Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s iteration of Kraven the Hunter is finally debuting on the big screen after almost two full years of delays (originally scheduled to release in January 2023). Lucky for us, this was just enough time for Sony to keep meddling with the movie to the point of it barely being watchable! It wouldn’t be a true addition to Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters (SUMC) without the obvious studio interference. However, Kraven the Hunter is arriving at a time when superhero fatigue is peaking. Plus, according to a recent report (via The Wrap), Sony’s Spider-Man universe of villains is seemingly dead for now, with all focus shifting to profiting off Tom Holland‘s upcoming second Spider-Man trilogy.
Venom: The Last Dance just grossed a little over half of what the first Venom movie made in 2018. Madame Web made 4x less than The Last Dance‘s gross earlier in the year, solidifying it as one of the biggest box office flops of 2024. Yes, Sony’s Marvel track record was always poor (let us not forget Morbius). Still, superhero fatigue cannot be ignored when it has also started to affect successful competitors like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC. Deadpool & Wolverine gave the MCU a much-needed lifeline earlier this year, while Joker: Folie à Deux was all but universally hated. So, in a sea of never-ending slop, why waste more time on a Spider-Man franchise without Spider-Man?
Sony seems to agree that this entire Spider-Man villains franchise didn’t work, as Kraven the Hunter feels like it’s merely being dumped out at the last second to cut all losses. Helmed by director J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier, A Most Violent Year), it’s obvious that the filmmaker was met with the impossible task of delivering a surefire hit under heavy restrictions. When it comes to the SUMC, it’s often been hard to put direct blame on the filmmakers and star talent since they have to answer to some of the most notorious producers in Hollywood —looking at you, Avi Arad. Chandor, specifically, has sounded defeated in the press leading up to Kraven, so the writing’s all on the wall.
Courtesy of Sony
Simply put, Kraven the Hunter often comes off as a collection of scenes stitched together rather than a coherent movie. Within the first 15 minutes of sitting in the theater, you will question how gullible Sony thinks you are by having purchased a ticket. There are fragments of a somewhat enjoyable, schlocky action flick spread throughout, indicating that this project must have been edited to hell and back in the almost two years it was delayed. However, the majority of people who are planning to see Kraven the Hunter already know that it’s bad. They are not reading this review for anything more than finding out two things: is Kraven enjoyably bad, and how unintentionally hilarious is it?
If you’re reading this excited for the future of the Sonyverse and how Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven can meet Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, what world are you living in? Like Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock/Venom, Sony attempts to humanize Kraven the Hunter (read that again without trying to feel insane) by making him an anti-hero who’s part animal savior and part savage human killer. The first hour makes for the most boring material seen from the Sonyverse, and that’s really saying something. After a promising action-packed intro wherein Kraven takes out a prolific mob boss inside a snowy Russian maximum security prison, establishing him as this Baba Yaga-like hitman, the movie pushes the brakes and heads into nearly 30 minutes of flashbacks.
We get to learn Kraven’s origins as the young Sergei Kravinoff, who grew up under his father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe), the ruthless leader of their family’s crime syndicate. Sergei’s younger half-brother, Dmitri Smerdyakov (Fred Hechinger), has always lived in his shadow, seen as purely weak by Nikolai. Okay, stay with me here; after a forced hunting trip in Africa accidentally sees Sergei mauled by a legendary alpha lion, therefore getting some of the lion’s DNA into his bloodstream, a young Calypso Ezili, who comes across his body by chance, uses her family’s voodoo elixir to magically revive him. Sergei is then reborn with super strength and animal-like senses, turning him into the apex predator we all know.
