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Venom: Let There Be Carnage Review

Match made in heaven..

Venom: Let There Be Carnage hits theaters on Oct. 1.

Director Andy Serkis describes Venom: Let There Be Carnage as a love story (which it definitely is) between Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Venom (also Tom Hardy). That idea is skillfully reflected through the lean script and directing choices. Serkis gives us a sequel with entertaining action sequences, a more personal approach, a lot of humor, and a thrilling final showdown between Eddie/Venom and Cletus Kasady/Carnage (Woody Harrelson).

Picking up after a passage of time only marked by Kasady’s sleek new haircut, Let There Be Carnage has an unhinged villain whose motives are vengeful and driven by pain. As Eddie and his police detective partner put together the pieces of his killing spree, we see a dramatic pivot from the sci-fi conspiracy of the first movie to something that plays like a comic-book movie hybrid of serial killer thrillers like Seven or Zodiac (yes, really). Of course, those movies are brilliant, so it is a fine template to work off when handling a villain similar to so many of America’s real-life monsters, had they been granted some really terrifying superpowers.

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This really is a bizarre hybrid of monster and murder movie, but Serkis efficiently balances various tones, visual spectacles, and humorous performances to surprisingly make it work. Much like Eddie does, the sequel lets its weirder side out and the symbiote is given more time to shine. Venom’s one-liners cut through tense moments as comedic relief, resembling a combination of Clayface from the HBO Max Harley Quinn show and the MCU’s Drax. Or, as Eddie describes him, a “pig-dog horse-duck.”

The people around him, however, do care for this lethal giant and provide excellent connective tissue between characters. We’re given a much smaller, yet efficiently used supporting cast with Detective Mulligan (Stephen Graham), Anne (Michelle Williams), Dan (Reid Scott), and even Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu). All these characters interact and intersect over the course of the movie, emphasizing a smaller world and scope to navigate in, as well as a more personal threat to Eddie’s social circle.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage Movie Images

Serkis’ experience as a motion-capture artist comes through as he directs more active and physical scenes. His trust in practical and computer-generated visual effects hammers home Venom’s physical presence and destruction in impressive and tangible ways, like when Venom tears up Eddie’s kitchen in a scene that seems straight from Fantasia’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The active camera movement matches the cold-blooded, chaotic energy brought on by Carnage and Kasady. Their motives cannot be reasoned away; their twisted feelings of justice empower them to savage acts of violence. We witness this fully in the only fight between Venom and Carnage. The battle is packed with feral, creative limb-slinging between the two symbiotes as Carnage jabs with grotesque spiked arms and Venom defends with an instinctive survival mentality, an explosion of CGI monsters and pyrotechnics that’s gripping to watch.

Let There Be Carnage’s strongest assets are our villains: Kasady, Carnage, and Shriek (Naomie Harris). They are antagonists with style and showmanship, something lacking in many of Marvel’s movies, reveling in the disaster they leave in their wake. As Kasady, Harrelson channels his Natural Born Killers character, Mickey Knox, fighting against the abusive systems of his past. When he’s reunited with someone who’s just as smart, brutal, and remorseless as he is and their chemistry takes hold, it’s actually hard not to root for them to burn everything to the ground. You can tell that they’re having fun pushing the PG-13 rating with the bodies they lay waste to. I mean, in the middle of admiring their havoc, I wrote in my notes, “They’re freaky. I love them!” It’s a shame that we don’t get more of Harris in Let There Be Carnage, not only for her magnetic performance, but also to get any context for her powers and much of her backstory. However, given what we know about symbiotes, this dynamic presents their relationship with a troubling caveat, emphasizing a star-crossed romance between the two.

Even still, the main relationship that’s tested through this rampage of mayhem is between Eddie and Venom. While Let There Be Carnage has fun implying a romance between the two, their relationship is still more like a beleaguered pet owner and untrained puppy, with exasperation painted on Hardy’s face. Now that neither have to worry about a whole alien race trying to take over the planet, Venom can act more like the impulsive goofball that he really is, which is the opposite of Eddie’s own urges.

Like many ill-fated relationships, Eddie and Venom have a lot of communication issues, which is what gets them into this mess with Carnage. Compared to how quickly Kasady and Carnage teamed up, it seems like Eddie and Venom will never see eye to eye (*Venom voice* since he will always be the bigger person). While they both eventually realize that they need each other and compromise to stop a bad guy, neither really learns what makes the other important – not truly. But they’re building a symbiotic relationship meant to be sustainable, so we’re rooting for those two crazy kids to make it work!

All that said, while Let There be Carnage has a structurally sound plot meant to redirect the franchise, it’s still one that’s playing catch-up to where superhero movies are now in 2021. It plays it pretty safe, and doesn't take the kind of exciting swings that thrilling contemporaries like The Suicide Squad or Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings have. It’s the conventionally perfect length for a film, clocking in a little over 90 minutes while it slavishly follows the typical hero’s journey. And that’s fine! This story started off too big and too complicated in the first movie, so it’s good that it scales back to focus on finding its voice.

There is no arguing that this movie doesn’t have stellar villains who followed through on their threats of bringing utter chaos and carnage to those who have wronged them. With its otherwise safe decisions, it was reassuring to see the ending and post-credits scene lay out a new direction for the Venom series, and it’s exciting to think about what happens to our duo next.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage finally pairs Venom and Eddie with a worthy villain in a story that embraces its weirder side. Andy Serkis directs a fun and action-packed sequel that highlights Venom as his own character and features Woody Harrelson and Naomie Harris as breakout villains with excellent chemistry. Taking itself less seriously and having more fun, its relatively short runtime is packed densely with plenty of action, character development, and campy humor. At the same time, it’s a love story about relationships evolving and learning to grow and trust each other. Venom as a series is working through its growing pains, but it looks like it’s uphill from here.

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Summary Venom (Tom Hardy) faces off against Carnage (Woody Harrelson).

Directed By : Andy Serkis

Written By : Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Where to watch.

Eddie Brock, Venom

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Who Let Venom: Let There Be Carnage In on the Joke?

Everyone’s in on the joke in Venom: Let There Be Carnage , and it’s more of a bummer than I could have imagined. The 2018 Venom wasn’t exactly a paragon of subtlety, restraint, or good filmmaking, but there was a crackpot charm to it that had everything to do with how most of the cast acted as if they were in a gritty comic-book adaptation while Tom Hardy … did not. Muttering and soaked in sweat, Hardy lurched through the movie insistent that the saga of how a swaggering investigative journalist named Eddie Brock becomes host to a cannibalistic alien symbiote was, in fact, a buddy comedy. His performance felt like an assault on the implicit promise of any super(anti)hero origin story — that whatever sacrifices and losses its main character may accrue, they will be blessed in return with a modicum of cool. Eddie never became cool. Eddie ate a rotting chicken carcass out of the garbage and jumped into the lobster tank at a restaurant, and even after saving the day, he did not get the girl but did keep the alien, with whom he constantly bickers.

Eddie is still not cool in Venom: Let There Be Carnage , but his shambolic lack of dignity is less entertaining because everyone around him has started doing shtick too. Chief among them is Woody Harrelson as serial killer Cletus Kasady, who invites Eddie to prison to interview him and then bites his hand, getting a taste of extraterrestrial-infected blood that enables the murderer to sprout a symbiote all his own — the titular Carnage. Does Cletus-as-Carnage yell the film’s subtitle at one point, just for extra emphasis? You bet he does. He also gives the damnedest pronunciation of origin I’ve ever heard (it’s something like o-REE-gin ) and wears a terrible wig that’s different from the one he wore in the Venom stinger. Cletus wants only to reunite with the object of his obsession, Frances Barrison — a mutant he met in reform school who has spent most of her life in a secret facility. As an adult, she goes by “Shriek” and is played by Naomie Harris, who happens to be 15 years younger than the actor playing her childhood sweetheart. Harris glowers and gives good deranged villainess face but has shockingly little to do — she barely gets to use her powers! — whereas Harrelson has too much. His exhausting performance is barely mitigated by a nifty bit of animated backstory and his tentacled stretches as a red creature who slaughters countless people in bloodless, PG-13 fashion.

About that: The first time Venom spots Carnage, it yelps “That is a red one!” and tries to exit. This tossed-off implication that Carnage is a phenomenon of a sort Venom has encountered before is as far as the movie goes in terms of lore. And while there’s a relief to being unburdened of superheroic exposition, the sheer lack of curiosity any of the characters have about the new murder monster in their midst attests to how slapdash this sequel is. It’s so obviously shaped by fan response that it feels like the movie equivalent of someone who went viral online and now can only repeat themselves to diminishing returns in an attempt to hawk merch while they can. Hardy, who was responsible for most of what made the first film good, seems to be one of the primary reasons the sequel feels so desperate. The actor — who spends much of the film dressed in Eddie Murphy’s outfit from Beverly Hills Cop for reasons unclear beyond the first name his character and the comedian have in common — shares a story credit with writer Kelly Marcel. The result is a script that devotes an awful lot of time to Hardy-as-Eddie talking to himself-as-Venom.

