Uploading some smaller art pieces I've made recently. Welcome to Doodle Dump!

2018's Venom was a surprisingly enjoyable movie, in my opinion. It wasn't anything mindblowing, but when everybody expects you to be terrible, you've gotta bring something to the table to be considered even adequate. Between critics and contrarians, nobody likes to be wrong. An R-rated Venom movie without Spider-Man seemed predestined to fail and be forgotten, but the movie secured itself in the public eye by being surprisingly fun. I think that in terms of filmmaking(as in shot composition, directing, music, editing, etc.) Venom was at best well made(albeit unexceptional), and at worst forgettable. What held my interest was the surprisingly likable cast of characters, all played pretty well by their respective actors and actresses.

This isn't a hit piece on Venom, I genuinely enjoyed the movie and was excited at the prospect of a sequel. For all I found lacking about it, if a movie gives me at least one reason to stick around until the end, I'm satisfied and willing to say it's worth watching. Venom undoubtedly delivers on that. If you're willing to give it a shot, it has plenty of things to enjoy and will certainly entertain you. But I also want to be honest about my feelings towards it and admit that I don't think it's particularly great. A fun movie doesn't always mean it's good, and that's fine. I'm all for some relatively mindless fun.

Which brings me to the upcoming sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Carnage as a character has always seemed unfilmable to me, or at least, without seriously watering him down. His entire existence as a character is dedicated to incredible, excessive violence. The kinds of things Carnage does aren't something that I think could be shown on a general audience, mass-market movie screen, let alone one in a goofy, fun superhero movie. Venom certainly had some violence to it, but maybe it's my desensitization speaking, but I didn't find it particularly gory. Save a chest stab, the violence was almost all bloodless and pretty tame to me. That's something that I think could be a letdown with the sequel. I want other, normal people to be able to watch and enjoy this movie, so I don't think Carnage should be bisecting innocent civilians left and right. But I also think I'll be disappointed if they tone him down too much, because then it won't feel like it's really Carnage to me, more like somebody who closely resembles him.

Speaking of which, in the first trailer, I was bothered by Carnage's appearance looking like they just took Venom's model, changed the face and color, and added some tentacles. Carnage is skinny, more wiry than other symbiotes, he always has been. That goes beyond "doesn't feel like Carnage" and just straight-up isn't Carnage. But the second trailer pleasantly surprised me by showing a new-and-improved, much more accurate depiction! It was nice to see that concern of mine dismissed without seeing a Sonic the Hedgehog style backlash demanding the design to be fixed. The only other thing I think I'm concerned about is the tone of the movie. Venom had a nice amount of comedy, which they seem to be leaning into more heavily with this one. Horror-comedies, in my experience, often have the funny bits and scary bits separated and kind of at odds with each other. I worry about that happening here.

Despite all my bitching and moaning, I am actually looking forward to this movie. We seem to be in a superhero movie renaissance, where they can be more than an adequately made movie with superheroes in them and can actually be good, or even great. At worst, Let There Be Carnage will be like the first and be a mindlessly fun hour and a half. But I'm also open to it surprising me and being better than I expect it to be.

I'd like to take a moment to thank my good friend @citalopram-overdose , who once drew this incredible Carnage art for my birthday. Eagle-eye viewers will notice that I used the same shade of red he used! I made this variant inspired by his art, as well as the event that inspired it, Absolute Carnage. Give him a follow, he deserves it!

What do you think about this artwork, and what are your thoughts on the upcoming movie? Are you excited? Nervous? Do you agree and/or disagree with me? Please be sure to leave feedback and let me know, I'd love to hear what you have to say!