Courtesy of Sony
Once back in the present, the story shifts to this action-thriller plot of multiple criminal groups fighting for global supremacy. Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), aka The Rhino, makes a move by kidnapping Dmitri, forcing Kraven to find an adult Calypso (Ariana DeBose), who’s now a powerful lawyer, to get his way into the concrete jungle of New York. Meanwhile, Nikolai continues to plant the seeds for Kraven to accept his destiny as a villain. Oh, and deep-cut Spider-Man foe The Foreigner (Christopher Abbott) also pops in. When he’s not using his unique hypnosis abilities to add some excitement, he’s pulling out Daily Bugle newspapers to remind the audience that this is still all related to Spider-Man somehow.
For those looking for a good old-fashioned “so good it’s bad” movie, Kraven the Hunter does deliver in small doses. It’s not like Madame Web, which is more consistent with its unintentional humor and meme potential. You can at least watch Madame Web with your friends and have a blast the more drunk you get. Additionally, nothing in Madame Web or Morbius, for that matter, looks as bad as the sludgy visuals and CGI animals in Kraven. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is clearly not in the same room (or space) as his co-stars at times. If this isn’t evident by the obvious green screens, then it’s made painfully obvious by the lazy ADR.
Lazy is a good way of describing Kraven the Hunter, as most scenes with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose feel like the two actors had just walked on set and met for the first time right before the cameras started rolling. Just no chemistry within the cast whatsoever. But with such a lifeless script, again, can you really blame them? The real MVPs are Alessandro Nivola, Fred Hechinger, and Christopher Abbott, who seem to be the only people who understand what kind of trash they have to work with. Nivola is especially hilarious as The Rhino, chewing up every scene more than anyone else in a way that will make for a meme-worthy scene compilation video.
Russell Crowe may be cashing in an easy check, but it’s still hard not to laugh when he’s delivering on-the-nose lines like, “My son, he can [sing] like anyone, he’s like chameleon” in a heavy Russian accent. By the way, did you get that reference, Spidey fans? It’s because his son literally becomes the Chameleon. That’s how stupid this movie thinks you are, and even Sony, to a degree. For the good of the comic-book film genre, it’s good that franchises like these are dying off. It’s only going to push the studios to do better. Call it natural selection. Your money and your goodwill, as fans of these characters, do not deserve to be taken for granted.
Audiences have never been more fed up with superhero mediocrity, so it’s only fitting for Kraven the Hunter to be the one to stick his knife into the SUMC’s throat, putting it out of its misery like a poor, sick animal. While there are a handful of hilarious, unintentional laugh-out-loud moments, it’s hard to argue that seeing a few soon-to-be memes early on the big screen is worth the price of a movie ticket. Even if you just want to see bloody action and extreme, animalistic violence, like Aaron Taylor-Johnson biting off someone’s nose or using bear traps to decapitate goons, it all feels like secondhand thoughts that worked better in a previous edit of the film.
Lastly, almost everyone on screen is in a movie that is either currently or will soon be playing in theaters. Aaron Taylor-Johnson puts on an admirable performance in Rogert Eggers’ Nosferatu. Fred Hechinger is delightfully delirious in Gladiator II. Alessandro Nivola has gained recognition for his turnout in The Brutalist. Ariana DeBose will soon star in the promising romance-themed action flick Love Hurts opposite fellow Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan. Christopher Abbott is taking on the titular monstrous role in Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man. So, if you want to see any of these stars in a wide variety of better projects, you’re better off just waiting or pivoting your attention elsewhere. Kraven the Hunter is a total waste of time.
Kraven the Hunter hits theaters on December 13!
Release Date: December 13, 2024.
Directed by J.C. Chandor.
Screenplay by Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, & Matt Holloway.
Story by Richard Wenk.
Based on Marvel Comics.
Produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, & David Householter.
Main Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Russell Crowe, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, Levi Miller, & Billy Barratt.
Cinematographer: Ben Davis.
Composers: Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine, & Benjamin Wallfisch.
Production Companies: Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, TSG Entertainment II, Arad Productions, & Matt Tolmach Productions.
Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing.
Runtime: 127 minutes.
Rated R.