The odd couple argues about Venom’s diet of chicken and chocolate, and about not going out and doing more brain-eating vigilante work, and about the chances of reuniting with Eddie’s ex-fiancée, Anne Weying (Michelle Williams), and about Eddie’s lack of skill as a reporter. At one point, the two go their separate ways, and Venom finds its way to a costumed rave where it gives a speech about being kept hidden away (“Stop this cruel treatment of aliens”), which the cheering attendees receive as one about acceptance. There’s a universe in which that scene satirizes toothless social-justice affirmations so vague they could apply to queerness or to creatures who just want to be free to eat brains. But Venom: Let There Be Carnage can’t really decide what the joke is beyond the absurdity of the scenario and just lets the moment hang there, curiously flat. It seems aware that the sequence doesn’t matter — that, in fact, nothing in the movie matters aside from the mid-credits scene that brought down the house at the fan screening I attended. It was all anyone talked about as we exited the theater, as though everything that had come before had already faded from memory. We should all be so lucky.

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Venom: Let There Be Carnage Review

15 Oct 2021

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

There’s no getting around it: for all its vast flaws, Venom was a massive hit. Despite it being a Spider-Man spin-off with no actual Spider-Man — one which neutered its edgy, horror-inflected, fan-favourite comic-book character in a visually murky PG-13 origin story — audiences turned up in their droves to watch Tom Hardy play Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote alter-ego. Amid the drudgery came moments of amusing, head-scratching weirdness (Hardy jumping into a lobster tank at a restaurant!), and while Let There Be Carnage is more confident in exploring those out-there qualities (the surprising prominence of a pair of chickens named Sonny and Cher!), this sequel is still a dispiritingly weak outing for one of Marvel’s cultiest characters.

From the first film, it was clear that Tom Hardy has a genuine affinity for both Brock and Venom (whom he also voices in booming, gravelly tones) — a sort of sad-bro Jekyll and his lunk-headed, brain-munching Hyde. Here he’s credited as co-writer alongside Kelly Marcel , and while the looser, more consistent portrayal of the dual role this time around feels driven by Hardy’s personal passion, their goofy banter remains a curious take on the character that slathers the concept’s ’90s gnarliness with cheese.

That PG-13 rating is perhaps the biggest flaw here, leaving Serkis hamstrung. There’s precious little carnage to be had.

There’s a kernel of a good idea here — that Let There Be Carnage is a kind of double break-up movie, as Brock wrestles with his split from Michelle Williams ’ Anne (still grossly underused) while also doubting his relationship with Venom. (Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Scenes From A Symbiote Marriage’, anyone?) But while a Venom-Brock romcom sounds fun, the reality is a tonal mishmash of unfunny gags — Venom’s voice-over trash-talk is woefully lame, a watered-down stream of Deadpool-ish, audience-winking irreverence that plays like a symbiotic director’s commentary you can’t turn off — layered on a poorly plotted story with action sequences that don’t hold up to the myriad other comic-book movies out there.

It’s especially disappointing given the talent involved this time out. Ruben Fleischer is out as director, replaced by the great Andy Serkis — but any hopes that the performance-capture genius, behind richly drawn CG creations like Gollum and Planet Of The Apes ’ Caesar, might be able to conjure some clarity among the quick-cutting chaos of the dimly lit action sequences are soon dashed. The splodgy-symbiote effects are a marginal improvement over the previous film, but it’s impossible not to ponder what Serkis could have created with a bigger budget and bolder rating.

Once again, that PG-13 rating (an extraordinarily mild 15 here in the UK) is perhaps the biggest flaw here, leaving Serkis hamstrung with a titular promise that simply cannot be delivered upon — there’s precious little carnage to be had. Woody Harrelson ’s incoming villain, serial killer Cletus Kasady — mercifully shorn of the bizarre Mick Hucknall wig he donned in the last film’s cameo, now replaced by a creepy crew-cut — trades on Zodiac-coded creepiness but never feels threatening, and when his symbiote parasite (named ‘Carnage’ for no discernible reason) takes over, any trademark head-chomping is left to the imagination. Even an implied poultry massacre takes place off-screen.

Throughout, there are brief glimmers of a better film. In an early confrontation between Brock and Kasady — which the script bends over backwards to accommodate — the convicted murderer gestures to our uncomfortable fascination with true-crime (“People love serial killers!”); there’s a striking animated sequence depicting the horrors of Kasady’s past; Peggy Lu’s scene-stealing shopkeeper Mrs Chen shows how fun Venom’s body-swapping conceit could be. But it’s frequently frustrating, too — the mega-talented Naomie Harris picks up the squandered-talent baton from Riz Ahmed as Kasady’s equally evil lover Frances; the very nature of Carnage is ill-defined; Williams’ Anne largely spends the final act gagged and bound in a box.

Against the mildest of expectations, Venom: Let There Be Carnage doesn’t exactly under-deliver — and fans of the first film won’t grumble. But if this is the bar for cinematic comic-book carnage, it’s low. A literal world away from the consistent quality of Marvel Studios fare, pray that Venom never latches onto the MCU proper.

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Venom (2018)

• User Reviews
• Tom Hardy does a fantastic job
• Venom is an interesting and fun character
• The plot is fairly classic for this type of movie; nothing good or bad about it
• The special effects are great - I loved the transformation scenes.
• the 'but no one will belive us' moment.
• awww the protagonist.who was bad has changed, he isn't bad!
• ooohhh millionaire bad guy is still bad!
• good guy (alien) vs bad guy (alien)
• good guys win, but for several minutes you think one has died.
• The whole symbiotic relationship is a bit muddled, they need the perfect host to live, but also a large test tube will do? Also why do they 'eat' the host if they need them to live?
• Why does Riot want Venom to return with him?
• The simbiotes plan to return to their planet and bring back more, why didn't they load the first rocket with more? Why allow the first humans to capture them In the first place? Why not enter the first humans and then load up the first rocket?

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Everything We Know

Everything we know about venom: let there be carnage, who's returning (hey, mrs. chen), who's new, and what are the odds this will somehow cross over with marvel's spider-man we break it all down..

TAGGED AS: comic , Comic Book , comic books , comics , Film , films , Marvel , movie , movies , spider-man , superhero , Superheroes

While Marvel Studio pictures appear with a clockwork precision that only a worldwide pandemic could pause, Sony’s attempts to make use of the Spider-Man characters it controls have been less reliable. Amid multiple restarts, a long-in-the-works plan to make a Sinister Six movie, and a critical hack of Sony’s email system a few years back, it’s no wonder they chose to ally with Marvel Studios to bring Spidey to the MCU.

But Sony also continued to develop ideas independent of Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) trip to the larger Marvel world. Occasionally known as the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, the concept finally clicked with the one-two punch of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse   and Venom . Both were commercial successes and proved Sony could mount a Spider-Man(-adjacent) film without Marvel’s help.

Provided, of course, they’re still interested in going it alone.

Now, after its own COVID delay, the first true installment of the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters begins with Venom: Let There Be Carnage . If the recently released trailer is any indication, it should succeed in similar ways to its predecessor despite a new creative at the helm (more on that in a moment), but will it truly set the, er, “SPUMC” reality apart from the MCU? Let’s take a look at what we know about Venom: Let There Be Carnage to see if we can discover where the film exists in the many Marvel Universes.

Familiar Faces

(Photo by ©Columbia Pictures)

It is fair to say one of the primary reasons for the first Venom ’s success was the surprising double act of Eddie Brock and the symbiote on his back known as Venom, both played by Tom Hardy ; happily, Hardy was the first element secured for the sequel. Of course, these days, studios sign actors up for multi-picture deals just in case, but with Venom , Hardy’s return for Let There Be Carnage and an eventual third film is essential.

Sure, Venom could find a new host. He has passed to others before, including Eddie’s ex-girlfriend Anne Weying ( Michelle Williams ), who also returns for Let There Be Carnage . Reid Scott also returns as Anne’s incredibly likable current boyfriend, Dr. Dan Lewis. And as the recent trailer made clear, Peggy Lu is back as neighborhood convenience store proprietor, Mrs. Chen – as it happens, she, Eddie, and Venom have worked out some sort of protection deal so she doesn’t get held up as often. Although, the trailer suggests that deal is still tenuous, as Venom is always looking to make a meal of the nearest non-Eddie human.

And, oddly, that’s pretty much all the returning cast Sony could really import from the first film. Characters played by the likes of Riz Ahmed and Jenny Slate did not make it out of that story alive. That said, there is one character who made a brief appearance returning for the sequel in a big way. Woody Harrelson’ s Cletus Kasady – seen for a moment in Venom ’s mid-credit stinger – is the primary antagonist this time around. From the trailer, it appears his execution date is approaching. It also seems it will not go well, as it activates another alien symbiote called Carnage.

