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Review of Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Marco Beltrami)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you're ready for a wild ride of insanely varied
orchestral and synthetic style, Marco Beltrami smartly touching upon a
wide emotional range for this whimsically dark, disjointed score.
Avoid it... if basic memorability is a necessary return for a plethora of themes, the score struggling to assert more than a few of them in meaningful fashion over its haphazard narrative.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Venom: Let There Be Carnage: (Marco Beltrami)
Encouraged by massive financial returns from 2018's Venom, Sony
expanded upon its odd ownership of concepts related to "Spider-Man" with
a 2021 sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Undoubtedly, these
"Venom" storylines are among the most repugnant of the Marvel Cinematic
Universe, their sideshow humor negated by grotesque depictions of
violence barely appropriate for the superhero genre. As hinted in the
prior film, the Cletus Kasady character becomes the primary antagonist
of the sequel, infected with the symbiote that torments lead journalist
Eddie Brock and becoming an equally revolting beast called Carnage. The
movie is a convoluted love story, strangely, with Cletus attempting to
reunite with a long-lost love, the troubled she-villain Shriek, and
Eddie trying to salvage his own romantic interests from the first film.
As they chase about San Francisco, people get eaten, property gets
destroyed, and audiences get their dose of dumb fun. The project sets up
a direct confrontation with the "Spider-Man" films by the end, though
that idea had already been explored in the 2007 incarnation of the
franchise. More interesting is Andy Serkis' role as director for
Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and he sought to reboot a fair
amount of the concept's screen personality even though principal actors
were retained. One of the wholesale changes in the production was its
soundtrack; while rapper Eminem did return to provide another new
original song for the movie, Serkis wanted a clean break from Ludwig
Göransson's score for the first film. No stranger to both the
horror and superhero genres, Marco Beltrami was a logical choice for the
assignment. The veteran composer specifically asked if any of
Göransson's material should be referenced in Venom: Let There Be
Carnage, and the filmmakers declined. Beltrami's interest in the
project was generated by the widely varied emotional directions of the
sequel's story, the plot allowing him to tackle everything from bluesy
humor to outright synthetic horror, with a fair amount of orchestral
bravado in between. The composer responded with a highly diverse score
that will offer listeners far more dynamism than Göransson's
equivalent.
While Göransson did strive to intelligently merge the best of orchestral and synthetic elements in Venom, Beltrami succeeds far better in this regard. There is a reasonable balance of orchestral fantasy and action from Hellboy, off-kilter suspense akin to A Quiet Place, and the modern atmospherics of World War Z, with occasional references back to his popular horror techniques of the 1990's as well. The composer's knack for capturing the essence of darkness, ironically despite his personal aversion to horror films, is evident in both his comedic blues theme for Eddie and Venom and, more alluringly, the touch of tragedy inherent in the music for Cletus and Frances (Shriek). He doesn't shy away from outright electronic dissonance, exploring extremely abrasive tones for Cletus' superhero self, Carnage, and specifically finalizing the synthetic portions of his mix prior to recording with an orchestra, a technique Beltrami is fond of using. He's also comfortable applying straight rock and metal coolness to the Venom character by the end of the picture, a prerequisite for appeal to the senseless masses. This score is really all over the place stylistically, which makes for an intriguing listening experience, though Beltrami doesn't help his cause by overthinking his themes. With so much diversity in the rendering of music for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the themes really needed to simplify the narrative. Instead, the composer provides a plethora of ideas for every imaginable character interaction, leaving the listener wanting more cohesion despite the basic efficacy of most of the ideas. Eddie and Venom have three themes dedicated just to them, whereas Cletus and Frances also have four (of sorts) for themselves as well. Minor motifs never get off the ground for secondary characters, including the detective, Patrick Mulligan, who is being established as a future key figure. Beltrami really emphasizes two themes as the core of the store, the one for Venom serving as the main theme of the picture, and a "buddy" idea for Eddie and Venom that highlights the humorous interactions between the two. None of the rest of the themes, aside perhaps from a love theme for Cletus and Frances, really congeals in the work, leaving the listener wishing that these core three themes were