Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) Trailer - Reaction/Review

 

We have the first official trailer for the sequel to the worldwide blockbuster: Venom.

Eddie Brock/Venom (Tom Hardy) have clearly settled into their life together, with the alien symbiote now preparing breakfast for his human host. He still frequents the local store owned by Mrs Chen (Peggy Lu).

 

But trouble is brewing in the form of Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) and Shriek (Naomie Harris). Fans of Marvel Comics/Spiderman will immediately recognize Cletus as the alter ego of the homicidal Carnage.

 

Michelle Williams returns as Anne Weying, Eddie's flame and Stephen Graham joins the cast as Detective Mulligan.

Check out the trailer:

Tom Hardy slips back effortlessly as the unwitting host of the murderous symbiote. He continues to show a great sense of humor as Eddie. Woody has been cast in yet another role of a unhinged individual that he has played so well in other movies (2012, War for the Planet of the Apes). I look forward to seeing the cast-against-type Naomie Harris play the antagonist.

With two villains combining their powers and Carnage being stronger than Venom, could this mean a certain more famous webslinger will have a cameo appearance?

 

The movie is being marketed as a comedic superhero flick, very much in Deadpool's alley. The other interesting aspect is that the movie has been directed by Andy Serkis. Andy has given some of the best motion capture performances (Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong, Planet of the Apes trilogy).

 

Andy has already directed three movies and this is his highest profile movie yet. His previous movie (Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle) was overshadowed by Disney's version, that was directed by Jon Favreau. Let us see if he steals all the limelight with his latest attempt.

 

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Image Sources: Marvel Entertainment, Pascal Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)

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Movie Review: Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

The movie starts in black and white and we meet Oz (James Franco), a magician with a flair for seducing women. He dreams of acquiring fame and money and is willing to sacrifice the love of his life Annie (Michelle Williams) to realize his ambitions.

But fate has different plans for Oz and he is forced to flee in a hot air balloon. He is magically transported to the Land of Oz.

Oz meets lovely Theodora (Mila Kunis) and is upto his old tricks again. She falls for him and believes him to be the wizard, who according to a prophecy, will save the Land of Oz from the Bad Witch.

James Franco and Mila Kunis in Oz the Great and Powerful

Theodora's sister, Evanora (Rachel Weisz) is less welcoming and informs Oz that he needs to kill the aforementioned witch before he can start enjoying a life of riches. Oz also picks up a talking monkey, Finley (Zach Braff) and China Girl (Joey King).

We then meet the Good Witch, Glinda (Michelle Williams). Glinda is able to see through the character of Oz for the selfish coward that he actually is. Still, she introduces Oz as the savior to the people and privately asks Oz to keep up the show.

Evanora is revealed to be the Bad Witch and she manipulates Theodora into attacking Oz and Glinda. Theodora is transformed into an ugly witch, thanks to Evanora.

Rachel Weisz as Evanora

The rest of the movie deals with how Oz lives up his prophecy and saves Glinda and her people from the combined onslaught of Evanora and Theodora.

I have enjoyed all of Sam Raimi's movies (Evil Dead trilogy, Spiderman trilogy and Drag me to Hell) I have seen so far. This movie proved to be the exception.

This is a typical summer blockbuster movie. While there is nothing wrong with that, it deprives the movie of the humor and wit that Sam Raimi is known for.

All his trademarks are there: the fast camera movements (in a couple of scenes), cameos by Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi and the Evil Dead hand scene reference. But they seem more like obligatory nods to his fans.

The movie boasts of some excellent CGI work, as can be expected from a big budget movie from a top notch director and the biggest movie studio. What the movie lacks is originality. There are some clever touches here and there, but I was reminded of Avatar, Lord of the Rings and Alice in Wonderland more than once.

I also felt that the actors were kind of lost in the green screens they had to work with. The digital imagery takes precedence. This need not be the case. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is an example of fantasy movie making where both the imaginary landscapes and the actors complement each other to present the ultimate immersive experience for the viewer. Peter Jackson's movies transported us to Middle Earth during the movies' running time. Unfortunately, this is not the case with this movie.

I have never been a big fan of James Franco's acting and this movie does not help his case. Just as it was in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, he continues to be upstaged by the computer generated cast members. Andy Serkis stole the show as Ceasar, the chimp in that movie. Here, it is Zach Braff as Finley and Joey King as China Girl who make the best impression.

Joey King as China Girl and Zach Braff as Finley 

These 2 characters breathe more life into the movie than the rest of the cast combined and the visual effects team deserves full credit. Both Zach and Joey do some excellent voice work and are more appealing in their computerized representations than as flesh and blood characters.

Zach has some of the funniest lines in the movie and he delivers them to great comedic effect. His exchange with Oz about stereotypes was probably the best. Speaking of stereotypes, the movie also pokes fun at the general perception of witches being ugly and riding on broomsticks.

Click on the link below to buy your copy:

Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams are here to collect their pay checks. Tony Cox and Bruce Campbell fare much better in their much briefer roles.

I have enjoyed a lot of Disney movies in the past: The Lion King, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and the Pirates of the Caribbean series. I believe there are 2 types of Disney movies: one for mass consumption and the second one, I prefer to call Disney movies for kids. This one unfortunately falls in the second category.

Yes, this is a Disney movie for kids

This is a predictable Disney family movie that delivers exactly what a Disney family movie always does.

Fans of Sam Raimi would probably do better by rewatching his earlier movies. Fans of fantasy genre have the Lord of the Rings trilogy and/or the Harry Potter series.

I would recommend this movie strictly to die hard fans of Disney movies.

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Image Source: Walt Disney Pictures

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