SPOILERS DOWN THE PATH; THE DISCUSSION BELOW WILL NOT BE COMPREHENSIVE WITHOUT IT.
TREAD CAREFULLY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage continues the journey of Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock from 2018. As teased before, we deal with Carnage, played by Woody Harrelson's Cletus Kasady!
The one and only positive the movie has going for it is the climactic battle sequence between Venom and Carnage. It's not even the conceived sequence; it's rather the idea of us watching these two larger-than-life Spider-Man villains going after each other's throat in live action outside of comic book pages that’s enthralling! And of course, the mid-credits snippet where Sony confirms the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man aka Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will be participating in this newly formed Sony's Spider-Man Universe, is absolutely thrilling! Venom going for a party where all the other attenders mistake him for a cosplay costume is a scene to remember. Technicalities wise, the sound design is amazing and the visual effects is fantastic. Eddie's relationship and banter with Venom, while adorable at times, is annoying for the most. You could feel Venom being a gigantic nuisance for Eddie, rightfully so as Eddie feels the same way.
While the overall story is functional albeit fragile, the mismatch of comedy and seriousness in this one is terrible, even cringeworthy. Woody Harrelson and Naomie Harris are amazing actors, but the direction given to them on the desired performance is evidently awful to bear! None of the comedy works nor suitable. Dialogues can make your ears bleed. There's absolutely no strong reason as to why Cletus is incredibly fond of Eddie, among many other character-motivation issues like Anne (Michelle Williams) and her fiancée. If Sony would like to have a long, fulfilling and lasting journey like the MCU, they will have to start with stellar writing, more importantly decide on the tone they're aiming for. The Marvel and Spider-Man branding can sell tickets, but it won't be close to worthy if this doesn't even try to keep up with the MCU's quality.