Director: J.C. Chandor
Writers: Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway
Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Fred Hechinger, Russell Crowe
Synopsis: Kraven’s complex relationship with his ruthless father, Nikolai Kravinoff, starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.
There are two reasons I was excited about Sony’s latest (and likely final) entry in the Sony Spider-Man Universe: Kraven the Hunter has Aaron Taylor-Johnson and J.C. Chandor. Taylor-Johnson has always been a versatile, dynamic performer known for his emotional and physical commitment, which can be awe-inspiring. Chandor, on the other hand, had an extraordinary first three-film run with Margin Call, All Is Lost, and A Most Violent Year, though he stumbled slightly with the star-studded Triple Frontier.
Surely, a respected heartthrob and critical darling like Taylor-Johnson, paired with a director known for introspection, could bring a fresh perspective to a tired genre and transcend the tropes and clichés that often plague it. Sadly, Kraven the Hunter falls short. The film suffers from cringe-worthy dialogue, occasionally hysterically bad special effects (Kraven’s friends, the water buffaloes, have the look of a Lindt Milk Chocolate Holiday Bunny), and even some embarrassingly poor performances from Academy Award-winning and otherwise respected actors.
The story follows Sergei Kravinoff, aka Kraven (Bullet Train’s Taylor-Johnson), a conservationist who sees it as his duty to protect wildlife rather than hunt it. This mindset likely stems from his father, Nikolai (Academy Award winner Russell Crowe), a ruthless Russian crime lord and big-game hunter. While Nikolai takes lives for selfish gain, Kraven takes them to serve the greater good. It’s a tale of overcoming circumstances—faith versus free will—harnessing a brutal nature and a thirst for vengeance.
However, Kraven’s resolve is tested when he faces Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), a Russian mercenary who has become a human-rhino hybrid. Sytsevich possesses the comedic style of Michael Scott, the temperament of the Hulk, and an impenetrable hide. Eventually, Aleksei abducts his brother, Dimitri (Fred Hechinger), sending Kraven on the, well, hunt. He enlists the help of London’s very best “investigative” lawyer, Calypso Ezili (Ariana DeBose), who has a connection to Sergei’s past to help track down Dimitri, which is strange since Johnson’s character states how it is “undeniable” he’s the greatest hunter/tracker on the planet.
Johnson is one of the most talented actors in the world, but the film and sound editors do him no favors, allowing him to ham it up here. His performance is so over the top, it’s almost laughable. The same goes for Alessandro Nivola, who was excellent in The Art of Self-Defense and The Many Saints of Newark but plays the Rhino so inconsistently that his portrayal feels disjointed. Yes, he’s playing a psychopathic villain, but the character’s uneven shifts are so erratic they come off as practically schizophrenic. Even Ariana DeBose is left standing awkwardly in one scene, showing no fear, shock, or even surprise when a leopard attacks Sergei, as if such events are an everyday occurrence in a courtroom.
And don’t get me started on Christopher Abbott’s “Foreigner.” The script has his character undergo a series of repetitive minor assassinations, leaving the audience wanting to scream, “For God’s sake, we get it!” These so-called “iconic” characters—Kraven, Calypso, Rhino, Foreigner, and Chameleon—are so paper-thin, it’s a blatant misuse of the source material. The writing team seems uninterested in understanding these characters, reducing them to glorified cameos. It’s as if they’re mere action figures with a pull-string, endlessly repeating the same scenes or one-liners repeatedly.
The main issue with the film is that it juggles too many perspectives, a clear sign of repeated rewrites. Richard Wenk is credited as the primary screenwriter, with additional contributions from Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. The first 45 minutes drag under the weight of exposition, unfolding as slowly as thawing permafrost. Predictably, the film relies on the same tired tropes and clichés you’d expect from the genre. For example, lion blood and some magic voodoo medicine give Kraven the animal powers of a lion.
However, did you know a lion can jump off a fifty story building without breaking a bone and spot a cigarette butt a mile away? What I find particularly amusing about environmental superhero films is their tendency to preach against animal cruelty only to fall into hypocrisy. Case in point: while Kraven fights for vengeance over the killing of animals, he seems perfectly fine catching a fish and then ripping the flesh off for his own enjoyment and nourishment. I mean, fish are animals, too, right?
This should have been fun, but the gory, tedious, and laughable final product should hopefully hammer the final nail in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU) for good.
You can watch Kraven the Hunter only in theaters on December 13th!