(Photo by Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Or, at least, that’s one interpretation. In the comics, Carnage was the disregarded offspring of Venom who found a kindred spirit in serial killer Kasady. Together they did plenty of damage and battled Venom, Spider-Man, and anyone else who got in their way. It will be interesting to see if this Carnage is also the offspring of movie Venom and whether or not his initial indifference to his child will be a point of contention between him and Eddie. That said, now that they share Eddie’s impossibly large San Francisco apartment, there still needs to be some conflict between them.

Behind the camera, the producing team of Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Amy Pascal – of The Amazing Spider-Man   duology — return, as do Hardy and Kelly Marcel as executive producers.

The Fresh Hosts

Whether or not you consider Harrelson a new member of the cast, there are a handful of other freshmen to the Venom family. Naomie Harris joins up as Frances Barrison, a young woman whose encounter with the symbiote known as Shriek will lead her to Kasady before too long. Stephen Graham plays Mulligan, reportedly a detective looking to link Eddie to Kasady in the hopes of finding the location of victims the killer chose not to reveal — although, in the comics, Mulligan has his own symbiote issues to deal with. Sean Delaney and Larry Olubamiwo are also set to appear in smaller roles. Delaney even claimed his is a literal “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” moment.

But perhaps the biggest name to join the franchise is not a new actor, but the new director. Due to scheduling difficulties with his commitments to Zombieland: Double Tap , director Ruben Fleischer stepped away from Let There Be Carnage . Sony quickly launched a search for a new filmmaker and found Andy Serkis .

Yes, you read that right, the man who brought Gollum to life in The Lord of the Rings   trilogy directed Venom 2. As it happens, Serkis began directing features with the 2017 biopic Breathe , starring former Spider-Man Andrew Garfield . The next year, Netflix released his second film, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle – which had the misfortune of arriving on the scene after Jon Favreau’s remake of the Disney animated version. Nevertheless, Sony and the film’s producers went with him because of his extensive knowledge of motion capture technology and performance.

(Photo by Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection)

Backing Serkis up on screenwriting duties is Marcel, who replaces Jeff Pinker . The Saving Mr. Banks   co-writer wrote the script after hashing out a story with fellow EP Hardy. Hutch Parker , a veteran of Fox Marvel movies like X-Men: Days of Future Past and Logan , is also an executive producer on the film. Other crewmembers include Breathe  and Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood ’ s Robert Richardson as director of photography, production designer Oliver Scholl, and composer Marco Beltrami.

This new company of talents will tell a further tale of Eddie and Venom becoming besties – in fact, Tolmach, Hardy, and Fleischer (before he confirmed his departure) all emphasized the buddy movie feeling would be amplified this time around. Meanwhile, they will also have to face the threat of Carnage, Shriek, and whatever other symbiote terrors may yet emerge as part of the plot. Thanks to Venom’s popularity in the 1990s and today, there are plenty of his fellow goo-monsters out there waiting for their chance on the big screen.

Well, provided Venom doesn’t face Peter Parker first.

The Madness of the Marvel Multiverse

Eagle-eyed watchers of the Let There Be Carnage trailer took note of a partially obscured headline during a shot in which Graham’s detective character is reading the Daily Bugle : “ENGERS L IGHT M.” The potential meaning of the first word in that headline is clear — Marvel superheroes exist in Venom’s world. But are they same Av-“ENGERS” we’ve come to love thanks to films like Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy ?

After a contentious renegotiation of the film rights to Spider-Man in 2019, it is unclear if Disney and Sony are chummy enough to share characters with more abandon. But at the same time, a 2020 trailer for the much-delayed SPUMC film Morbius  ( read more about that here ) featured references to Spidey’s current problems in the MCU and an appearance by Michael Keaton as (presumably) Adrian Toomes from Spider-Man: Homecoming . Also, Serkis has said the characters in Venom are aware of Spider-Man, and more recently, Sony struck a deal to bring the Spider-Man films to Disney+, so the relationship may be warm enough for more cross-company cooperation.

Oh, but then there’s the Bugle itself. Since the newspaper is part of the wider Spider-Man license, it did not appear in the MCU until the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home , where it was the name of J. Jonah Jameson’s ( J.K. Simmons ) conspiracy theory website. The Bugle ‘s usual print dimensions and trade dress in the the Carnage trailer suggests we are still dealing with two separate film universes.

To a certain extent, the Carnage and Morbius trailers are having a laugh with the asides to the MCU, but it is also possible a clearer narrative understanding will come to light once Spider-Man: No Way Home   is released in December. Since that film will feature appearances by Sony Spider-Man characters like Doctor Octopus ( Alfred Molina ), Electro ( Jamie Foxx ), and further references to the Multiverse, it is not outside the realm of possibility that Let There Be Carnage ’s relative distance from the MCU will be explored in some way. At the moment, we’re inclined to believe Eddie and Venom’s adventure occur in a universe or two away from the prime MCU reality, but it could be the place Peter ends up calling home. That’s probably a good thing, as there are five other live-action Spider-Man related projects at Sony in need of a webslinger to tie the whole thing together.

As for now, Let There Be Carnage ’s references to Spider-Men and the Avengers will probably remain joke fodder.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage releases on September 24, 2021.

Thumbnail image by Sony Pictures Entertainment

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Common sense media reviewers.

Violent, uninspired comic-book tale misses the mark.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Pretty minimal: The bad guys believe that humans h

Main character begins by betraying those closest t

Intense comic book/fantasy violence. Little blood.

Frequent kissing. A couple falls into bed and is l

Several uses of "s--t" and "bulls--t," one use of

Some offline merchandising, but less than with oth

Main character drinks whiskey in a bar and a beer

Parents need to know that Venom is a violent, disappointing comic-book action movie starring Tom Hardy that's based on a villain from the Spider-Man universe, though Spidey isn't mentioned here. The violence, while mostly bloodless, is frequent and intense, with fighting, hitting, punching, and bashing, guns…

Positive Messages

Pretty minimal: The bad guys believe that humans have ruined the world/environment and no longer have any right to live, and the good guys believe that everyone has a right to live.

Positive Role Models

Main character begins by betraying those closest to him. While he's Venom, he's involved in a great deal of violence, with (apparently) many casualties and no consequences. He likes the power that Venom gives him, despite the danger -- and despite Venom's penchant for killing.

Violence & Scariness

Intense comic book/fantasy violence. Little blood. Slicing/stabbing with Venom-made blades. Lots of punching, hitting, fighting, etc. Venom throws his victims around and bites off a few heads. Guns and shooting. Some on-screen deaths, many offscreen deaths. Car chases/crashes. Exploding rocket ships. Thug threatens a woman at gunpoint. Vomiting. Venom is very scary to look at, with his vicious fangs, overall menacing appearance.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Frequent kissing. A couple falls into bed and is later shown sleeping together (sex is implied). They talk about getting married. Months later, the woman briefly kisses another man.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Several uses of "s--t" and "bulls--t," one use of "f--k," one use of "p---y," plus "ass," "d--k," "hell," "turd," "goddamn."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Some offline merchandising, but less than with other similar properties.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Main character drinks whiskey in a bar and a beer from his fridge. Glasses of wine seen on table at dinner. Cigarette smoking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Venom is a violent, disappointing comic-book action movie starring Tom Hardy that's based on a villain from the Spider-Man universe, though Spidey isn't mentioned here. The violence, while mostly bloodless, is frequent and intense, with fighting, hitting, punching, and bashing, guns and shooting, stabbing and slicing, car chases, explosions, etc. Some characters die on-screen, and many die offscreen. Plus, there are jump scares, and Venom himself (itself?) is pretty scary to look at, with his giant fangs, and there's no real consequence for his brutality. Language includes several uses of "s--t" and "bulls--t," a use of "f--k," a use of "p---y," and more. A couple kiss frequently, and sex is suggested. The main character drinks whiskey in a bar and beer at home; some cigarette smoking. Unfortunately, it's an uninspired mess, though perhaps some teens will enjoy the effects, sci-fi imagery, and Hardy's performance. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (81)
• Kids say (236)

Based on 81 parent reviews

I say for most kids; 11+. For kids who aren’t at all disturbed by anything below; 9+.

This film isn't as violent as you might think, what's the story.

In VENOM, a spaceship containing alien specimens crashes on Earth. One of the samples, a symbiote, gets away, while the others are taken to San Francisco for testing by the Life Foundation and its wealthy CEO, Carlton Drake ( Riz Ahmed ). Meanwhile, investigative reporter Eddie Brock ( Tom Hardy ) discovers damaging information about Drake on a computer belonging to his lawyer girlfriend, Anne ( Michelle Williams ), and tries to use it during an interview with Drake. The choice costs him his job -- and his relationship. Later, Drake's assistant ( Jenny Slate ) starts to feel guilty about what's going on at Life Foundation and sneaks Eddie onto the premises. There, he becomes the host for another symbiote and turns into the powerful Venom. But Drake wants the creature back and will stop at nothing to get it.

