Venom 2 Doesn’t Understand Why The First Movie Was Successful

Venom: Let There Be Carnage doesn't understand why the first movie was successful. As with most sequels, at first glance Let There Be Carnage seems to simply have more of everything: more humor, more bickering between Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Venom, and more fighting symbiotes. Yet upon closer inspection, the film has more of all the wrong things.

The first Venom focused on introducing the alien symbiotes and establishing Venom's connection with Eddie. Although their relationship began poorly, partly because Eddie's life was in the midst of completely falling apart, they achieved true symbiosis by the movie's end. Inhabiting Eddie Brock allowed Venom to survive on Earth, while Venom was able to heal Eddie's injuries and give him superhuman strength and reflexes. The true heart of the film, however, was their growing bond with each other.

Let There Be Carnage somewhat pulled away from this when Venom and Eddie had a major falling out. Venom went so far as to leave Eddie's body altogether and seek out other hosts, all of whom ultimately proved to be incompatible. Of course, he and Eddie reconcile in time for the final battle against Carnage and Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), but the reconciliation itself was rushed in favor of emphasizing Carnage's destruction. Here are the reasons that Venom 2 proved to be a lackluster sequel by forgetting what made the first movie so great.

Why Venom Was Successful (Despite The Reviews)

The first Venom movie suffered bad reviews by critics who were far from enamored by the movie's potential, and it currently holds only a 30% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite such critiques, Venom was a hit with general audiences who loved watching Eddie and Venom grow to care about each other. As Eddie's life fell further and further apart—first by losing his job, then his relationship, apartment, and most of his belongings, and finally by bonding with an alien being who had a very particular appetite—viewers grew more and more fond of the character. Underdogs are often easy to root for, and as Venom himself explained in the film, he and Eddie were "both losers" who had no chance of winning their upcoming fight with Venom villain Riot and Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed). This common ground between them laid the foundation for an entertaining dynamic that proved the pair did not need Spider-Man in order to be a success. They could carry a movie all by themselves.

There's No Lobster Tank Scene In Venom 2

The lowest point for Eddie in the first Venom took place right after he started hearing Venom's voice in his head, making him unbearably hungry and convinced he was losing his mind. Not knowing who else to turn to for help, Eddie tracked down his ex, Anne Weying (Michelle Williams), while she was on a date in a fancy restaurant with her new boyfriend, Dr. Dan Lewis (Reid Scott). Covered in sweat, Eddie was repeatedly distracted from talking to Anne by all the food around him. After stealing a cooked lobster from a stranger's plate, his gaze settled on the live lobsters on display in a large tank in the middle of the restaurant. Ignoring the people around him, Eddie climbed into the tank and took a bite out of one of the creatures inside.

While this scene was meant to horrify the characters witnessing it, it was undeniably hilarious for viewers. Such an extreme visual for how out of control Eddie's life was at the moment worked well both tonally for the film and to help establish Eddie's current mental state. Unfortunately, no such scene exists in Let There Be Carnage. Although Eddie is still, at times, a bit of a mess, he has for the most part pulled himself together and worked hard to rebuild his life. He never loses control like he did in Venom, and Venom 2 doesn't have any scenes that are as zany and over-the-top as the lobster tank scene in Venom. Without providing any room for growth in Venom 2, Eddie sort of coasts through the entire film at more or less the same point as where he started.

Venom 2 Tries Too Hard To Be Funny

Much of Venom's comedy arose when it wasn't truly trying, like Eddie knocking himself out when Venom first appeared to him, or all of Venom's criticisms of Eddie throughout the movie. The sequel tries to increase the amount of humor, but this effort actually does the opposite. Let There Be Carnage has some genuinely funny moments, but many of its attempts at comedy end up falling a bit flat. At one point, Venom inhabits a random person's body in order to attend a costume party. This starts out amusing as the symbiote poses for selfies with strangers, but the scene grows stale before long. Venom does his best to maintain the high energy, interrupting a music performance to deliver a heartfelt monologue that the confused crowd misinterprets as an LGBTQ+ coming-out speech, but he cannot maintain the same level of comedy as the first film on his own. If the movie had trusted the characters and their relationships to produce organically comedic moments like the first one did, then Venom 2 could have created a story that was just as funny.

Venom 2 Doesn't Give Fans Enough Eddie/Venom

Eddie Brock holds a chicken while talking to Venom in Venom 2

It makes sense for a sequel to want to introduce different situations and try things the first film did not, but these efforts do not pay off in Let There Be Carnage, which splits Eddie and Venom from each other for a good portion of the movie. Venom's charm derived from Venom and Eddie's relationship, and separating them deprives audiences of this dynamic. As much as Venom 2 tries to give each character enough to stand on their own, neither of them are nearly as entertaining without the other. Their rushed reconciliation before the final fight with Carnage, which could have been a great chance to really develop their bond, was yet another missed opportunity. Although separating a duo can work for some films, it has the opposite effect in Venom: Let There Be Carnage since Eddie's relationship with Venom is the strongest part of both movies. Not only do Eddie and Venom suffer from the separation, the sequel as a whole does too.

Next: Venom 2: Every Easter Egg & Marvel Reference Explained