Venom is a parasite. I suppose some might call Venom an anti-hero. I would too, if by that you mean Venom only solves problems that Venom created in the first place. Being a fire-fighter isn’t as impressive when you’re also an arsonist, dig?
Right now, Venom represents the limits of Marvel. They’ve showed us the heroes; they showed us more heroes; they showed us the heroes together in all sorts of weird combos; they showed us 50% of all universal life ending; they showed us the death of heroes and the evolution of Avengers; they’ve even showed us a ton of “What If” scenarios…but Venom is different. Venom is none of that and Venom wouldn’t fit in even if it were. I repeat: Venom is a parasite; it lives off others; it doesn’t belong. And if you think about it, the Venom movies are parasites as well.
That being said, we’ve come to understand the personality and alignment of this aggressive parasite. It’s chaotic … something, and chaotic is more fun on film than lawful. (Pssst: chaotic is more fun, period…but you can’t live with chaotic.) And that’s a good intro to the life of Venom’s host, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy). Eddie is a disgraced investigative journalist. Wow, there’s so much to unpack there – is investigative journalism still a thing in world where 
people “do their own research?” How about in a country where half the population is going to cry “FAKE NEWS” depending entirely on a headline? Speaking of which, can one even be a “disgraced journalist” in a planet that houses Tucker Carlson?
It doesn’t matter, point is, Eddie ain’t at the top of his profession and he has the world’s worst tapeworm living inside him to boot. A nasty, tentacled, Halloween-mouthed, agile, super-strong predator that constantly fluctuates between endo- and exo- with regards to Eddie. And it has a lot of opinions about stuff. So this tom Hardy performance isn’t quite Edward Norton in Primal Fear or even Steve Martin in All of Me, but a great deal of Venom: Let There Be Carnage is Hardy battling with his inner voice. In fact, the best part of the picture is these two fighting like an old married couple.
I can’t say
that’s a strong recommendation to see the film, nor should it be. And if I hadn’t seen the first Venom, it wouldn’t be a recommendation at all.
Meanwhile, at San Quentin, there’s Woody Harrelson with a full head of hair. Oh, more CGI magic to be sure. Cletus Kasady (Harrelson) is on death row for pretty good reason; he’s done some pretty evil things. Well, I say “death row,” but you might picture Silence of the Lambs. Cletus has his own wing of San Quentin, it seems. And he will only grant interviews to one reporter. I betcha can’t guess who it is.
Several people have called Venom: Let There Be Carnage a mess. I don’t disagree with them, but I found the film more-or-less watchable. I can’t say my opinion is strong in either direction, and it may be influenced positively by my love of seeing San Francisco on film. And that’s a lousy recommendation, even from me.
An alien who’d lived for an eon
Attached himself inside a peon
But to avoid a roast
Of your Earthly host
The Parasite had better be Korean
Rated PG-13, 97 Minutes
Director: Andy Serkis
Writer: Kelly Marcel
Genre: Marvel’s outtakes
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Parasites?
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who don’t like things with hidden meanings