Is It Any Good?

It moves quickly and is fairly good-natured, but otherwise this flatly written, uninspired comic-book action movie feels more like a paycheck-driven business decision than an artistic inspiration. (Sony no longer holds the rights to the Spider-Man character, in whose universe the Venom character originated, so Venom could have been an attempt to cling to some kind of money-generating superhero franchise.) The movie boasts some interesting creature visual effects, but Hardy is the only actor who seems to be trying. And he feels miscast as a character who's part intrepid reporter and part comical buffoon; he has trouble with the jokes' timing.

The other characters are badly underwritten, especially Williams' Anne and Ahmed's soft-spoken, psychotic villain, Drake; they never feel like more than just plot placeholders. As for Venom, while he's a full-fledged villain in the comics (and, when last seen on-screen in Spider-Man 3 ), this movie takes several highly implausible logic turns to make him into a hero -- and to justify Eddie wanting to leave the intruder inside his body. The story is softened into a cheerful, good-guy romp rather than taking the character to its natural extremes and making it a flat-out scary monster movie. Instead, it feels like a bungled attempt to make a movie that's widely appealing -- as this Venom will appeal to very few.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Venom 's violence . How does the lack of blood affect its intensity? What are the consequences of violence in the movie?

How does this version of Venom differ from the character shown in the comic books or in the movie Spider-Man 3 ? Did you like this one better? Worse? Why?

Would you allow something else to take over your body in exchange for superpowers? Why or why not?

The villains argue that humans have destroyed the world's environment and that punishment is the only answer. What other solutions could there be?

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 5, 2018
• On DVD or streaming : December 18, 2018
• Cast : Tom Hardy , Michelle Williams , Riz Ahmed
• Director : Ruben Fleischer
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors, Indian/South Asian actors
• Studio : Sony Pictures Releasing
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Superheroes
• Run time : 112 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for language
• Last updated : June 15, 2024

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• DVD & Streaming
• Action/Adventure , Comedy , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• October 5, 2018
• Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom; Michelle Williams as Anne Weying; Riz Ahmed as Carlton Drake; Jenny Slate as Dr. Dora Skirth; Reid Scott as Dr. Dan Lewis

Home Release Date

• December 18, 2018
• Ruben Fleischer

Distributor

Movie review.

The devil made me do it!

This line never worked on my parents. But it doesn’t stop me—or, maybe, most of us—from trying to escape blame by making excuses when we can. I was running late! we’ll tell the police officer as he writes out a speeding ticket. You didn’t remind me! we’ll tell our spouse when we forget to pick up a pie. The dog ate my homework!

But Eddie Brock really has the king of all excuses: I was being controlled by a hungry alien Symbiote at the time!

And he has a point. It’s not like he asked to be possessed by the thing. It’s not his fault he was an ideal host. He was just minding his own business and doing absolutely nothing wrong.

Well, OK. So maybe he did secretly break into a super-sinister laboratory populated by evil scientists, dead test subjects and sentient piles of alien goo. And maybe he did smash through a lab room where one pile of said goo had possessed a not-yet-dead test subject. But did he actually invite said goo into his body? Ask it to start a running internal dialogue with him? Certainly not. Nope, if anyone lost their heads over this situation—and I mean that quite literally, given that the gooey Symbiote has a thing for biting them off—it’s not Eddie’s fault. He’s just a bystander. Sort of.

But as Eddie and Venom (that’s what the Symbiote calls itself, because it apparently studied English before its arrival and perhaps had ambitions of becoming a lead guitarist in a hip metal band) get to know each other, their relationship becomes less one-sided. Eddie suggests that not everyone deserves to be eaten, that Earth itself might be more than a gigantic, disposable buffet table. Venom, for his part, teaches Eddie the finer points of devouring live lobsters and throttling assailants with gooey tentacles.

In short, they become less a blatant example of multiple personality disorder and more of a team.

Good thing, too, because Eddie and Venom are being chased by a villain with a penchant for grand rationalization himself: medical and tech visionary Carlton Drake. Sure, I brought a few Symbiotes to Earth, he’ll admit. Yeah, maybe they killed a few people. And OK, so they may want to subjugate, enslave and eventually eat the entire human race. They won’t get that far … I don’t think. Sure, some folks may be killed and eaten, but it’s really for the betterment of all. And hey, if I’m wrong … well, it’s not my fault.

The Symbiote made me do it.

Positive Elements

Eddie and Venom team up to try to save the world, of course, because superhero movie. But honestly, I think the most admirable character here is a guy named Dan, a rival for the affections of Eddie’s ex-fiancée, Anne.

When Anne spies Eddie lurking outside her flat, she introduces him to Dan, who greets Eddie with genuine warmth. And when a Venom-possessed Eddie makes a scene in a swanky restaurant—including sinking into a lobster tank to devour a few of the sea critters raw—Dan discourages folks from calling the cops and takes Eddie to the hospital instead.

Dan, a doctor, knows that Eddie and Anne have a complicated history. He knows that Eddie’s made some mistakes in the past. But when it comes to taking care of the guy (as best as he’s able), Dan never waivers.

Another standout: A whistle-blowing scientist, Dr. Dora Skirth, risks her career, family and life to bring Drake’s excesses to public attention.

Eddie really does feel bad when Venom takes over his motor functions and starts beating people to a pulp. He’ll even apologize to folks who are trying to kill him, and Eddie even scolds Venom at one point, as if he were a wayward puppy. “You do NOT eat policemen!” He tells him. And Venom, as mentioned, eventually takes a shine to Eddie, Anne and Earth as a whole, too.

Spiritual Elements

Just before infecting a guy named Isaac with a Symbiote, Drake goes into a longish spiel about the biblical character Isaac, and how it was he, not Abraham, who was making the real sacrifice. He then tells Isaac that given all the world’s problems, it’s clear that God has deserted humanity … but that he never will. (He later says that humans are victims of “such poor design.”)

We hear a passing reference to meditation.

Sexual Content

Eddie and Anne are engaged early in the movie, and they apparently cohabitate during their extended courtship. We see them talk companionably in the morning, then kiss and fall into bed in the evening. (The next morning they wake up together, though both are fully garbed.)

Venom, separated from Eddie, inhabits Anne for a bit—transforming into a shapely, obviously feminine version of Venom. (When in full Venom mode, the Symbiote seems to come across as an almost naked humanoid, but that impression of nudity is especially strong in this form.) Anne/Venom and Eddie kiss passionately, which doubles as a mode of transference for the Symbiote. They talk about the kiss later, and their conversation contains a double entendre or two.

Violent Content

Symbiotes are violent critters, and we earthlings get pretty violent right back.

Venom (and Eddie, of course) is attacked by Drake’s henchmen and regular police officers, with many of those melees involving lots and lots of weaponry. Venom’s shot countless times by police, apparently without effect, and shrugs off grenades, too. In return, he tosses the armored officers like ragdolls—action that you’d think would kill or injure some, though the film never explicitly says so—and he nearly bites the head off of one before Eddie makes him stop.

A motorcycle-riding Eddie/Venom races through the streets of San Francisco pursued by Drake’s lackeys and by a squadron of weaponized drones. Cars crash and explode (in blue, for some reason), property is destroyed, and the chase culminates in Eddie breaking his legs: He’s sprawled out on the ground, his lower appendages grotesquely twisted. No matter, though: Venom seems to heal them instantly, and Eddie goes on his way. Symbiotes fight each other, too—one sporting a variety of spikes and blades, though most of the fight looks more like sentient Jell-O in an MMA bout.

The only thing that hurts Symbiotes such as Venom is a certain frequency of sound (which is clearly painful and sends Symbiotes fleeing from their host bodies) and fire. (We see at least one alien burned to a crisp in said manner, along with his human host.) Oh, and just the regular ol’ atmosphere of Earth, too, if the Symbiotes haven’t bonded with a host.

Symbiotes snake into their hosts/victims via osmosis-like roots and tendrils, or sometimes enter or exit their mouths via one long gooey cable. Symbiotes are picky about their hosts, though: One man dies in agony after a possession attempt, and we see the corpses of several similarly failed hosts as well.

Once possessed, humans can deal with some very serious injuries: One such subject begins walking, even though a bone is grotesquely jutting out of her shin. Hostile Symbiotes are parasitic, and they eat their hosts alive, an organ at a time. (Even Venom has a thing for organs: He eyes a terrified assailant, ticks off the name of several of his, then says, “So many snacks, so little time.”)

Venom has no moral compunction about eating people. He lops the heads off a couple of folks (off camera) and threatens the dismemberment of others. Rockets explode and spaceships crash. In a news report, Eddie references dead bodies buried in landfills. People are punched, kicked and head-butted. Live eels and lobsters are eaten. Guns are pointed. People are threatened. In an end-of-movie cutscene, someone writes Eddie’s name in his own blood.

