Some time has passed since reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) was first bonded with alien symbiote Venom. The two have gotten somewhat used to living with one another, though things are far from harmonious. Venom feels like Eddie is stifling him and keeping him trapped. He just wants to go out and be a vigilante superhero, exacting lethal justice on some bad guys, and maybe eat a few of their heads in the process. He tells Eddie, “I can’t live on chicken and chocolate alone, I need brains.” but Eddie doesn’t want him feasting on humans. Venom also misses Eddie’s ex, Anne (Michelle Williams), and is constantly nagging and harassing him to get back together with her. However, Anne has moved on, and already looking at taking the next step with new boyfriend Dr. Dan (Reid Scott). Eddie’s career has also taken a hit, but with Venom’s help, a story about serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) puts him back on top, and Cletus Kasady on death row.

When Cletus was a child, he killed his own mother and grandmother, which landed him in St. Estes reform school, where he met and fell in love with fellow student Frances Barrison. However, Frances had a mutation that caused her make ear-piercing screams that caused destruction. Her abilities were growing more powerful so she was taken away and locked up at the Ravencroft Institute for observation and experimentation. The two lovebirds never lost their feelings for one another, and 25 years later, Cletus still thinks about Frances (Naomi Harris) while sitting in his death row cell in San Quentin. However, after an altercation with Eddie/Venom at the prison, Cletus ends up bonded to his own, even more powerful red symbiote named Carnage. They are on a mission to find and rescue Shriek (aka Frances) and plan to get their revenge on those who wronged them, including Venom, Eddie, and Detective Mulligan (Stephen Graham), the cop who originally shot/arrested Frances. But Eddie and Venom aren’t really on speaking terms, so they are going to need to reconcile if they have any hope of stopping Carnage, saving their loved ones caught in the crossfire, and bringing Cletus to justice.

While Venom: Let There Be Carnage still has a lot of exciting action and, well, carnage, it also seems to have a lot more humor than the first film. Venom is constantly providing sarcastic quips and commentary on Eddie’s life from inside Eddie’s head. And whenever he tries to help Eddie, things usually go hilariously wrong. The crux of the film is about this shaky relationship between odd couple Eddie and Venom. They both have things about the other that frustrate them, but ultimately they need and complete one another, even if neither of them wants to admit it. Feeling underappreciated, Venom takes some time apart from Eddie to explore his own feelings, search for acceptance, and see how others treat him—which also leads to some fun situations. Meanwhile, Anne and Dr. Dan also find themselves getting dragged into Eddie’s latest mess, and Detective Mulligan is constantly suspicious of Eddie as all these crazy things seem to happen whenever he is involved.

Woody Harrelson is perfectly cast as Cletus, he is great not only at playing the psychotic serial killer excited by doom and destruction, but is also quite believable when it comes to the romantic side of the character that pines away for Frances. And Naomi Harris plays the perfect amount of crazy, proving why Frances and Cletus belong together. Much like the first film, most of the big action/showdown doesn’t take place until the final act of the movie, but it’s definitely worth the wait. Carnage is even more powerful and destructive than Venom, and it’s quite the spectacle to see him in action. It’s going to take some creative thinking if Eddie and Venom are going to manage to take them down.

The film is a bit short at 97 minutes, especially when most comic book-inspired films these days run 2.5-3 hours. However, it doesn’t feel rushed, and the story moves along at a nice pace—some of these other films could take some notes!

Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great. The picture is clean and has an excellent level of detail throughout, even in the darker sequences. The effects are seamless and you never doubt that these symbiotes are a living part of their human counterparts. There’s even a scene where Eddie and Venom fight, destroying their apartment in the process, and it looks and feels so real. The audio track provides clear dialogue, and makes excellent use of the stereo and surround channels to provide a fully immersive experience. Whether it’s just the ambient sounds of the city or prison block, helicopter blades whirring overhead, or the sounds of destruction all around, you feel like you are right in the middle of the action. The Blu-ray disc contains almost an hour of bonus material, including outtakes, deleted scenes, and many behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast and crew. The release includes both a Blu-ray disc and a DVD packed on either side of a locking HD keepcase, placed in a carboard slipcover. An insert provides instructions on how to redeem an HD digital copy of the film.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:37:18)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Descriptive Audio Service, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, French Audio Descriptive Service, Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Portuguese Audio Descriptive Service, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Thai 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, Cantonese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, French, Indonesian, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai

DVD:

• 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Descriptive Audio Service, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, French Audio Descriptive Service, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Digital (Limited time offer):

• HD digital copy of the film, redeemable via Movies Anywhere or Vudu

Extras:
The DVD only contains a subset of the material, which is noted with an *.

