Tom Hardy returns in this current sequel to the 2018 original. Now finding a sort of peaceful co-existence w/the Venom symbiote, Eddie Brock, Hardy, has gotten his life sort of back on track (being an ace reporter again & living w/the fact his ex, again played by Oscar nominee Michelle Williams, has moved on). Into this fractious détente comes a call from a death row inmate, played again by Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson (who cameo'd in the last film), to tell his tale (where we've seen in flashback Harrelson's romance w/another disturbed inmate, played by Oscar nominee by Naomi Harris, cut short when she used her power, a banshee type scream to escape during a prison transfer but gets shot by a cop but not before deafening him). W/Harrelson's story published, he believes his & Hardy's life are entwined even inviting him to his last meal where he takes an opportunity to bite Hardy thus infecting him w/Venom & creating Carnage (which prompts an explosive outbreak from prison) whose sole goal is to reunite w/Harris & take revenge on their foes. Definitely better that the first film now directed by ace mo-cap performer Andy Serkis but it still has an air of 'what for?' hovering above it since Venom doesn't exist, at least for me, w/o the presence of Spider-man so the film ends up being an unabashed cash grab w/o a hint of irony or subtlety. Even the well done special effects, particularly the fidelity of the sound, started to rattle me physically where I felt I was being bombarded on a neutron level. Also starring Stephen Graham as the aggrieved detective.