Crude or Profane Language

If swear words were years, Venom’s s-word count would be legal, with a full 21 of them uttered. I counted two f-words, too, along with loads of other profanities (including “a–,” “h—,” “d–n,” “p-ss,” “d–k” and “p—y.”) God’s name is misused about 10 times, including three times with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is abused four times.

Drug and Alcohol Content

We see people drink wine and beer: Eddie seems to drink a lot of the latter.

Other Negative Elements

Eddie’s contact with the Symbiote troubles his stomach a bit at first—so much so that when he first devours some leftover chicken, he runs to his bathroom to vomit (and, it seems, barely makes it). He eats grotesquely elsewhere, too.

It’s not easy to make a whole movie about one of Spider-Man’s greatest villains without including, y’know, Spider-Man. But since Sony has loaned that friendly neighborhood web-spinner to Disney for its Avengers movies, Venom’s forced to go it alone, and in so doing become the movie’s hero. Or, rather, it’s menacing but oddly softhearted antihero.

It’s a curious setup from the get-go. And, as a character from another Disney franchise might say, things just get curiouser and curiouser from there. The movie, perhaps like Venom itself, seems a little confused about its goals. Is it a traditional superhero flick? A brooding, action-oriented horror story (as suggested by the trailers)? An off-kilter buddy comedy?

The movie works best as the latter. Eddie and Venom share some on-screen chemistry in addition to bodily biology. And that’s when the movie can feel a teensy-weensy bit fun.

But as a superhero story, Venom ironically lacks teeth. And I’m not just talking about the fact that the fight scenes feel like the most boring parts of the movie, or the fact that we really don’t care about any of the characters or what happens to them.

Most of us tend to give superhero flicks a little more leeway than some genres, more or less excusing the casualties left in their wake. Saving the world is bound to be messy. But Venom is a more malevolent hero, and Eddie’s efforts to rein in his excesses can be a bit whimsical. Don’t eat policemen , he says. But when Venom takes the head off a gun-pointing thug, Eddie shrugs it off. “I’ve got a parasite,” he explains to a horrified onlooker after Venom kills the hold-up guy. It’s not my fault!

Even if you believe the guy had it coming, scenes like this lead to a very squishy sense of in-movie justice, the inherent overreach that justice without law inevitably leads to. Maybe Venom restricts his snack time to murderous villains today, but what’s to stop him from dining on the guy who cut Eddie off in traffic tomorrow? (Hey, sometimes when I’m on the freeway, the worst part of me would love to have a Symbiote to take care of my problems.)

Venom isn’t as horrible as some have suggested. But it isn’t good, either, either ethically or aesthetically. And in this, the Golden Age of superhero movies, we can find better.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Spider-Man's '90s Cartoon Created a Mandela Effect That Made Me (And Marvel Comics) Totally Wrong About Venom

Spider-man officially reclaims the venom symbiote for venom war, black widow's new venom form gets even cooler, with new design & powers.

• Venom has evolved from a simple Spider-Man villain to his own character with multiple variants across the Marvel Multiverse.
• Peter Parker, Eddie Brock, Flash Thompson, and Hulk are among the most powerful and iconic hosts of the Venom symbiote.
• Venom's potential extends to merging with an entire planet in the ultimate form known as Venom World, showcasing its terrifying evolution.

Marvel has many iconic characters, and Venom is by far one of the most popular. Having appeared in dozens of comics, video games, and a film trilogy, what began as a simple Spider-Man villain has exploded in popularity. Which is why it's no surprise Marvel has explored dozens of variants of the symbiote antihero.

Marvel's Multiverse has allowed for dozens of different versions of the same character, putting new spins on some of its biggest stars (Spider-Man and Wolverine chief among them). Because of the Venom symbiote's ability to bond with pretty much anyone, the alien can be put into any situation, and always provide the opportunity for a compelling, new creation. Across the multiverse, these are the most powerful versions of Venom ever created .

10 'Black Suit Spider-Man' Was The First To Use The Venom Symbiote

Multiversal designation: earth-616.

The first host of the Venom Symbiote, Peter Parker inititally assumed it to be an advanced suit that had futuristic features. Eventually, Spider-Man realized his awesome black suit wasn't just advanced, but an actual alien symbiote. This was a major moment in Peter's history, and it set the stage for everything that came after.

Peter would eventually push the symbiote away, rejecting it, and leading the symbiote to crave revenge (bonding with Eddie Brock and creating Venom, one of Spider-Man's most dangerous villains ever). While Peter used the symbiote, he didn't gain any of the abilities that Venom is known for now . But he was still plenty powerful thanks to the symbiote enhancing his classic powers, such as super strength and webbing.

Thanks to Spider-Man: The Animated Series' adaptation of the Alien Costume Saga, some Marvel Comics fans (like me) misremember Venom's real origin.

9 Dylan Brock's Venom Is A Worthy Successor To His Father

Dylan hasn't been Venom for long, but he's proven to be quite adept at the role. While he's not nearly as experienced as his father Eddie, he has an edge thanks to the powers granted by his symbiote-created physiology. These powers allow Dylan to affect symbiotes in a variety of ways, such as physically repelling them if they attempt to bond with him, or forcing them to evolve and learn new abilities.

These powers vastly make up for Dylan's lack of experience as Venom, and the Venom War Event will decide once and for all whether Dylan or his father, Eddie, deserve the role. While Eddie has been Venom for a lot longer and has a greater mastery over the Venom symbiote, Dylan's powers allo him to literally control and command any symbiote he wants, which makes Dylan far more dangerous than his father.

8 Eddie Brock Is Venom's Most Famous Host

By far the most famous symbiote host of all time, Eddie Brock has been Venom for the majority of the character's history. Eddie Brock started out as a villain to Spider-Man, evolved into an anti-hero, and eventually became a full-blown hero. Eddie is one of the greatest hosts the symbiote has ever had, and nearly all hosts later were compared to him. While bonded to the symbiote, Eddie has incredible strength, agility, and has access to all of Peter's powers, except for spider-sense.

With the upcoming Venom War, it's possible that Eddie's time as Venom will finally come to an end and the mantle will be permanently be passed onto his son. It's hard to imagine a time when Eddie won't be Venom due to how long he's spent in the mantle. Eddie has since moved on to the role of the King in Black, which has made him far more powerful than he ever was as Venom .

7 Agent Venom is Venom's Greatest Host of All Time

Multiverse designation: earth-616.

While Eddie Brock is the most famous host of all time, he isn't the best one. That title seems to go to Flash Thompson. There has never been a host more perfectly suited to the Venom symbiote than Flash, and even Eddie notes this. While visiting Flash's grave, the Venom symbiote still pulls towards it, trying to leave Eddie for the corpse . While bonded to Flash, they were known as Agent Venom and Flash was able to help save the world several times.

Where Eddie tended to rely on pure brute strength as Venom, Agent Venom used weaponry, mostly guns and other gadgets amplified by the symbiote. This gave him far more versatility in combat, and Eddie seems to think that it proved he had a greater mastery over the symbiote.

6 Wolverine is One Of The Deadliest Symbiote Hosts Imaginable

Multiversal designation: earth-1984.

Wolverine has been bonded to a few different symbiotes over the years, but he's formed a true bond with the Venom symbiote on the main 616 Earth. The same can't be said for Earth-1984. It was here that Sabretooth managed to trick Wolverine into bonding with the Venom symbiote . What happened next was an absolute nightmare scenario, as the Venom symbiote quickly sealed Wolverine's mind away, taking full control of his body.

With Venom in full control, it went on a rampage across New York and slaughtered several people, before Wolverine could regain control. When he did, he promised he would break the Venom symbiote and make it work for him. This version of Venom didn't last for long, but it had incredible powers, with the symbiote even calling Wolverine's body "indestructible."

Spider-Man is BACK IN BLACK and looks cooler than ever as he reclaims his Venom symbiote suit ahead of the highly anticipated Venom War event.

5 Poison, The Venom Who Claimed Control of Peter Parker

Multiversal designation: earth-70134.

One of the darkest forms of Peter Parker was in What If? Spider-Man The Other , when after nearly being killed, Spider-Man enters a cocoon to heal and be reborn. On Earth-616 this resulted in Peter coming back stronger than ever, but on Earth-70134, he remained in stasis. Sensing this, t he Venom symbiote abandons Eddie Brock and goes after Spider-Man , who succumbs.

Peter emerges from the cocoon as the monster known as Poison, with the symbiote in total control of Peter's mind and body. This is one of the strongest versions of Peter to have worn the Venom symbiote, as not only does it have all of Peter's powers completely unrestrained from his morality, but additional hybrid abilities never seen anywhere else.

4 The Venomsaurus is Marvel's Most Fearsome Symbiote Beast

Multiversal designation: earth-66.

