Back in 2018, Venom became a decent hit, as it snagged $213 million in the US and $856 million worldwide. That didn’t compete with other comic book movie’s like the same year’s Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, but with a low-for-the-genre $100 million budget, the flick made a nice profit.

A follow-up arrives via 2021’s Venom: There Will Be Carnage. Teased in an end credits scene found during the first film, journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) interviews serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson).

A year later, Kasady’s execution approaches, and he promises to reveal where he hid the bodies of those he murdered – but only if he can speak to Brock again. When Kasady’s taunts provoke Venom - the alien symbiote that resides inside Brock – to attack, a little bit of the extraterrestrial winds up on Cletus.

This gives Kasady the same powers as Brock, and Cletus names his entity “Carnage”. As Kasady/Carnage rampages around Northern California, Brock/Venom attempt to stop him.

Because I thought the 2018 Venom offered a lackluster comic book tale, I can’t claim I went into Carnage with high expectations. That proved to be a good thing, as the sequel becomes another fairly mediocre effort.

Much of the problem stems from the movie’s lack of real plot. Sure, it offers narrative elements, mainly in terms of the pursuit of Kasady/Carnage, of course.

However, the film also pursues other story beats. In particular, we see conflicts between Eddie and Venom, as the alien finds himself disenchanted with his host. In addition, the movie gets into Kasady’s attempt to rescue his imprisoned lover Frances “Shriek” Barrison (Naomie Harris) as well as some bits related to Eddie’s private life.

Virtually all of these seem superfluous, as Carnage never invests in any of them to a substantial degree. Heck, the movie barely shows much eagerness to attack its own main plot, as it feels oddly aimless much of the time.

We just never find a film with real forward momentum. None of the characters register, and as much as I like Harrelson, he barely attempts to make Cletus anything other than the redneck stereotype his name implies.

Harris fares better in her occasional scenes. Frances possesses her own special powers as Shriek, a character who can impair with loud vocals, and Harris manages to provide a bit of psychotic energy to the role.

As was the case in the first flick, Hardy plays Eddie as a cartoon and not a real person. That weird choice added much-needed energy to the 2018 movie, partly because Hardy’s Eddie so differed from the rest of the cast.

With the over the top performances from Harris and Harrelson, though, Hardy’s turn no longer feels fresh or different. Whereas his weirdness brought zest to the prior flick, here Hardy comes across more as annoying and silly.

At no point does Carnage turn into a bad movie, but it also seems vaguely pointless and incoherent. It lacks the compelling character or narrative elements it needs, and the computer-enhanced battles can’t compensate.

Maybe we’ll eventually get a good Venom movie. Let There Be Carnage isn’t it.

Footnote: a tag scene appears about two minutes into the film’s end credits.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a positive presentation.

Sharpness worked well. While the occasional wide shot betrayed a sliver of softness, the majority of material appeared accurate and concise.

No issues with moiré effects or jaggies occurred, and I saw neither edge haloes nor source flaws.

Unsurprisingly, the series favored a very teal and orange palette. Within the stylistic constraints, the Blu-ray reproduced them in a favorable manner.

Blacks came across as deep and dense, while shadows – important in such a dark series – appeared smooth and well-developed. The movie offered pleasing picture quality.

The film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio also satisfied. Music showed nice stereo presence, while effects added immersive material.

The movie’s many action sequences boasted fine use of the side and rear speakers, all of which brought us into the story well. General environmental information also created a good soundscape.

Audio quality seemed strong. Music was full and rich, while dialogue seemed natural and distinctive.

Effects offered clear elements with warm, tight lows. I liked the soundtrack for the film.

A mix of extras appear here, and Let There Be… Action runs seven minutes, 20 seconds and brings comments from director Andy Serkis, stunt coordinator James Churchman, producer Avi Arad, writer Kelly Marcel, and actors Tom Hardy, Reid Scott, Woody Harrelson and Stephen Graham.

As implied by the title, this program gives us notes about some of the movie’s action sequences, though we look at a few additional domains as well. Despite some good shots from the set, the featurette tends toward too much fluffy talk.

A collection of Outtakes & Bloopers goes for three minutes, 22 seconds. Expect the usual goofs and giggles without much else.

Six Deleted Scenes span a total of nine minutes, 33 seconds. Most of these offer some character embellishments, with moderate expansions of the Shriek/Cletus relationship. Still, nothing especially memorable occurs.

Some featurettes follow, and The Odd Couple lasts 10 minutes, 18 seconds and includes notes from Serkis, Marcel, Hardy, Harrelson, Graham, visual effects supervisor Sheena Duggal, and actor Michelle Williams.

With “Couple”, we discover some notes about the film’s exploration of the Eddie/Venom partnership. Expect a mix of insights and puffiness.

Tangled Web takes up four minutes, 31 seconds and reveals some hidden tidbits in the movie. It gives us a nice array at obscure nuggets we might otherwise miss.

Next comes Sick and Twisted, a five-minute, 36-second piece with Harrelson, Arad, Marcel, Hardy, Serkis, Duggal, costume designer Joanna Eatwell, and actor Naomie Harris.

In this reel, we learn a little about Cletus as well as Harrelson’s performance and the Carnage character. It becomes another mediocre program.

A Fine Romance lasts five minutes, two seconds and involves Harris, Harrelson, Serkis, Marcel, Arad, and Graham.

“Romance” examines the Shriek/Cletus relationship as well as the work between Harris and Harrelson. Don’t expect depth from it.

After this, Concept to Carnage occupies four minutes, 23 seconds with Duggal, Hardy, Serkis, Arad, Hardy and Harrelson.

“Concept” covers the design and execution of Carnage. It becomes one of the tighter and more informative of the disc’s featurettes.

Finally, we get Select Scene Previs. In this domain, three segments take up a total of eight minutes, 38 seconds.

These allow us to compare the crude CG planning shots or storyboards with the final product. Duggal takes us through one of the movie’s animated sequences as well. The elements offer a decent look at the leap from original intentions to end result.

The disc opens with ads for Spider-Man: No Way Home, Morbius, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Alex Rider, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions and Never Back Down: Revolt. No trailer for Carnage appears here.

Because 2018’s Venom seemed mediocre at best, I can’t call 2021’s Let There Be Carnage a disappointment. That said, it doesn’t offer a comic book adventure that ever becomes compelling or vivid. The Blu-ray offers very good picture and audio along with a mix of mostly meh bonus features. This becomes a mediocre movie.