All 3 Venom movies ranked from worst to best

3. Venom: Let There Be Carnage

If there was one word we could use to describe the first Venom movie, it would be fun. The film was so completely off-the-wall that, even if you didn't completely buy into what was happening, you just went along for the ride because it was an experience - and a fun one at that. While its 2021 sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, certainly attempted to recreate that success, it wasn't entirely successful in doing so.

The same formula was there, setting up its premise pretty quickly and adopting an admirably tight runtime once again to ensure that the adventure never outstayed its welcome. But, given that this movie was dealing with a character as complex as Carnage, this tightness almost worked against it. Once the plot started rolling, it just kept rolling through all of the inconsistencies in tone and questionable story developments without really giving audiences a chance to process any of what was happening. Things were just happening because they could, and it was just too much at times.

Cletus Kasady certainly worked as an intimidating villain and he seemed evil enough to serve as a host for Carnage but the character was extremely underdeveloped, with only the beginnings of a backstory trickling through in the film's final act. Nevertheless, Woody Harrelson committed to the role and delivered on all fronts as the chilling antagonist.

The film also struggled with its tone, as its darker storyline robbed it off that sense of fun that the first one thrived on. It was still there at times, but it was ultimately lost in a very over-the-top and yet underdeveloped plot that didn't make the most of its characters.

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