If you are a fan of Marvel movies, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is now a must-see movie. It is a funny, action-packed, alien-friendly, anti-hero movie about a man and an alien in love. Watching the first Venom movie would be wise, but it’s not necessary if you understand that the protagonist, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), has an alien symbiote named Venom attached to him. By “attached,” I mean that they are indubitably (well, at least according to most fans) in love with each other. The reason why Venom attached to Brock in the first movie was not because he was in love with him, but because symbiotes need to attach to humans that match them the best in order to survive on Earth. Soulmates? You decide.
(Warning: spoilers ahead!) Brock is a reporter, now working with the FBI to interview serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson). While going to interview Kasady, Venom pieces together information that solves the cold case of Kasady’s murders and where he hid the bodies of his victims. Brock, now a hero for solving the case, is invited by Kasady to watch him be put to death for his crimes. Kasady bites Brock during the visit (keep in mind that this man is a psychotic serial killer, so he bites) causing Kasady to ingest a part of Venom. This part of Venom is known as Carnage because it is technically Venom’s offspring rather than Venom himself. Jokes about Venom being Carnage’s “daddy” were subsequently made because of this plot development.
Chaos ensues, as an almost indestructible alien who eats people to survive booked a trip in a serial killer’s body and prevented him from being killed on death row. Kasady wants to get back to his lover, Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris), who has a gift of sonic scream, and kill Brock, while Kasady’s new symbiote wants to kill Venom. The two play a game of Grand Theft Auto and head on their merry way, only after getting pimped out in clothes they stole off of someone they killed. Meanwhile, Brock becomes increasingly frustrated with Venom for acting without thinking, as Venom was the reason why Kasady bit Brock in the first place, which causes Venom to separate from Brock. The fight between Venom and Brock before their separation was one of the best parts of the movie because it was a fight that Brock couldn’t win and it was him being thrown against walls by his symbiote. Venom goes to a costume festival where Little Simz sings her hit song “Venom,” which gets Venom to go up on stage and express how he’s out of the “Brock closet” he had to hide in. Clearly, a breakup story for the ages if you ask me. You’ll have to watch the rest of the movie to find out if the two of them get back together, and how Kasady and Carnage are prevented from killing Brock and Venom.
The movie was enjoyable based on its humor and realistic/unrealistic plot. By that, I mean that Brock responds to the crazy world the same way someone would in reality—He tends to question things before diving into a battle head-first, unlike most other superheroes. Another realistic aspect of the film is the amount that Brock sweats and the lack of superhero costumes. How do other superheroes not sweat? Every other spandex world-saver sparkles like a vampire in the sun. The movie also ends with Brock and Venom on the run, and their problems are unresolved, but the end credit scene shows that they are about to face a whole new world of possibilities. Let’s just say my spidey senses are tingling.