Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Venom: Let There Be Carnage 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 15, 2021

Venom: Let there Be Carnage is something of a double entendre title, at once promising Carnage, the character, and carnage, the mayhem that will result when Carnage and Venom face off in an epic battle of slimy, sinewy, symbiotic creatures. The film is a follow-up to 2018's Venom which was lukewarmly received at best but still turned a massive $856 million dollar box office return. Let There Be Carnage wasn't nearly so financially successful (but that is pulled in $483 million in a drastically different economy and social climate means that it still can be labeled as a fairly large success). The film isn't all that great in the grand scheme of the larger Superhero (or in this case anti-Superhero) landscape, but it gets by through sheer force of will vis-à-vis its endless parade of special effects and mostly successful stabs at humor that offset that scarier and would-be gorier aspects that have been watered down for PG-13 Marvel audiences.

When Eddie Brock/Venom (Tom Hardy) scores an interview with death row inmate Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), it would seem a chance for a career push. But it is in fact a threat when Kasady learns of Eddie's symbiotic relationship with Venom and finds a way to host his own horrific symbiote, Carnage. Kasady, with Carnage's help, escapes lethal injection and sets out to wreck havoc and reunite with his longtime love, Shriek (Naomie Harris). As Eddie and Venom attempt to pick up the pieces of a broken relationship with Anne (Michelle Williams) and find themselves on the outs with one another, Carange runs wild. Eddie and Venom will have to set aside their differences if they are going to put an end to Carnage's violence in an epic final confrontation.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage chooses to follow its predecessor as a play-it-safe, (fairly) audience-friendly film, foregoing what might have been a much darker, more visceral experience for something that aims for humor rather than the macabre as its foundational centerpiece. The film works well enough in that regard, never quite firing on all cylinders or reaching as deep into the darkness as the content seems to demand, instead focusing on doing everything in its power to play it safe rather than play it up. In other words, it's trying to have its cake and stay in the Marvel universe, too, accessible to all audiences rather than choosing to push the material to where it seems to want to go. That gravitational pull to the center doesn't do the film any favors, and as such it has to double down on humor, most of which stems from the Eddie-Venom relationship that is good for a few laughs but doesn't accomplish much in terms of building an unforgettable character pairing. But Hardy plays both sides of the coin with all the panache he can muster; the vocal back and forth banter and his ability to play off the special effect is quite impressive and easily the movie's highlight.

What is not the movie's highlight is the endless barrage of special computer effects that can't help but to feel stale. The movie repeats all of the gags from the first film without doing much to push the envelope here, content more to rely on filling the screen with two creatures of this sort, not just one. And the result is as expected, with Director Andy Serkis checking off all of the boxes for the climactic battle, making sure that all of the "cool" shots of the digital characters battling it out make it into the movie. But even as the picture is visually and structurally stale, it plays well enough with that human-digital interplay and particularly thanks to Woody Harrelson's work as Cletus Kasady. He's perfectly cast and inhabits the character as well as Carnage does; he's a natural for the slick and slimy villain, capable of bringing a center to the character rather than just pushing though a typical one dimensional villain. He shares fine chemistry with Naomie Harris playing a pretty great screen version of Shriek.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage slithers onto the UHD format with a high quality 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD presentation. The picture quality is a solid step forward from the companion and concurrently released Blu-ray, offering a crisper façade, a cleaner sheen, and more deeply intensive colors. The textural intimacy is improved, but not by leaps and bounds. That is more a compliment to the Blu-ray's intense clarity and detail than it a knock to the UHD, which does bring out even better clarity from faces, environments, and even the creature effects, revealing the latter for all they're worth in each and every sinewy tentacle. The picture on the UHD offers a more stable level of clarity and textural sheen as well, boosting the overall crispness and fidelity to what looks like the near peak for the film. The Dolby Vision color grading adds depth more than tonal intensity, particularly considering that so much of the movie takes place in warm and low light. But splashes of color do yield more aggressive vividness and fullness while whites are brighter and blacks are deeper, the latter vital to the movie's presentation. The UHD shows no serious source blemishes or encode fumbles. This is a great looking UHD from Sony.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sony's UHD release of Venom: Let There Be Carnage offers a Dolby Atmos track, adding several additional channels that are not available on the Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The expansion is most appreciated, and the sonic result is a step above even the excellent 5.1 track with more satisfying and seamless immersion as well as some sophisticated top end use, particularly during a climactic battle inside a church in the final act where action swoops and swirls above and around the listener, a church bell rings with superb depth and authority and top layer placement, and so much more. Even in quieter moments, though, the sense of spatial awareness, as little sounds and dialogue reverberate through the listening area, are absolute delights. No matter where the film goes, sonically, clarity remains tight, whether considering score or action or ambience or anything else, and no matter to what degree of aural intensity. The track is wonderful in its ability to fine tune the experience to every shot, scene, and sequence, leaving every audio element perfectly integrated, detailed, and prioritized. This is an A-plus listen from Sony.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Venom: Let There Be Carnage includes no extras (beyond trailers) on the UHD disc but the bundled Blu-ray offers a number of featurettes and several deleted scenes. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Let There Be...Action (1080p, 7:20): The movie's blend of humor and action, crafting key scenes, character exploration within the visual effects extravaganza, digital and human performances, Andy Serkis' direction, and more.
• Outtakes & Bloopers (1080p, 3:22): Humorous moments from the shoot.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 9:33 total runtime): Included are Alternate Mugging, Break Up Extended, St. Estes Flashback, Unholy Trinity Extended, Burning St. Estes Alternate, and Beach Extended Ending.
• Eddie & Venom: The Odd Couple (1080p, 10:18): Exploring the relationship between the symbiotes and progressing the characters' narrative from the first film.
• Tangled Web: Easter Eggs (1080p, 4:31): A look at some of the secrets hidden throughout the film.
• Sick and Twisted Cletus Kasady (1080p, 5:36): A look at Harrelson's villainous character and the actor's work on the film.
• A Fine Romance: Cletus & Shriek (1080p, 5:02): Exploring the narrative complexities and character closeness surrounding two of the film's key characters.
• Concept to Carnage (1080p, 4:23): A look at Carnage's evolution from comic page to silver screen.
• Select Scene Previs (1080p): Exploring key scenes in their crude digital animatic and finalized film forms in a side-by-side comparison. Included are Ravencroft Breakout (2:15), San Quentin Carnage (4:10), and Show & Tell (2:23).
• Extras Trailer (1080p, 1:09): An ad enticing viewers to watch the extras (curious that it is listed last in the list rather than first).
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Venom: Let There Be Carnage isn't breaking any new ground. It's a mildly humorous, effects heavy, watered down PG-13 Action/Horror/Comedy set within the Marvel universe that is hamstrung by its inclusion therein. It seems ripe for something darker and more sinister than what is delivered here, which is an endless stream of seen 'em before VFX and action scenes that in 2021 don't do much to stand apart from the crowd. It's a decent watch, but that's about it. Sony's UHD delivers top-flight A/V presentations and some extras on the included Blu-ray disc. Recommended for fans.