Movie Review
With Venom becoming a surprise success, high hopes were set on the sequel. Sony Pictures wisely introduced Carnage, and in a short run-time, somehow managed to pull off a fun ride of a movie.
The best part of Venom: Let There Be Carnage is Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and the relationship he has with his symbiote, Venom. The dialogue between the two is often hilarious. Venom is a savage. However, I can’t really discount Woody Harrelson’s performance; he plays such a good psychopath.
I wouldn’t say it’s better than the first, but it is a fun romp and if you’re a completionist, you’ll want this one. Also, be sure to stick around for the mid-credits.
Video
This is a digital transfer and has no grain. It wasn’t as sharp as I was expecting, but that doesn’t take away from the detail level. The fuzz on Eddie’s jacket is easily visible, for example. The blacks often crushed, but that was a design choice (Andy Serkis said so). It is not quite demo quality, but it is very pretty to look at.
Audio
Despite having a Dolby Atmos track, it was a little lacking. It rarely used the heights, except in a few action sequences. The LFE is used a lot with Venom’s voice residing in the lower register. Audio is mostly clear with a few of Venom’s words being muddled in the lower register, at least for me.
Extras
Been a while since I’ve come across a large collection of extras and I’m happy to say most of them are quite enjoyable.
Outtakes & Bloopers: Close to three and half minutes of outtakes and bloopers. You can pretty much skip this one.
6 Deleted Scenes: Alternate Mugging, Break Up Extended, St. Estes Flashback, Unholy Trinity Extended, Burning St. Estes Alternate, Beach Extended Ending. Of all these, the part I wish they kept was the “you do love me?” from the extended ending.
Eddie & Venom: The Odd Couple: Interviews with cast and crew and discuss all things Tom Hardy and Venom. Runs about 10-minutes.
Sick and Twisted Cletus Kasady: Like the one above, but this time about Woody Harrelson’s portrayal of Cletus.
Concept to Carnage: Trace the design and animation of Carnage from comic book image to screen symbiotic.
Let There Be… Action: Just over 7-minutes this is from concept to screen, not long enough for me personally. I love this stuff.
Tangled Web – Easter Eggs: Shows all the comic-book Easter Eggs hidden in the movie.
A Fine Romance: Cletus and Shriek: A look at the bizarre love between the two villains.
Select Scene Previs: This is cool to watch.
Rounding the bonus features out is a collection of trailers.
It’s irritating to have to take out the Blu-ray to watch the extras, but c’est la vie.
Conclusions and Final Thoughts
My fellow Cravers, this is an easy addition to your collection. Hopefully, some of you pulled the trigger on the beautiful Steel book before it vanished. The movie is re-watchable. The audio and video are just a notch below top tier and it’s loaded with extras. What more could you ask for?