There are few things cooler than dinosaurs, but a dinosaur with the Venom symbiote is likely the coolest version of Venom shown so far. This version of Venom became a major threat to the other dinosaur heroes on Earth-66. Despite these villainous origins, the Venomsaurus would eventually give its life in the battle against Carnage during the Death of the Venomverse storyline.

This Venom lacked the agility of other forms, but with its tendrils and the brutality of its dinosaur nature, it was able to put up a good fight against multiple foes at once. What this version of Venom lacks in power, it absolutely makes up for in pure cool factor.

3 Reed Richards is One Of The Most Dangerous Venom Hosts

Multiversal designation: earth-21619.

During the events of Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow , readers got to see what would have happened if Peter had never rejected the Venom symbiote . This culminates with Peter murdering half of his rogues gallery and nearly being killed by the Sinister Six, who form to stop him. After nearly being killed, Peter is able to free himself from the Venom symbiote, and in a rage, the symbiote bonds itself to Reed Richards. This grants the symbiote full access to Reed's absurd intelligence, and it uses this to make several clones of itself, with which it then infects most of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.

It's nearly an apocalyptic situation, but thankfully, Spider-Man is able to kill the Venom symbiote and disable the clones. The Venom symbiote's most well known bondings typically focus on enhanced strength, but that wasn't the case here. It wasn't Reed's powers that allowed the Venom symbiote to nearly end the world, but his incredible intelligence that the symbiote turned to evil.

Natasha Romanoff gets a slick and stylish upgrade while Black Widow's stint as a symbiote host continues in Marvel’s upcoming Venom War event.

2 Venom Hulk is The Physically Strongest Version Of Venom

The Hulk is well known for being one of the most physically powerful characters in Marvel's universe , and this was increased even further when Hulk gained the Venom symbiote. As Carnage tears through the Avengers, the Venom symbiote abandons Eddie Brock and merges with the Hulk, hoping the extra physical strength will be enough to stop Carnage's rampage. Unfortunately, Carnage manages to easily defeat Venom Hulk with little problem.

The merge of Hulk and Venom created one of the most dangerous versions of Venom that readers have ever seen. Hulk's physical power is some of the highest that Marvel has to offer, and the Venom symbiote not only enhanced this, but also granted him more mobility and ranged options thanks to the Venom symbiote's tendrils.

1 Venom World Is Venom's Ultimate Final Form

Multiversal designation: possible future of earth-616.

The ultimate version of the Venom symbiote is the one that merges with an entire planet. Readers haven't gotten to see much of this Venom World , as it's only been seen in a few flashes of the future. It's likely that Venom eventually grows so powerful that he merges with the planet itself. Venom World would likely move through space, continuing to feed on planet after planet and adding them to its own mass.

It's a terrifying look at the final full potential of the Venom symbiote. While the Hulk and Wolverine are certainly strong and dangerous, they absolutely pale in comparison to an entire world that has become Venom .

Venom is a symbiotic alien entity bonded with various human hosts, notably Eddie Brock and later Flash Thompson. It grants superhuman strength, agility, and a shape-shifting black costume. Initially a Spider-Man villain due to its origins, Venom evolved into an antihero, battling both villains and his own dark impulses. The character embodies themes of duality and redemption within the Marvel Universe.

‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’: Woody Harrelson Is the Creep This B-Movie Needs

By K. Austin Collins

K. Austin Collins

One of the best things about Venom (2018) is that it so often flew over the heads of people who fashion themselves smart. The movie had an admirable target — and even better aim. Here’s a story about a has-been loser journalist and his alarmingly emotionally-codependent alien-symbiote inner self, starring Tom Hardy doing an enthrallingly indecisive Bobcat Goldthwaite impression for an entire movie; with a rickety plot involving a big-tech bad guy (Riz Ahmed) whose whole character profile is a list of Short Guy Energy stereotypes; CGI, pacing, and writing that seemed maddeningly unpolished, at times to the point of making you wonder if the studio actually watched the movie; and a titular weirdo antihero-alien whose brazen tongue-flicking should probably have attracted more MPAA scrutiny. The movie was and remains gloriously silly, and brash, and just the right amount of shoddy, with none of the odd energies ricocheting from scene to scene getting smoothed over in favor of the overly professional, overly world-built, vacuum-sealed, product-tested perfection of many of its peers. 

The result: a dirtbag delight. An actual B-movie, hardly as brainless as it seemed to be but oh-so-very willing and able to seem to be, a piece of throwaway fun that I refuse to throw away. Venom isn’t any less of a product than any other superhero movie. Nor is the new sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage . But the fact that someone allowed that string of words following the colon to make the final cut, and slapped it onto every poster, shipped it out to every theater in the country, and just let it be corny — without needing to perform that hands-off distancing of self-parody — is at least one sign that this sequel, directed by Andy Serkis, is taking a page from its predecessor’s leaf, leaning into everything bad that was actually good, and making good on it. It’s not as good as it was the last time. The spontaneous pleasures of the first movie are a little less fresh the second time around. A few of its forays into strangeness outstay their welcome; you can feel the movie trying harder than the original had to to prove its bullshit-artistry bona fides. But this is still the cozy, goofy universe Hardy and gang carved out for us last time, with the benefit of Serkis making it altogether more lean — the main setup has already been accounted for; not much has changed — and doubling down on the man-baby theatrics that made Venom so disarmingly funny. 

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We are once again treated to an excuse to hang out with Eddie Brock (Hardy), who is back in the saddle, positioned to repair his reputation as a star journalist, this time thanks to a cop named Mulligan (Stephen Graham, so memorable as an upstart gangster in The Irishman ). Mulligan gives Brock access to the story of the century: a final interview with the serial killer Cletus Kasady ( Woody Harrelson ). Mulligan’s not selfless; he sees this as an opportunity to get some final details out of Cletus, some last insights into where the bodies might be buried. Cletus, too, has his motivations, much of them tied up in the fate of a young woman he met back in a boarding school for the criminally depraved, Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris), a.k.a. Shriek, a sobriquet that speaks for itself. 

It is obviously a bad idea to let Brock, and by extension Venom, anywhere near Cletus Kasady. For one thing, Venom is — Venom. Restless, hungry, twined to a complete loser whose ex-fiancee Anne (Michelle Williams) is sorely missed by Brock and Venom, both. Plus there’s Venom’s whole head-eating deal: He needs to do it to survive. He’s spared himself the moral philosophy hang-ups of whether it’s OK to eat the heads of bad guys just because they’re bad guys; he just wants to eat heads; he needs Eddie to let him off the leash. Things happen, tempers get lost, and one symbiotic splash later a villain named Carnage, the Venom counterpoint to match Cletus’ psycho-killer self, is accidentally born. 

That accounts for the central conflict, but not the central pleasure, which remains the humor of Venom (voiced by Hardy) doubling as Brock’s hater-ific inner voice — that part of himself that knows he’s a loser, calls him a loser, and undercuts his self-confidence, while also being the aspect of his personality about which he can be most confident. How does that work? I don’t know. I’m just here for the good-natured shambliness of it all. Pour one out for Eddie Brock’s apartment, which by the time of this movie has been Venom-proofed, as in, reduced to the appropriate state of disarray. There’s a tire swinging from the ceiling for Venom to, I guess, nibble on — he’s prone to cabin fever — and chocolate wrappers everywhere, and holes in the ceiling, and Brock’s work detritus everywhere. The TV hasn’t been broken — yet. And they’ve got pets! Sonny and Cher, a pair of chickens that Venom considers to be his friends. Technically, like the chocolate, they’re supposed to be food: alternatives to only grub that really gets Venom going (again, human heads), good enough to keep him satisfied until he isn’t. 

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When the first trailer for Carnage dropped, a friend complained that Harrelson seemed too old for the role — he wasn’t what they’d imagined. But in the cockeyed negative vision of these Venom movies, it’d be inappropriate — inept! — for some young, plausible whippersnapper of a villain, some actual superhero-movie threat with well-laid plans and style and all the cringe airbrushed away, to play the foil to Eddie and Venom’s sentimentally stupid Dumb and Dumber routine. No, better we get the stranger danger manifested by Harrelson — a serial killer before Carnage even came into the picture, remember. Better the ample servings of middle-aged creep with a side of awful one-liners, and a bad haircut befitting a Slim Shady Halloween costume. Maybe the easiest way to sum up Cletus is that he lives up to the name “Cletus.”

Because that’s the man who’s a spark for one of the more interesting dynamics in Carnage , a movie whose central conflict isn’t so much Brock v. Kasady or Venom v. Carnage but the more intriguing problem of true symbiosis, that can’t-live-without-you dependency of the kind that Brock and Venom have. It’s a rare connection. Brock and Venom are a match made in shitbag heaven. If the first Venom used an implausible sense of humor about itself to sell us on Brock and Venom as a screen couple worthy of our time, Carnage is the movie that pushes their unwitting bromance to the limit. It’s a classic buddy-comedy arc: two misfits joined unwillingly, forced to live with each other, then without each other, only to reinforce how much they need each other. One of the smartest choices in these deliriously silly movies was to eliminate the Spider-Man of it all — just, pretend the Topher Grace thing in Spider-Man 3 never happened — and hone in on this odd couple, this loser and his symbiote loser second-self, two throwaways attached at the brain stem, inseparable, compatible, incredible. Soul mates. 