• Let There Be… Action* (7:20)
  A look at the making of the film with the cast and crew. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, previs footage, concept artwork, and interviews with director Andy Serkis, producer/star Tom Hardy (“Eddie Brock”), stunt coordinator James Churchman, stunts Marvin Campbell, producer Avi Arad, screenwriter Kelly Marcel, and actors Stephen Graham (“Detective Mulligan”), Reid Scott (“Dr. Dan Lewis”) & Woody Harrelson (“Cletus Kasady/Carnage”).
• Outtakes & Bloopers (3:22)
  That cast crack up, flub and forget their lines, deal with misbehaving props, curse, and just have fun on set.
• Deleted Scenes (9:33)
  Collection of 6 deleted scenes. Play All, or select from:
  • Alternate Mugging (:43)
    Venom takes down some bad guys in a parking lot.
  • Break Up Extended (1:29)
    Eddie cleans up the house after his break up with Venom.
  • St. Estes Flashback (2:49)
    Flashback to young Cletus and Frances talking to each other through the pipes of St. Estes, before Frances is dragged away.
  • Unholy Trinity Extended (1:50)
    Cletus shows Frances his hit list, but Carnage has other ideas of who should die.
  • Burning St. Estes Alternate (:38)
    Cletus, Frances and Carnage walk away from the burning St. Estes.
  • Beach Extended Ending (2:32)
    Eddie and Venom bond and share their feelings about one another on the beach.
• Eddie & Venom: The Odd Couple (10:18)
  The cast and crew talk about making this movie different from the first one, exploring the odd couple relationship between Eddie and Venom and breaking them up, working with the other actors, the practical challenges of having Eddie fight with himself, recording Venom’s voice, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director Andy Serkis, screenwriter Kelly Marcel, fight coordinator George Kirby, stunt coordinator James Churchman, visual effects supervisor Sheena Duggal, stunt double Jacob Tomuri, playback sound technician Patrick Anderson, production mixer Michael Koff, and stars Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams (“Anne Weying”), Woody Harrelson & Stephen Graham.
• Tangled Web: Easter Eggs (4:31)
  A look at some of the Easter Eggs in the film, including a Stan Lee cameo, drawings of a spider (Spider-Man) and bat (Morbius) on Cletus’ cell wall, many references to comic book stories, locales and characters, and more.
• Sick and Twisted Cletus Kasady (5:36)
  The filmmakers talk about casting Woody Harrelson in the role of Cletus/Carnage, and bringing these characters to life. Includes previs and behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with screenwriter Kelly Marcel, producer Avi Arad, director Andy Serkis, visual effects supervisor Sheena Duggal, costume designer Joanna Eatwell, and stars Woody Harrelson, Tom Hardy & Naomi Harris (“Shriek”).​
• A Fine Romance: Cletus & Shriek (5:02)
  The filmmakers talk about the love story between Frances and Cletus and the character of Shriek. Includes concept artwork and behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with screenwriter Kelly Marcel, director Andy Serkis, producer Avi Arad, and stars Naomi Harris, Woody Harrelson & Stephen Graham.
• Concept to Carnage (4:23)
  The filmmakers discuss the process of designing and bringing the character of Carnage to life. Includes comic-book, concept and key art, previs and behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with visual effects supervisor Sheena Duggal, director Andy Serkis, producer Avi Arad, and stars Tom Hardy & Woody Harrelson.
• Select Scene Previs (8:38)
  Watch the CG previs versions of three of the film’s scenes side-by-side with their final counterparts. Play All, or select from:
  • Ravencroft Breakout (2:15)
  • San Quentin Carnage (4:10)
  • Show & Tell (2:23)
• Extras Trailer (1:09)
  Trailer for the Blu-ray bonus features
• Previews* (14:45)
  Trailers for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2:56), Morbius (2:47), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2:32), Never Back Down: Revolt (1:36), Alex Rider Season 2 (2:25) & Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2:28) play back-to-back.

Final Thoughts:

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a thoroughly-entertaining follow-up to the original Venom film, amping up the humor while exploring the relationship between Eddie and Venom, while also still providing a lot of excellent action sequences. Woody Harrelson is a great addition to the cast, and perfect in the role of Cletus. Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, and includes lots of behind-the-scenes bonus material. This release comes highly recommended for fans of the comic or first film, and also recommended for anyone looking for a fun, no-so-typical comic book movie.