I was not a great fan of the original Venom, although I did find aspects of it to like. Unfortunately, for me, the sequel - "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" - delivered even less. And I found aspects of it positively distasteful.

Positives:
While most of the cast seem to be doing sequel-paint-by-numbers, I thought Naomie Harris was superb as the shrieking 'X-woman-style' villain. (I'm embarrassed to say that it took me until the end titles to realise she WAS Naomie Harris!)
Some of the comedy lines between Brock and Venom made me chuckle.


Negatives:
-- Firstly, virtually nothing happens. It's not too much of an understatement to say that the whole plot can be summarized as a) a villain is introduced; b) the villain teams with another villain and c) Venom defeats them. It's just all so bland and linear, without any sort of discernible story arc.

-- For a movie pitched more at the comedy end of the Marvel spectrum, the script is unpleasantly violent. (And, yes, before Marvel fan-boys attack me with comments, I know that this Sony/Marvel offering is NOT part of the official universe). There are numerous points at which I thought "Ugh!" and a nasty taste entered my mouth: the butchering of a 'Family man' prison guard, pleading for his life; the brains of a very polite young grocery store boy being senselessly smashed in; and the massacre of a priest in his own cathedral. (Actually, I have no idea what happened with the priest during the "power-up" scene - - a cut by the censors perhaps?) My issue is that, tonally speaking, there is a horrible mismatch between these unnecessarily violent scenes and the lighthearted and flippant nature of the rest. It's like putting a vicious gang-bang rape in the middle of "Ant Man".







Summary Thoughts on "Venom: Let There Be Carnage": You'll already judge from my balance of comments that this one just didn't work for me. Even as a "park your brain at the door" action movie, I thought it felt lazy and lacklustre. My advice? Save your money and go and watch "The Last Duel" instead.

By the way, there is a mid-credit monkey (end-credits scene in onemannsmovies speak), worth staying for, which ties this Marvel offshoot to another sector of the Marvel catalogue. However, note that there is NO post-credits monkey!!! Like a whole bunch of us in the cinema, you'll feel pretty foolish if you sit through the interminable titles just for the film to end and the lights to come up! (One Mann's Movies is pleased to bring you this public service announcement!)

For the full graphical and video versions of my reviews, please check out #onemannsmovies online. Thanks.)