Mixed Reviews of 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage' Agree on Only One Bright Spot: Woody Harrelson

Ahead of tomorrow's nationwide unveiling, critics turn in mixed reviews of Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Like so many movies pulled from the panels of a Marvel comic over the last decade or so, Venom: The Let There Be Carnage is landing with a mixed bag of early reviews.

Though the film officially arrives on Friday, October 1st, select critics and fans alike have already gotten a chance to see Tom Hardy's bewildered symbiote square up with his crimson counterpart on the big screen. And reactions have ranged from dubbing the film as "refreshingly breezy" (Slash Film's Chris Evangelista,) to claiming the sequel is "worse and arguably even more incoherent" than its predecessor (The Playlist's Rodrigo Perez) to harshly writing the film off as "the mold in the Avengers' shower" (The New York Times' Amy Nicholson.) Ouch.

But while there doesn't seem to be a consensus on the film's overall score just yet, one bright spot of the Venom follow-up critics appear to more or less agree on is Woody Harrelson's entrancingly psychotic role as the titular villain, Carnage. In his review for Rolling Stone, writer K. Austin Collins calls Harrelson "the creep this B-movie needs." Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt says Harrelson "doesn't really need an extraterrestrial parasite to set him free; he looks like he's having a ball." And even The Playlist's Perez seems to concede that despite the film's shortcomings (of which there are apparently several,) the actor is "deliciously-hammy" as Carnage.

With all of that said, the split amongst critics hasn't weighed too heavily on fans, who are likely starving for theater-seat-worthy entertainment on the backend of a global pandemic. Currently, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is sitting nicely with an objectively fine 73% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Watch the latest trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage below and hold tight for the fan reviews to start pouring in.