“Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” released Oct. 1, 2021, is the sequel to the 2018 film “Venom.” As the first movie was a hit in and out of the box office, the reiteration of one of Marvel’s most popular anti-heroes has achieved symbiosis with the screens once again.

Usually a sequel to a well-liked movie is risky and often does not do the first movie justice. A common risk is that the second movie may end up worse than the first or could even worsen the entire franchise. Here, the second motion picture of “Venom” actually did live up to the hype and might have just surpassed its first production.

“I liked the first one a lot,” Caryssa Wavrunek, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said when asked in an interview to compare the first and the second movie. “[The second one] was better.”

Wavrunek further expressed her extreme liking towards the movie. “I thought it looked good from the trailer,” Wavrunek said. “I thought the movie was better than the trailer and in most cases the trailer is better than the movie.”

A clear trend of surpassing expectations was prominent in the reflection of the movie. Raven Kiyota-Au, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, shared her enjoyment after watching the film as she said, “I expected it to be good, but I think it was better than what I expected it to be.”

“There was still a lot going on, but this one (Let There Be Carnage) was easier to follow,” Kiyota-Au added while thinking back to the first movie.

A mixture of comedy, action and heartache created a mutable and powerful relationship. The bond between the characters on-screen could practically be felt and shared by the audience.

“This one had more of a connection with the [characters],” Wavrunek said.

In this film, the fans get to see character development along with many more comedic and fighting scenes.

“The fighting scenes don’t disappoint,” sophomore Jansen Lee Julian said.

Julian and Wavrunek share the same opinion on the excellence of the fights. Julian also admired the animation and effects in the film, adding to the status in which the movie stands.

When talking about the details of the film that didn’t necessarily align with what some Marvel fans already knew, sophomore Xander van den Berg said they were, “not so coordinated with the Venom origins.”

The producers of the film did not shy away from some unneeded additions and altering several character specifics to the movie; however, this did not damage the story’s quality. Surely there are some things that hard critics will nitpick, but that only adds to the fervor of the film.

Although the runtime of the movie was only one hour and 37 minutes, it set a decently paced storyline.

Even though the movie differs from several other lengthier movies commonly produced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Julian said there was “always something new, but it wasn’t too much.” Julian added that although it was fairly quick, it was because of the constant roll of action and intensity that made the movie a comfortable change of scene.

Overall, the reactions to “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” quantified to similar results: we have grown to like “Venom” a lot more and are excited to see any “Venom” productions in the future.