Watch The First Seven Minutes Of Rom-Com Venom: Let There Be Carnage

"Venom: Let There Be Carnage," the best rom-com of 2021, is now on digital. And in the spirit of reminding folks of that, Sony has gone ahead and put the first seven minutes of the movie online. This opening scene primarily focuses on Cletus Kasady, the serial killer who will one day become Carnage, played by Woody Harrelson. But since this is a flashback to Cletus as a kid, we get to see a younger actor with Woody Harrelson's voice coming out of his mouth. As a youth, Cletus is sent away to a mental hospital. It's there he meets Frances Barrison, who seems to be just as crazy and violent as he is. And oh yeah, she has a super-powered scream, so there's that, too. Frances and Cletus fall for each other, but Frances is sent away one day, much to Cletus' anger. From there we jump forward to present day, where Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is about to interview Cletus on death row. Also along for the ride: Venom, the alien parasite/boyfriend that lives inside Eddie. Watch the first seven minutes of "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" below. 

I did not expect to enjoy "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" as much as I did, but what a nice surprise! I thought the first "Venom" was kind of blah, but Tom Hardy's unhinged performance elevated things. With the sequel, director Andy Serkis and company leaned into the silliness, creating a rom-com disguised as a superhero movie. As I wrote in my review: 

Any enjoyment derived from the first "Venom" felt like an accident. Marketing for the flick played up a dark, shadowy, potentially violent antihero story. But the fun of the film came from how unusually silly it was for a modern-day comic book adaptation, with Tom Hardy going gonzo as he used weird voices and climbed into lobster tanks. Now, here's "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," a sequel that does away with any pretext of seriousness. Like "Evil Dead II," this is an off-the-wall, over-the-top, "Three Stooges" inspired freak show. The end result is a queer-coded rom-com about two very messy boys who love each other. Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote Venom are destined to be together; they're both losers who make each other winners in the end. Sure, a few heads get bitten off in the process, but love does funny things to us all.

"Venom: Let There Be Carnage" is now on digital, and the above opening scene introduces you to the film's villains, Cletus Cassiday AKA Carnage (Woody Harrelson) and Frances Barrison AKA Shriek (Naomie Harris). Here's the film's synopsis:

Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the lethal protector Venom, one of MARVEL's greatest and most complex characters. Directed by Andy Serkis, written by Kelly Marcel with the story by Tom Hardy & Marcel, the film also stars Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris and Woody Harrelson, in the role of the villain Cletus Kasady/Carnage.

"Venom: Let There Be Carnage" arrives on Blu-ray on December 14, 2021.