Carnage is for the most part, in ways that count, another dirtbag delight. It’s a lesser movie than Venom , but one that scratches many of the same itches and then some. Cletus, by way of Carnage, reveals himself to his beloved and she responds “ That is so hot ” as his symbiote tentacles overtake her. A garishly spooky wedding ceremony unfolds and it’s like a young Tim Burton has taken the helm for a few minutes. Venom has a night out on the town, without Brock, and the movie avails itself of an obvious joke about the closet. 

Venom, the comics character, is a co-creation of Todd McFarlane. Maybe it’s appropriate that what these Venom movies often call to mind is the not -good, yet quaintly disreputable 1997 movie Spawn , based on another of McFarlane’s more popular creations. Specifically, they bring to mind John Leguizamo’s John-Wayne-Gacy-be-damned killer clown of a villain, Violator, the kind of morbidly rotund astonishment of a mess that I wish our current genre fare had more of. Not because the character’s unicorn-poop makeup is some shining example of Nineties trash we’ll be reconsidering in however many years, nor because of the alien symbiote of a performance Leguizamo divined to match that getup. It’s simply one-of-a-kind, ill-advised, low-stakes trash. A studio’s fate didn’t depend on it, the returns didn’t need to be that high, and in retrospect, the movie comes off as liberatingly tasteless, meaningless in a way that got at least a couple of people’s creative juices flowing in awkward directions, as if they didn’t think anyone was looking. 

The Venom movies aren’t good because they’re unabashed trash. They’re good because they’re good; they’re trash because they have the good sense to be trash. They aren’t the only movies around flowing on this wavelength — not that there are so many. They’re simply among the few to make it halfway worth it.

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‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Trailer: Tom Hardy Ends Trilogy With More Brain-Eating Symbiote Action

By McKinley Franklin

McKinley Franklin

• ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Trailer: Tom Hardy Ends Trilogy With More Brain-Eating Symbiote Action 4 weeks ago
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They are Venom , and they are officially back — Sony Pictures has dropped the first trailer for “Venom: The Last Dance,” the final movie in the Spider-Man villain trilogy.

Tom Hardy returns as Eddie Brock, better known as the brain-eating, symbiote villain Venom from the Spider-Man comics. Sony is touting “The Last Dance” as “the final film in the trilogy.” According to the logline, “Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.”

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“ Venom 3 ” was confirmed by Sony at CinemaCon 2022 following the success of its two predecessors. The original “Venom” grossed $856 million at the worldwide box office, with “Let There Be Carnage” drawing in $502 worldwide amid a pandemic debut. 

“Venom” and “Let There Be Carange’s” writer Kelly Marcel makes her directorial debut with the franchise’s third installment. She, too, penned the script alongside Hardy. Marcel and Hardy produce alongside Avi Arad, Hutch Parker, Amy Pascal and Matt Tolmach.

“Venom: The Last Dance” releases in theaters on Oct. 25.

Watch the trailer below.

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Tv/streaming, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, black writers week, the devil's bath.

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When does rooting for the damned stop being worthwhile or even productive? Viewers’ sympathies are worked over throughout the grim Austrian folk horror drama “The Devil’s Bath,” a dreadful period piece about a pious woman who seems doomed by her circumstances. 

Agnes ( Anja Plaschg ), an unhappily married woman who prays to God for mercy, makes more sense as a product of her time and setting, as they’re understood by myopic present-tense filmmakers. Agnes’s intensity can be endearing given Plaschg’s expressive performance, as well as Martin Gschlacht ’s painterly cinematography, under the direction of co-writer/helmer duo Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz (“Goodnight Mommy,” “ The Lodge ”), who represent the past as a hyper-stylized study in needless suffering.

Agnes starts and remains trapped by her association with the intolerant residents of an 18th-century “Upper Austria” settlement. Agnes has depression, a condition that’s tellingly stigmatized in this movie’s title. Her story is largely defined by her helplessness, not by her distinct character or even communal identity, making it increasingly difficult to care when her life inevitably becomes defined by degradation and pain.

Agnes lives in hope, somehow. She prays fervently, works industriously, and generally tries to make a happy life with Wolf ( David Scheid ), her insensitive husband. Wolf spends all the money he can get on a house that Agnes doesn’t love, one that’s located a little too close to his miserable but dutiful mother, Gänglin ( Maria Hofstatter ), who predictably does not care for Agnes. Wolf frequently talks to Gänglin rather with his wife. He’s obviously bad at sex, too, as we see in a needlessly cruel but handsomely lit bedside scene.

Agnes’s terror and uncertainty predominate this standout moment, but in a way that suggests that, on some level, she’s still processing her hopelessness. No matter how absurd or unlikely it may seem to an outside observer, there's still a chance for Agnes to do something with the hand that life has dealt her. Then again, “The Devil’s Bath” begins with a shocking act of violence and ends with two more. You don’t need to abandon all hope to enter the movie’s painterly frame, but that sort of blind submission often seems to be the only emotional threshold to cross.

How, then, can we relate to Agnes beyond her initial curiosity and pitiful investment in a world that apparently does not care enough to notice her or her needs? We join her as she attends and devotes herself to rituals that are unyielding, at best, and threatening, at minimum. She finds no joy in work, release from her home life, or pleasure in charity. Somehow, Agnes’s most relatable and saddening release is her devotion to prayer. She often humbles herself through formal devotion and daily tasks and usually tries to become more than the sum of her needs. “Please grant me a child,” she begs aloud, right before Plaschg’s face peeks out from behind a lattice-covered window. We see the moon in the sky, and for a moment, we share her yearning.

Wishful thinking persists throughout Agnes’s descent into abject solitude. You can see it in the sheer duration of certain shots, which often feel interminable because they tempt viewers to leer at or sometimes with Agnes as she’s confronted with reflections of her own hopelessness. Eventually, the regularity of Agnes’s torments makes one wonder what Todd Solondz might have done with this material. She gets stuck in mud, physically dragged about by her husband, insulted by her mother-in-law, and mistreated by obviously ignorant healers. She’s not seen because the world she lives in does not care to look at her, let alone forgive anyone they deem unworthy of love. 

Agnes tries to return home to her own mother and brother, but they reject her, not understanding (or caring to understand) what’s wrong since Wolf isn’t physically abusive. To Agnes’s family, she’s only as noteworthy as their expectations (have children, obey your husband); to the filmmakers, Agnes only confirms what they already know about her world.

It’s not sad, but merely unsettling to trail after Agnes as she’s repeatedly put in her place. Agnes sometimes gets to wander about unsupervised, but she mostly spends her free time absorbing her hopeless plight. She stares into the dead eyes of the fish that her husband and their fellow community members catch for a living. She joins other women in beating their laundry. In a handful of scenes, Agnes contemplates the fate of a decapitated body, whose waxy corpse sits and rots in public, as a reminder to anyone who passes by.

The sheer sketchiness of Agnes’s torment often reduces her emotions and experiences to dramatic shorthand for an unhappy life, as it’s reductively imagined for today’s enlightened viewers. Agnes isn’t a person as much as she’s an effigy to be destroyed, and while your sympathies will obviously vary, that won’t add much depth to the movie’s shallow depiction of stigma and grief. This movie’s not frustrating because it’s blunt or vicious, but because its creators are only so interested in a world condemning Agnes to a dire fate. Her actions may ultimately be shocking, but her story is anything but.

On Shudder now.

Simon Abrams

Simon Abrams is a native New Yorker and freelance film critic whose work has been featured in  The New York Times ,  Vanity Fair ,  The Village Voice,  and elsewhere.

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Film credits.

The Devil's Bath (2024)

120 minutes

Anja Plaschg as Agnes

Maria Hofstätter as Mother-in-law Gänglin

David Scheid as Wolf

Natalija Baranova as Ewa Schikin

Lukas Walcher as Lukas

Claudia Martini as Mother

• Veronika Franz
• Severin Fiala

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Venom Reviews

Venom is yet another missed opportunity to deliver a great movie about the symbiote anti-hero.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Jul 24, 2023

Despite the movie's flaws – which there are a lot – "Venom" surpasses a lot of that negativity through what is does really well: that is, the relationship between Venom and Eddie.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 19, 2023

Ironically, the film lacks a bit of bite...

Full Review | Nov 16, 2022

Ultimately it’s the script and some pretty uninspired action that left me feeling a bit deflated. Sadly a good Tom Hardy, Fleisher’s edgy ambition, or even a killer end credits scene can’t quite keep “Venom” from disappointing.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 21, 2022

Venom blandly wants you to shut up and consume. It really is worth pondering whether or not you should.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Apr 6, 2022

At least MCU titles mask their commercialism in their devotion to characters and telling a good story. By contrast, Venom seems like a knock-off, or perhaps a throwback to the early-2000s era of superhero movies that is best left forgotten.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Mar 11, 2022

It's too endearing to write off just as its too basic to really make a mark.

