THE STORY – Kraven’s complex relationship with his ruthless father starts him down a path of vengeance, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.
THE CAST – Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Russell Crowe, Ariana DeBose, Alessandro Nivola, Fred Hechinger & Christopher Abbott
THE TEAM – J.C. Chandor (Director), Richard Wenk, Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 127 Minutes
It hasn’t even been two months since “Venom: The Last Dance,” and audiences are already being coerced back to the theaters to see another Spider-Man feature devoid of the iconic web crawler in favor of propping up one of his villains. This feels like a relationship that clearly won’t show any signs of changing for the better, yet it’s easier to stick along and hope for the best. To be fair, Sony’s latest Hail Mary attempt, “Kraven the Hunter,” has some ingredients that might set this offering apart from missteps, such as “Morbius” or “Madame Web.” J.C. Chandor, who signed on to direct the superhero flick, has made quality films before, such as the underrated Oscar Issac-led crime drama “A Most Violent Year” and the Oscar-nominated “Margin Call.” Then we add a stacked ensemble featuring the likes of Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Sergei Kravinoff, aka. “Kraven”), Academy Award winners Russell Crowe (Kraven’s father, Nikolai Kravinoff), and Ariana DeBose (Calypso Ezili, a voodoo priestess who also happens to be a lawyer), and others to revel in full-blown R-rated mayhem that not even the Venom films were allowed to work with. On paper, there was something there to make a film that at the very least could be mind-numbingly entertaining, yet “Kraven the Hunter” is devoid of anything worthwhile, coming off as the film equivalent of scraping a chalkboard with beast-like fingernails.
“Kraven the Hunter” drops us right in amid a hunt our titular character (played by Taylor-Johnson) is engaged in, taking him deep into a snowy Russian prison. Taylor-Johnson (as muscular as ever) very quickly tries to establish his intimidating presence to audiences through his physical prowess, running off walls on all fours like an animal in the wild. He’s brutal, precise, and, most importantly, always catches his prey. Everything else that proceeds this thrilling opening 8 minutes is instantly nowhere as engaging, especially as the film spends the next twenty-plus minutes establishing so much exposition with the dullest backstory. We learn about Kraven’s brother Dimitri (played by Fred Hechinger) and how, during their adolescence, they were often forced to embrace violence by their father, Russian crime lord Nikolai Krovinoff (played by Russell Crowe). Then, after half-heartedly establishing Kraven as a character, his weird lion blood-imbued powers lead to him getting involved in his father’s petty criminal disputes, making it his most personal hunt so far.
To put it bluntly, the screenplay for “Kraven the Hunter” is a mess, so much so that Chandor’s efforts behind the camera do little to save it. The screenplay misses its target in every aspect, from the corny dialogue uttered from every actor’s mouth to the barely functional story edited to pieces. Nothing in the story feels inspired, and it is just a retread of everything that has come from other superhero films over the years, including previous Sony-Marvel films. Also, how “Kraven The Hunter” was chopped up in the cutting room is more than visible through its brutally uneven pacing and the number of times we witness actors being dubbed over with the most poorly synced ADR.
It’s baffling to see how uninspired the action sequences are when the leading hook of seeing “Kraven the Hunter” is the R-rated bloodthirsty action. Chandor had a chance to maximize Kraven’s mature rating by going all in with some creative kills that could’ve injected some life and memorability into the slog of set pieces spread throughout the film’s drawn-out runtime. It’s not like Chandor is unable to execute well-choreographed action set pieces. Criticisms aside, his previous feature, “Triple Frontier,” is more than satisfactory on the action front, from the staging of the shootouts to how it supports the movie’s momentum. The assumption is that the allure of hunting is the thrill of catching the prey, yet every time Kraven kills something in this film, it doesn’t even elicit an emotional response. An action film shouldn’t be this tedious, especially with numerous over-the-top action sequences with Taylor-Johnson biting people’s necks, stabbing them with tiger tooths, and moving around with the energy of a parkour acrobat.
It’s a shame to say this, especially with someone as talented as Taylor-Johnson, but he is genuinely juiceless in “Kraven the Hunter.” If you disregard the fact that he has to regurgitate some of the stalest dialogue he’s ever been given, it’s more so that his screen presence comes off as lifeless. Taylor-Johnson showcased this year his underutilized comedy chops through films like “The Fall Guy” and the soon-to-be-released “Nosferatu,” yet every time he attempts to crack a one-liner here, it comes off as forced and unnatural. He’s also fighting tooth and nail to have some type of chemistry with anyone he stands apart from on-screen, whether it’s with Ariana DeBose or Hechinger. DeBose speed-running back-to-back disasters after “Argylle,” with a performance equally as questionable, contributes nothing to the project as a whole, as her character is there just to spout exposition and deliver conveniently timed revives to bail out Sergei whenever there are rare moments of his ass getting kicked.
Crowe, while still maintaining energy on screen that captures your attention, is, unfortunately, phoning it in here. Nivola might be the only one who understands the assignment dialing into Pedro Pascal in “Wonder Woman 1984” levels of hamminess with his depiction of Aleksei Sytsevich, aka “The Rhino.” It’s just hard to take him seriously when the film is way more interested in teasing the inevitable shoe drop of transforming him whole as a CGI creature to play action figure with Taylor-Johnson. Fred Hechinger is somehow the only member of the ensemble whose performance isn’t either as personable as cardboard or ironically comical. There is real pathos he tries to bring out of Dimitri’s character, and it’s aided by the inherently earnest nature he already has as a performer. Then there’s Christopher Abbott as a mysterious teleporting mercenary and assassin named “The Foreigner,” who’s just in the movie to put a brief obstacle in front of Kraven and for Abbott to collect a paycheck. There are almost unprecedented levels of wondering why such characters are even here, just like Zosia Mamet in “Madame Web” earlier this year.
Sony is rumored to be pulling the plug with their Spider-Man-less franchise. It’s obvious how much they aren’t even invested in it anymore, as are the audiences who have been subjected to this slop for almost a decade now. The time for these movies has passed, yet studios can’t seem to grasp that the time for releasing massively budget films about C-list comic characters is no longer available. People don’t blindly turn out for this anymore because a Marvel logo will appear in front of it. Kraven’s first hunt (despite more teased with the usual sequel-bait ending) will most definitely be his last, and deservedly so. Safe to say, audiences will not be “Kraven” this one.
