prison after a failed execution. The first Venom did not do it for me as well as many others. It split audiences into those who really liked it and those who hated it. It felt like there was no middle ground. But with the change in directors and the thought of Carnage being part of this story, it did bring me to want to go out and see it. And though this may have got somewhere that the first didn't, it didn't get to where I would've liked to have seen it go. Here, it embraces campiness and doesn't take itself as seriously as the first. I feel like they were trying to make up for last time. As campy as it tried to be, I don't think it quite understood how to utilize it. For me, the beginning and end embraced it the most. When it did, I found myself sort of enjoying it. We saw this with Malignant last month, but this is another movie that feels like it could've been some b-movie found in the back of a video store. Had it not tried to force itself to be comedic and take some things as serious as it did, maybe it could've gotten to that level. Mainly, it's the story that disappoints. There's so much to unpack and they do so in around 90 minutes. I love the runtime, but it moves by so fast there is literally no room to breathe. There's hardly a quiet moment. After some time I just wanted a break.

Somewhere within the second act, the movie kind of loses what it's trying to be. The story becomes messy and can't decide where to go. Most of the comedy takes place in here and some of it does land. This whole section is like a side plot that could've worked elsewhere. Tom Hardy pulls this movie together. You know that he loves being Eddie and Venom and wants to make the most of it. Woody Harrelson is a good addition to the franchise, but I don't think his character was nearly fleshed out as he could've been. Carnage has some big shoes to fill, and though the movie doesn't do him justice, the fight scenes are great. The action is a lot of fun, though it can be too much. Everything turns to CGI, but much like Godzilla Vs. Kong, we're in it for the action scenes. I will note the production design, especially in the last act looks great. They had the right atmosphere going to match this haunted looking church. Maybe it's just me, but it put me in the spirit for Halloween. Overall, this didn't live up to the hype. It felt more like a filler movie within the franchise, besides the great after credit scene. I was entertained and everyone in the theater was too. But if you're looking at the story, it's rushed, messy, and not all that great. Andy Serkis had the right idea and so did most apart of it, but they couldn't quite get to where they wanted to be.