Venom LTBC is a very unorthodox super-hero movie that is very unique to MCU counterparts.

Tom Hardy is once again nailing it as Eddie Brock, and it's safe to say he has trademarked the character at this point. Unlike the first film which struggled between trying to be serious and funny, Hardy goes in 6th gear with the over the top comedy and bickering with Venom, and it works well for the most part. Another thing the movie significantly improved on were the action sequences. Having a director like Andy Serkis on board means we can expect top notch CGI, and we definitely got that. The final fight scene was spectacular in its visuals. What I liked the most about LTBC is that the film has a very concise goal in what it is trying to achieve. It knows it is over the top and outright insane at time, but that is precisely the elements that people loved about the first one. Andy Serkis simply takes the good elements, and amplifies it with a little more polish.

Unfortunately, the movie achieves all this at the cost of many film-making principles, and did feel underwhelming at times. The plot is razor thin and rapid cuts in the editing does make things confusing. Apart from Eddy and Venom, there is very little care given to other characters, and I expected them to make a more compelling Carnage, who wasn't utilized well. Naomi Harris's character of Shriek also felt half-baked, and she didn't have much to do. Given it was only 1 hr and 37 minutes, the movie could have taken another 20 minutes to tell a more compelling, fleshed out story, which would have enhanced LTBC's strengths.

Overall I give this movie a 7/10, which might seem a bit high given my criticism, but ultimately it came down to the fun factor and "buddy cop" dynamic of TH and Venom which is the highlight of the movie. In terms of filmmaking, LTBC is underwhelming in contrast to other MCU films, but that unorthodox approach is what makes it a fun experience, and allows me to overlook it's downfalls. It is somewhat refreshing to have a movie that doesn't follow MCU's formulaic script, while still entertaining us with plenty of fun moments. That post-credit scene ensures we will be having a very interesting showdown between Venom and this "other guy."