Full Review | Feb 11, 2022

It's really silly... it's still a lot of fun.

Full Review | Oct 6, 2021

This is the one with the most teeth and most tater tots.

Full Review | Oct 2, 2021

Episode 11: Moving On

Full Review | Original Score: 75/100 | Sep 1, 2021

The first half hour of the film feels very rushed, as if the director is trying to get all the backstory and all the set up out of the way, sucking away all the emotional investment that the viewer is supposed to have.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Aug 17, 2021

Venom offers a nice reminder that there's still a lot of entertainment to be had in a film that just wants to be crazy fun -- and then delivers on that promise.

Full Review | Jul 13, 2021

A flawed beast that feels 10 years out of time....

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 29, 2021

It feels unintentionally funny, as if all the actors except for Hardy understood they were acting in a generic comic book movie. He's a hoot, the movie isn't.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 1, 2021

This could be the most inane Marvel put on the screen.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Feb 17, 2021

After the horror and comedy disperse, the film transitions into an action picture, full of flurries of CG tendrils and sludge.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Dec 7, 2020

In the end, I'd avoid this film. It's a film without intent and carrying little enjoyment or entertainment factor.

Full Review | Nov 10, 2020

Has some fun set-pieces and worked around the lack of Spider-Man well, but the finale is disappointing and every character who isn't Brock is rather dull and one-dimensional.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 28, 2020

If you don't allow yourself to surrender to it all? You're going to hate Venom.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4.0 | Sep 26, 2020

Predictable and repeated story. Venom without Spider-Man is lame. The film relapses into the absurd and gives us 0 connection between Eddie Brock and Venom. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Aug 30, 2020

"There can be only one": Al Ewing promises that Venom War will settle the rivalry between Eddie Brock and his son Dylan once and for all

Venom War will crown the one true Venom, with only one host bearing the symbiote

After starting out as one of Spider-Man's most vicious foes, Venom has spent the last few decades building a reputation as Marvel's top anti-hero, a fan favorite protagonist capable of carrying a full Marvel Universe crossover on his shoulders. And along the way, Venom's original host Eddie Brock has gone on to share the symbiote with others - most recently his own son, Dylan Brock.

But with the upcoming Venom War event, nearly every symbiote in the Marvel Universe will rally around the two Venoms, taking sides in a battle that will end with one Venom standing, with the main Venom War event title's writer Al Ewing promising "there can be only one."

Newsarama caught up with Ewing ahead of Venom War #1's August 7 release date, digging into his take on why Venom is so popular, what it means to crown the one true Venom, and what fans can expect as the crossover kicks off.

We've also got an early look at some unlettered pages by artist Iban Coello and colorist Frank D'Armata along the way.

Newsarama: Al, Venom seems to really captivate fans every time the symbiotes take the spotlight in the Marvel Universe. With Venom War on the horizon, what do you see as the qualities that have led Venom to become one of Marvel's most popular characters?

Al Ewing: It's very difficult to tell a boring Venom story. Even when our run's been at its timey-est and wimey-est, something about the symbiote demands a degree of all-out action, wildness, and weirdness. 

Venom and his hosts have a degree of inherent unpredictability - not to mention antisociability - that makes for all manner of thrill-power, and also a fair amount of gritty character drama as various humans have to work out their relationships with this alien goo-beast. (And the many other alien goo-beasts he brings along for the ride.)

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You've focused a lot on the cosmic horror side of the Venom mythos in your run. How does that side of things come into play in Venom War?

Most of the horror comes from the Zombiotes - mindless semi-symbiotes who act like an infection, spreading violence and mayhem through NYC. 

How do they impact the central conflict between Eddie and Dylan Brock? Whose deeper plans have they been unleashed to serve? As Venom War hots up, all these questions and more will be answered in full.

Venom War has been billed as the showdown to decide the "one true Venom." Does that mean that either Eddie or Dylan Brock will be out of the picture at the end of the story?

There can be only one. All the main Venom hosts are involved in this to one degree or other, but only one host will get to be the Venom of 2025. Who will it be? That's a mystery we'll keep to ourselves for a little while.

Do you feel a push from fans or from the larger industry to try and focus on a single, definitive version of a character or concept, given how many heroes and even villains are sharing their mantles at this point? What do you see as the ups and downs of that approach?

We've been telling our intricate time-travel Tale of Two Venoms for a good three years at this point, and it was always going to end with the two ends of the story crashing into each other. 

In terms of sharing the mantle... it's been a long time since Venom was just Eddie Brock, and what makes this particular mantle unique is that gaining or losing the symbiote is never the beginning or end of someone's story - just a new chapter in it. So I think it's not so much about feeling a push for a definitive version as it is about knowing when to end one chapter and start the next.

You're working with Iban Coello on the main Venom War title. He's proven his Venom chops over the years. What has he brought to the art so far that has surprised you?

Iban's always wonderful, and every time I get to work with him he brings something new to the table. 

What I've been surprised by this time round is the sheer energy and fluidity of motion he brings to the action - he was always great for that, but he's on another level right now.

With Venom War encompassing its share of tie-ins, what are your big considerations as you're planning the event and figuring out where all the characters and subplots fit in?

Essentially, I provide a hub that everyone can revolve around. We're like a tree trunk that other stories can branch off - so I try to make sure there are no conflicts in the main book so everyone's as free as possible to tell wild stories shooting off from it... and sometimes looping back in for a big payoff.

It's no surprise that Eddie Brock tops our list of the best Venom hosts of all time.

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)

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Box office: ‘a quiet place’ prequel makes loud entrance with franchise-best $6.8m in previews, ‘horizon’ earns meek $800k.

Paramount's 'A Quiet Place: Day One' and Kevin Costner's big-budget Western 'Horizon: An American Saga' go up against box office sensation 'Inside Out 2' this weekend.

By Pamela McClintock

Pamela McClintock

Senior Film Writer

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Paramount ‘s prequel A Quiet Place : Day One made a loud entrance at the domestic box office with a franchise-best $6.8 million in Thursday previews.

That’s an impressive start, considering this is the first entry not directed by franchise creator John Krasinski or starring Emily Blunt (Krasinski starred in the first one as well).

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Heading into the weekend, tracking suggested the third installment will open to $40 million-plus. There’s plenty of room for upside, based on strong reviews and audience scores, and considering that the June box office has been in major rebound mode since Bad Boys: Ride or Die and Inside Out 2 came along earlier in the month.

Among other 2024 summer films, the preview number came in higher than the $6.6 million earned in previews by The Kingdom of the Apes , which opened to $58 million, and the $5.7 million for Bad Boys: Ride or Die , which debuted to $56.5 million.

A Quiet Place , earning $4.3 million in previews, was a sleeper hit at the 2018 box office upon opening to $50 million despite virtually no dialogue. A Quiet Place: Part II , hitting theaters over Memorial Day in 2022 as the box office was still in recovery mode from the pandemic, posted a four-day holiday gross of $57 million, including $47 million for the three-day weekend. The sequel grossed $4.8 million in previews.

The outlook for Kevin Costner’s pricey $100 million Western , Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter One is murkier. The film failed to crack $1 million in previews, instead reporting $800,000 in ticket sales. At the same time, older moviegoers — the movie’s target demo — don’t tend to rush out to see a film.

Horizon is without a doubt the biggest curiosity factor of the weekend considering Costner left behind a lucrative gig on Taylor Sheridan’s hit show Yellowstone and put up tens of millions of his own money to make his decades-long passion project a reality with four period Western movies.

Warners agreed to distribute and market the movie for a fee in the U.S. Costner — who has tirelessly promoted the movie — invested $38 million of his own money, while two mystery investors also ponied up equity. The rest of the budget came from selling off foreign rights with the help of sales outfit K5 International, which premiered the film at the Cannes Film Festival. ( Horizon opens in numerous markets this weekend).

Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter Two opens in short order, on Aug. 16, in one of the more unusual distribution schemes in Hollywood history. Costner also put up most of the marketing money for Horizon .

Not even Quiet Place: Day One appears to have a shot at stealing the box office crown from Pixar and Disney’s Inside Out 2 , which is preparing to become the first film since Barbie nearly a year ago to join the billion-dollar club at the global box office. It is expected to achieve the feat on Sunday or Monday as it wraps up its third weekend, reaching the mark faster than any animated film in history.

Frozen II , from Pixar’s sister division Walt Disney Animation Studios, is the top-grossing animated film of all time, at $1.45 billion globally. The last animated film to cross $1 billion was Illumination and Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023, while the last Pixar title to do so was Incredibles 2 in 2019.

June 28, 8:25 a.m. : Updated with Horizon preview grosses.

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