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It's been just about three years since "Venom" opened opposite Bradley Cooper's "A Star is Born," both taking in large sums of money on their opening weekends. Though vastly different, it's a snapshot of a time that feels far in the past, where movies on the opposite ends of the audience spectrum could dominate the box office. The first "Venom" made $856 million worldwide, so, naturally, a sequel was expected.

"Venom: Let There Be Carnage" was kicked down the release calendar throughout the peaks and valleys of COVID, leaving people uncertain of its release until they have the chance to sit in their theater chair with a ticket in hand. It's finally coming out and in a twist for franchises, the sequel feels completely welcome on many fronts. Its release indicates there will be butts-in-seats for those who feel safe going to a theater; and through continued uncertainty, it feels normal that a big screen adventure waited for the right time to debut in multiplexes.

It was easy to sneer at 2018's "Venom" and dismiss it as another dopey comic book adaptation (guilty), but in some corners of the internet, "Venom" has had a bit of a reevaluation. Rightfully so, because "Venom" and its sequel are everything comic book movies should be: Fun, light on its feet, silly, and completely aware it's all of those things. That's not to say there aren't stakes in "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," but it leans into the lunacy of it all because audiences know how these things end, and the characters we are meant to root for will be fine. We purchase a ticket to a movie like this to have fun, and this sequel delivers.

Tom Hardy reprises his role as Eddie Brock, a San Francisco journalist who has an alien symbiote living inside him. Venom rears his ugly head as he pleases, but he's not exactly an easy roommate for Eddie, who must try to perform his job and live his life while making sure Venom doesn't eat random people throughout the day. It has cost Eddie a lot, including his relationship with Anne (an overqualified Michelle Williams, doing her best with a limited role).

When the first "Venom" ended, the post-credit scene introduced us to Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), who is on death row. Eddie interviews Cletus, who doesn't like how the interview goes and forms a hostile agenda against Eddie. Cletus gets a taste of the symbiote, which morphs him into Carnage, who has two objectives - find his longtime love Frances (Naomie Harris), and destroy Eddie and Venom.

All of "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" follows the comic book checklist, but it does so with levity along the way. The problem with a lot of superhero or comic book movies is that they don't know they're inherently ridiculous. Movies like "Avengers: Endgame" capped off a 20-plus series of films with a proper emotional sendoff, but it takes itself just a bit too seriously (which is the problem that plagues something like "Zack Snyder's Justice League"). Even with all of its terrifying imagery, "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" never loses its sense of humor.

Hardy is regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, but some of his performances are self-consciously mannered and moody, and he tends to distract with all his grumbling and furrowed brows. So, it's fun to watch him have the time of his life playing Venom. The duality of the role is tricky, and Hardy never misses a beat channeling Eddie or Venom.

Andy Serkis takes over as director (the first was directed by Ruben Fleischer), and he keeps the momentum alive from start-to-finish (the movie mercifully clocks in at 90 minutes, not wasting a second). There's a misconception that comic book movies must run for three hours, but "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" knows it has just enough material to sustain its runtime. It's refreshing to have a movie as self-aware as this one.