‘Kraven the Hunter’ Review: Lame Spidey Spin-off Can’t Hunt Enough to Justify its Existence
It's hilarious that Sony spent hundreds of millions of dollars and made movies about C- or D-tier Spider-Man characters – Dr. Michael Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter – without starring Spider-Man. Thank God their cinematic universe version of “Fetch” wasn't going to happen and they’re done with their SMU experiment (for now). But is Kraven the Hunter, their first R-rated entry in their Spi-D-Tier universe, the first legitimately decent installment? HA! Of course not. Shit sucks, fam.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of SONY
R: Strong bloody violence, and language.
Runtime: 2 Hrs and 7 Minutes
Production Companies: Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, TSG Entertainment II, Arad Productions, Matt Tolmach Productions
Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing
Director: J. C. Chandor
Writers: Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, Russell Crowe
Release Date: December 13, 2024
Macho-minded Oligarch Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe) takes his sons Young Sergei (Levi Miller) and his younger brother Dmitri (Billy Barratt) to Ghana on a hunting trip in hopes of killing a legendary lion and teaching them what it means to be a man. Sergei encounters the lion. However, Nikolai’s interference leads to Sergei getting brutally attacked by it. On the brink of death, the lion's blood enters Sergei's bloodstream and he’s revived by a nearby girl named Calypso, who used her family's strength serum on him. When he awakens, he obtains animal-like abilities, radicalizing to protect the animals and become one with nature, a la Tarzan. He runs away from home, leaving Dmitri and Nikolai behind.
Years pass and an adult Sergei (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) becomes a one-man poacher-killer machine, Kraven the Hunter. He's like the Lorax but avenges animals instead of speaking for the trees. His spree catches the eye of Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), a mob boss with a vendetta against the Kravinoffs who also had a procedure done where he must wear a bag to refrain from becoming a ferocious, indestructible Rhino. When Dmitri (Fred Hechinger) is taken captive by Sytsevich's men, it’s up to Kraven and Calypso (Ariana DeBose) to rescue him through any animalistic means necessary.
Oddly enough, Kraven's Oligarch family ties initially had me invested
The film establishes an interesting dynamic between the Kravinoff family, primarily in its opening flashback sequences. The events after Sergei's accident make them all estranged. It's fascinating to see how they intertwine when adult Kraven has to live a double life as a hunter and Dmitri's keeper. I was also fascinated because they reminded me a little of Succession Roys – Nikolai/Logan, Sergei/Kendall, Dmitri/Roman. Russell Crowe, who dons an inconsistent Russian accent, evokes menacing patriarchal power as Nikolai's projection of masculinity strengthens his sons' hatred towards him. Fred Hechinger adds a down-to-earth energy to Dmitri, where you can tell that he has been the subject of his father's abuse while exhibiting chronic brother energy. Taylor-Johnson is fine but doesn’t hold a candle to his co-stars, which is weird considering he’s in the titular role!
I was fond of Aleksei being entertainingly dorky in his dialect and mannerisms. He’s like a weaker version of Buddy/Syndrome from The Incredibles, for he starts off wanting Senpai Nikolai to notice him, gets rejected, and becomes his own badass and legitimate threat. He's entertaining until he has to show off that Rhino skin because boy is the final design ugly as hell and is revealed so anticlimactically.
Sony Should’ve Made Kraven Into a Series
Kraven is the first of these Sony superhero films where the structure is closer to a Netflix show than a movie. After revealing the backstory of its characters in a "this is where episode 2 would be" fashion, the film never truly feels like it is striving towards anything, and is unsure about its purpose or motivation. The story flows through a string of violent vignettes as Kraven takes down gangster poachers for almost an hour before it remembers to have a plot. Say what you will about Madame Web, but even that had a functioning plot. Kraven has no real discernible plot, until Sytsevich/Rhino comes onscreen or when Dmitri is kidnapped.
The script shoehorns another Spider-Man-based villain with The Foreigner (Christopher Abbott), an assassin with hypnotic powers, who is also introduced an hour into the film. As someone who likes Abbott's work, it was exciting to see him for the sake of his bag being secured. Other than that, Foreigner is an unnecessary contrivance to an already telegraphed story.
Same Ol' Sony Shit On a Stick
In typical Sony fashion, despite the $130 million budget, the shit looks cheap. The dialogue wavers between excruciatingly awkward and horrendous, the textures on the many CG animals are embarrassingly unpolished, and it’s in the running with Madame Web for the worst use of ADR I've heard in a studio movie my whole life. And, worst of all, it put Ariana DeBose in such terrible wigs that you would think this was a Tyler Perry production. But none of the film's shortcomings add to the fun, unlike their other terrible titles.
Unlike Madame Web's entertaining awfulness and Venom: The Last Dance being fueled by SymBrock, Kraven the Hunter doesn't stand out to become a somewhat enjoyable experience. There's nothing on the level of shirtless dancing Matt Smith. It acts like the R-rating helps its case but looks even more desperate.
Big whoop. Kraven is rated R. As brutal as the kills may be, none are effective or satisfying. J.C. Chandor's poor direction focuses more on Kraven's “animal meets ballet” agility than blocking effective combat. Every action sequence is constructed with rapid cuts and poor editing, rendering the brutal killings sloppy and immature. The movie bears a serious tone throughout that makes all the poor filmmaking choices and clear studio notes in the final cut much more damning. But this cash-grab era Sony has been trying to shove down our throats is over. Now I hope the brain-dead execs running the show are “Kraven” some originality.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Kraven the Hunter continues the Sony Cinematic Universe's tradition of straight trash. Even with its blood and gore and a fine Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kraven can’t hunt enough to justify its existence. Oh well. So long SMU, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Rating: 1.5/5