the extent of Beltrami's concentration. The primary Venom theme in Venom: Let There Be Carnage is fairly catchy and easy for Beltrami to insert just about anywhere. Its simple progressions include two-note and then three-note descending phrases that can be applied as counterpoint to just about any other theme. Previewed on strings in the middle of "Cletus' Cell," it's dropped throughout the first half of "Brock's Revival" and featured in brief phrases late in "No Touching!" and in the middle of "Eddie Hangs on the Line." Subdued as necessary in "Mulligan Visits Eddie" and "Venom Needs Food," the theme becomes an action sprite in "You Can Eat Them All" and "Unholy Matrimony Pt. 1" and adopts a more heroic, decisive mode to start "Unholy Matrimony Pt. 2." It finally achieves full superhero force in the latter half of "He Did Not Taste Good," a nicely impressive expression of tonality. On album, the theme's suite is "Venom's Suite Tooth," a rousing rendition that dwindles to ominous piano before the obligatory heavy metal explosion. The Eddie and Venom buddy theme may be more prevalent on album than in the film, though its drunken, bluesy representation of loneliness is an excellent representation of the odd couple. Debuting at the start of "Lucky Slaughterhouse," the theme returns humorously late in that cue and at 1:03 into "Take the Hit" on solo piano. It's dramatized in the middle of "Find Venom" and shines during all of "Panza and Quixote." Beltrami offers two suite-like tracks with the theme on album, the first, "Venom and Blues," a fabulous expansion for woodwinds, strings, guitars, and trumpets. The other, "Brock and Roll," takes the idea to the realm of driving rock for most of its length but dissolves to solo piano by its end. While the composer does offer a motif for Eddie, it's extremely muddy in the narrative and has little impact. At times, it sounds like a prickly, simplified version of Venom theme, a string-plucked annoyance in "Eddie Draws" and "Ann's News." The idea is a bit more streamlined in "Take the Hit" and takes on new life in "Eddie Escapes," but don't expect it to stick in your memory. Equally obtuse is Cletus' theme, slightly hypnotic, four-note phrases answering themselves in circular fashion. Heard at 1:16 into "St. Estes Reform School (Extended)," these phrases inform the rest of cue, becoming a rhythmic device. It emerges again from the haze in the second minute of "Cletus' Cell" with deep malice. The Cletus theme in Venom: Let There Be Carnage has an understandable hint of insanity, continuing at 0:20 into "Postcard From the Edge" over the underlying rhythm of the love theme. There are really weird major/minor key interactions in this cue to enhance the mental play. The theme returns in the latter half of "No Touching!," informs rhythms early in "Lethal Rejection," and is twisted in the second half of "Unholy Matrimony Pt. 1" and middle of "Unholy Matrimony Pt. 2." Beltrami handles Carnage using feedback loops of sound, mostly rhythmic pounding and ascending phrases. Arriving late in "Lethal Rejection," it stomps through the latter half of "Carnage Unleashed," offers more subdued ambient menace throughout "There is Only Carnage," opens "Unholy Matrimony Pt. 1," and has its last hurrah late in "Unholy Matrimony Pt. 2." Shriek, meanwhile, is treated to more of an instrumental technique than a theme, it seems. A wailing effect appropriate for the character is heard in "St. Estes Reform School (Extended)" and "The Great Escape," though the character receives more melodic material in "Shriek Comes Home." All of these themes pale compared to the love theme for Cletus and Frances, an oddly sinister lullaby featuring woodwinds processed to sound breathier, like distant steam whistles. The theme opens "St. Estes Reform School (Extended)" with awesome flute accents, is peripherally referenced in "Postcard From the Edge," and opens and closes "Get Shriek." It returns at the end of "The Great Escape" on romantic strings, turns massive with nice electric guitar accents to the orchestra at 0:53 into "Turn on the Charm," becomes frightening by the start of "You Can Eat Them All," and diminishes to a fleeting string reference late in "Unholy Matrimony Pt. 1." The two "Unholy Matrimony" cues for the cathedral scene presented Beltrami with a superb opportunity to clash his themes, and yet the effect doesn't clarify any climax or resolution. Altogether, Venom: Let There Be Carnage suffers from an overabundance of themes and little satisfying narrative in which they can thrive. The listener thus must pull out highlights, such as the remarkably smart and affable "Venom and Blues," for appreciation apart from the picture. The film's mid-credits scene with Spider-Man uses pieces of music from the rest of score rather an original cue written by Beltrami. There is much to like about this score, and it's certainly an improvement over its predecessor, but don't expect it to overwhelm you with a memorable presence. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 67:47
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information about the score or film.
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