Andy Serkis’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a surprisingly delightful bit of comic book insanity that has the potential to even enthrall viewers who were less than impressed with the first film in the series. The obligatory superhero elements recede into the background for much of the film, becoming merely the framework from which to hang the much more enjoyable romantic comedy elements that really make this installment sing. The best part of the previous film was Tom Hardy’s unhinged performance, and the sequel doubles down on that, spending most of the runtime on the relationship travails between Eddie and Venom as they learn to live with (and within) one another. Our nominal heroes go through each stage of our favorite onscreen, romantic couplings, making for a playful and charming comic book outing that never takes itself too seriously – even to the point of using the body horror elements as fodder for slapstick at points. But the comic book story still has to reassert itself by the end, and Serkis and his screenwriters are having so much fun with the romantic comedy angle that the more serious story points don’t always like up coherently. Add in some bad computer generated effects during the finale and violence that desperately wants to be bloodier than the PG-13 rating will allow, and you can see the corporate interests reasserting control over an otherwise charming comic book diversion.