#REVIEW: “KRAVEN THE HUNTER”

Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong

All things, whether good or bad, must come to an end and with J.C. Chandor’s Kraven the Hunter (that was postponed for roughly 18 months) the Sony Pictures-MCU experiment is finally over, and somehow single individuals are in dismay. What started this year with a meme about a mother in the Amazon, slowly became the perfect allegory for all of the Sony Pictures-Marvel movies – a web is something a spider creates to trap its prey, but without a Spider-Man, the only prey is the audience.

Kraven The Hunter focuses on a young Sergei (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), his brother Dmitri (Fred Hechinger) and their father Nikolai (Russell Crowe), as he wants to teach them to become men. So what does any brooding Russian mafia drug trafficking father do? He takes them to the jungle to hunt for sport. Sergei decides he doesn’t want to hunt when he goes face-to-face with a lion, but Nikolai opens fire on the lion, which leads it to attack and carry Sergei away. When it finally drops his lifeless body, a young Calyspo (Ariana DeBose) gives Sergei a potion her grandmother created, which saves his life and turns him into Kraven the Hunter.

When the Movie proceeds to modern day, we see Dmitri still being that ‘little boy’ who cannot stand up to his father, but wears a multitude of masks – a chameleon one could say – as he’s trying to coast by and avoid his father’s wrath, while Sergei now going by the name Kraven, has exiled himself, going after the worst of the scum. He comes across a particularly fowl poacher which leads him to reconnect with Calypso after a friend of hers is murdered by a kingpin, and they agree to work together to clear his list. However, this attracts the attention of Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola) who goes by the name of Rhino and wants to kill Kraven, so he enlists the help of The Foreigner (Christopher Abbott) and kidnaps Dmitri to ensure he can finally eliminate Kraven.

J.C Chandor (A Most Violent Year, All is Lost) certainly knows his way behind a camera and can pull performances out of his Cast, but something in Kraven just doesn’t add-up. The Movie visually is sub-par to look at, has some of the most puzzling performance choices (including an misused Nivola) and just drags-on beyond belief. The action sequences, which are very telling of the Film’s poor CGI, are entertaining even if they are short and sparse.  A 127 minute run time somehow feels even longer than it is, sprinkled with teases and cameos that ultimately serve little purpose.

The saving grace for Kraven the Hunter is the work of both Taylor-Johnson and Crowe, who deliver performances that at least do something to draw us in. Crowe is an over-the-top burly Russian gangster whose accent is comical, but that is easy to overlook once he gets into character. Taylor-Johnson is genuinely invested and escapes this unscathed. He gets lost into this world and breathes life into this Spider-villain, becoming more of an anti-hero than a B-villain.

We’re sad to say that even for fans of Taylor-Johnson are going to be disappointed – and for some a lack of shirtless scenes – even if he is compelling. And with Sony Pictures declaring that their Marvel partnership is dead the many teases and cameos feel meaningless in the end.

Sony Pictures Canada release KRAVEN THE HUNTER in theatres on Friday, December 13, 2024