Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Movie review by Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media
Venom: Let There Be Carnage Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 14+

Noisy violence and forced comedy in poor super-sequel.

PG-13 2021 90 minutes
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Parents say

age 13+

Based on 13 reviews

Kids say

age 12+

Based on 65 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the sequel to 2018's Venom, with Tom Hardy returning as Eddie, the reporter who's also host to a scary, fanged alien symbiote known as Venom (the character was originally an enemy of Spider-Man). Like the first movie, this one suffers from forced humor, shouting, and lots of noisy smashing. Violence includes mass destruction, many minor characters being killed in bloodless ways, fighting, smashing, pounding, brutal attacks, eye-gouging, strangling, biting, bullying, and some guns and shooting. An animated flashback shows the worst violence, in cartoon form: murders, abuse, and bullying. Two characters kiss briefly but passionately, a woman's naked bottom is seen in the cartoon sequence, and a woman with an ulterior motive flirts with Venom and calls him sexy. Fairly strong language includes a use of "f--k," plus "s--t," "son of a bitch," "a--hole," "p---y," and more.

Community Reviews

doctora
doctora Adult
June 19, 2022
age 14+

Long, meandering, pointless and violent

This film felt like a complete waste of time after finishing it. I saw the first one and thought it was meh to ok. There were parts that were ok with some so-so parts. This film though is all over the place, it does not know what it wants to be or do and so you have good actors (Hardy and Harrelson), who frankly could have been anyone because they were not given much to do to assist their arcs. The film felt long, meandering and pointless.
SniperKlix
SniperKlix Adult
February 16, 2022
age 9+

Funny entertaining sequel is not as violent as the original.

This is a great sequel that is hilarious and is better than the first, however it is still pretty inappropriate, here is everything you need to know before watching it WARNING SPOILER ALERT!!!!!! Violence: 3/5: This sequel is not as violent as the first at all, but it is still pretty violent. In the beginning sequence we see a man shoot a woman in the eye (it is not as violent as I am making up it seem) while she falls out of a truck. We later see carnage’s origin story where it depicts (shown in a animation) that his heart stopped when he was a baby, then he is then revived. He then is shown pushing his grandma (that is in a wheelchair) down the stairs and he puts a hair dryer in his moms shower which kills her by electrocution. Carnage bites Eddie and when he gets his powers he kills guards by slamming them all over the place. In one scene, he kills a guard begging for his life saying “Please, I got family!” But carnage doesn’t listen and sticks his tongue so deep in his mouth which somehow kills him. When going to a gas station carnage knocks an innocent man out and stomps on him (we see the movement of his stomp but we do not see the person he is stomping on) In the final fight sequence, it is implied that carnage bites a priests head off (we see his teeth going over the priests head but we cut away right away) in the end sequence Venom eats the carnage symbiotes and then bites the host’s (Cletus) head off but it is a comedic moment. Language: 3/5: D*ck and sh*t are said. I am pretty sure ass is said a few times. F*ck is said once and someone calls another person a p*ssy Sex 1/5: Cletus kisses someone passionately a few times, and a woman seduces venom by calling him sexy Drinking drugs and smoking 2/5: Venom uses hosts to get extremely drunk and then goes to another host once the other hosts body can’t take it any more. Overall: it is a hilarious movie that I definitely recommend checking out.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
See all 13 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is still learning how to live as a host to alien symbiote Venom, but his career is going well, even if his former partner, Anne (Michelle Williams), has announced that she's going to marry Dr. Dan (Reid Scott). Eddie is asked to visit the cell of imprisoned serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson). Kasady promises to let Eddie have an exclusive on his life story if he'll print a message that's intended to go to Kasady's true love, Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris), who's secretly imprisoned for possession of a deadly super-power. But Venom finds a clue to the location of one of Kasady's victims, which condemns Kasady to execution. During Eddie's final visit to his cell, Kasady bites the reporter and swallows some of his blood, turning him into Carnage, an even bigger and more deadly version of Venom. With both Carnage and Frances on the loose, Eddie must make peace with his other half and save the day.

Is It Any Good?

With poorly chosen "comedy" moments that consist mainly of shouting and action elements that are mainly noise and smashing, this sequel misses every chance to come together in a satisfying way. Directed Andy Serkis, Venom: Let There Be Carnage (which follows 2018's hit Venom) starts off with a supposedly comic situation, as Eddie and Venom argue and shout about how things are going to be. They're like a more violent, less funny version of Shrek and Donkey. The movie has no idea how to weave the situation of Venom occupying Eddie's body into clever or physical humor. It's all forced and graceless. Unlike, say, Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin in 1984's excellent body-sharing comedy All of Me, every attempt at a similar situation here -- such as Eddie ducking into a women's bathroom to argue with Venom -- falls completely flat.

As Carnage, Harrelson sometimes manages a few wry line-readings, but he also frequently stumbles on his chunky, villainous dialogue, as does Harris. (This is the kind of movie wherein one of Carnage's first lines is "Let's get this party started!") Normally a bold performer, Williams perhaps fares the worst of anyone in the cast; in her one big scene, Anne must use her "feminine wiles" to convince Venom that he's sexy, just before she's kidnapped and held captive for the rest of the movie. The action is a blur, with mounting destruction and no human interest or consequences. It's difficult to care as either buildings crumble or victims are dispatched. On the plus side, the Venom visual effects are quite impressive, and the movie is swiftly paced, which means it's over fairly quickly.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Venom: Let There Be Carnage's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?

  • How has Venom changed over the course of the three movies, from Spider-Man 3 and the first Venom to this one? Did you like this version better? Worse? Why?

  • How do Eddie and Venom demonstrate teamwork? How does teamwork fit into the rest of the story?

  • When Detective Mulligan says that secrets are always trying to get out and that's why it's so hard to keep them, what does he mean? Is it good to keep secrets sometimes? Why, or why not?

  • The villains here begin their rampage by seeking revenge. What's the appeal of revenge? Does it ever solve anything?

Movie Details

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