As a journalist from Cali with a Venom logo that has been inked on my chest for more than a decade, I am not surprised that yet again I have bared witness to another MacFarlane symbiote property being destroyed by the big screen. This time around in 2021 it’s “Let There Be Carnage”, and don’t be confused by the title as Sony has yet again allowed another goreless cut to be released in a film franchise that features characters and history that have all the potential to captivate audiences with ultra-violence and macabre. But after a nice introduction with Shriek in action straight out of the “Maximum Carnage” pages on to the screen, and Woody Harrelson standing over the audience as the spitting image of the comics Kasady, it all goes downhill from there as I was reminded constantly why I hated the “Venom” film so much in the first place.
After the villainous intro it’s right back into Eddie and his symbiote’s bromance, which is tolerable, until the writer’s of the film turn their buddy cop dynamics into something looking like Adam Driver in “Marriage Story”. All these characters based in California from the first film, making their case for who should be identified as worst person on screen, while Woody Harrellson relives his “Natural Born Killers” heyday, opposite Naomie Harris (“Black & Blue, 28 Days Later”).
Anything with the two of them is great – from Cletus’ origin vignette to the duo’s prison break car chase amalgamation. The special effects in these moments are as over the top as their romance – an element missing in much of today’s cinema, let alone the world at large. Cletus comments on this openly, makes references to Johnny Cash & The Beatles, gets the girl … The wins just stack up for Harrelson’s role and Sony can only be judged negatively for not switching the title to strictly “Let There Be Carnage” , as DC should have just called their “Birds of Prey” film “Harley Quinn : The Movie”.
Venom could be a great franchise as the early instances of this film give flashes of “Cult of Carnage” and even the sign of Klynatrian God, Knull, can be seen by the eagle-eyed; but why those at Sony keep trying to pigeon-hole Venom into the family friendly rom-com section is beyond me. Cates, Crain, MacFarlane and countless others have made Carnage, Venom, and the rest of the Klyntarian’s exciting for decades; “Let There Be Carnage” is just another live-action embarrassment to the Venom legacy.
If you want to make a rom-com for the family, go ahead and do that, you don’t need to drag legendary characters and actors to accomplish something that simple.
“Let There Be Carnage” is the definition of pounding a square peg into a round hole. If Sony loses the rights for this series, there will be brighter days ahead for the better web-head and his family. A failure as a film, it would be great if “Let There Be Carnage” fails in the box office as well, so Venom can find a better home that understands his character. “Let There Be Carnage” is what home theaters are built for, do not do what I did and foolishly pay to see this movie unless you enjoy sitting in the cinema even through a film as terrible this. “Let There Be Carnage”, ha! Where was the carnage aside from off-screen and in an undeserved title?
Marvel should’ve made a different move and saved the carnage for another studio, because after “Black Widow”, “Shang-Chi” was sleep inducing and here “Carnage” lost my interest by the time it got to the traditional climax. Film is a dance and as a man who can identify with these characters and their symbiotes since I was a youth I say with disdain that “Let There Be Carnage” will forever have two left feet.
Score : 1/5
- Stars
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