Jay Rohr
Kraven the Hunter is oddly timid. Although there are certainly some amazing action segments, they never ascend to antihero extremes. Every so often there’s a glimpse of the gritty picture Kraven wants to be, yet it often shies away from the darkness. Some solid acting gives the film legs to stand on, but the janky script is a curious throwback. Kraven the Hunter seems like a remnant of ’80s action schlock rather than the cinematically slick kin of modern actioners.
After gracelessly dumping the news of their mother’s suicide, crime lord Nikolai Kravinoff, played by Russell Crowe (Gladiator), takes his sons on an African safari. Savagely mauled by a legendary lion, Sergei only survives because a young Calypso (Diaana Babnicova) administers a potion her voodoo grandmother conveniently gave her earlier. The magic concoction grants the young man superpowers which he decides to use killing crime bosses all around the world. Years later, when his younger brother Dmitri is imperiled by their father’s criminal rival the Rhino, Kraven the Hunter must save his estranged family.
The plot comes across surprisingly less ludicrous than it sounds. Anything outlandish is simply the byproduct of being yet another comic book-inspired movie as Hollywood continues to milk that dying cow. The main problem with Kraven the Hunter, in that regard, is a combination of bringing nothing new to the table, while suffering from Sony’s squeamishness with their line of antihero adaptations.
Kraven joins the ranks of Morbius (2022) alongside the Venom franchise. These are films that want to emulate the Deadpool formula but are too afraid to dip more than a toe in R-rated waters. Horror adjacent hardcore action flicks that offer an alternative to the relatively family friendly MCU. However, these Sony adaptations never have the courage to risk alienating those audiences.
Kraven the Hunter is a host of lost opportunities. Chief among them is the way the character keeps talking about tracking down people yet never is shown doing so. As such, the audience barely sees Kraven hunt. Though that said, viewers do get to see him kill.
The opening of the film is a marvelous action set piece. It showcases the character’s extraordinary abilities without overdoing it. Stylized violence alongside slick parkour is satisfying while leaving implications of impressive heights to come. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (The Fall Guy) provides an amazing display of athleticism that just makes an audience want more. And many of the later set pieces largely deliver. Filmmakers also do a nice job of escalating encounters so that the character never seems totally in control.
It’s the journey to those events which can be a drag. Narratively, Kraven the Hunter is an atavistic reminder of Cannon films. Once upon a time, their cornucopia of loveable low-quality movies — Bloodsport (1988), Cobra (1986), and the Chuck Norris Delta Force franchise to name a few — planned to welcome a James Cameron directed Spider-man picture into their midst. Kraven the Hunter feels like a cousin to that lost opportunity.
Ridiculous dialogue often comes across as either annoying or unintentionally comical. This is especially irritating whenever the film tries to tie heartstrings to its estranged family dynamic that never really pull the audience in. The movie’s themes about toxic masculinity are incongruent at best. Motivations for many characters are paper thin if at all existent. The Rhino, for instance, is a crime lord because he’s an antagonist in the film, cherry picked from source material because he’s an animal themed villain. There’s also a laziness in the script.
Richard Wenk worked on all three Equalizer films, and Kraven the Hunter, especially during the first crime boss encounter, echoes the Denzel led franchise in ways that feel like cut & paste. This is, after all, a tale of Russian gangsters being systematically slaughtered by a protagonist they’ve underestimated. Meanwhile, the duo of Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, who wrote arguably the best Punisher adaptation, the Lexi Alexander directed Punisher: War Zone (2008), are never allowed to bring the absurd extremity of that film into play with this movie.
The cast is a saving grace. Russell Crowe sells the despicable qualities of his abusive father role better than the script does. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is all-in as the titular character. Fred Hechinger (Gladiator 2) is wonderful as Dmitri, burning for a chance to prove himself in action but too terrified to act. Ariana DeBose (Argylle) plays adult Calypso well enough, but she never overcomes the poor writing limiting her role. Alessandro Nivola (Face/Off) is excellent as the Rhino, portraying the right balance of charming yet disconcertingly unhinged. However, his performance is lost in the close to CGI.
Most of the effects in Kraven the Hunter are passable. Some scenes are better than others. It’s a shame the film comes down to a computer animated slug fest. Fortunately, the final clash involves strategy more than brutality. Overall, the effects are never so bad that they ruin the experience, but no one is likely singing their praises anytime soon.
In a curious parallel of the film’s own plot, Kraven the Hunter is afraid to be any of the movies it could. The flick takes itself too seriously to lean towards humor. Most of the comedy is unintentional, while planned jokes cause more cringes than chuckles. The action is thrilling but keeps trying to be bloody in tepid ways. Although one kill definitely featured some gloriously grotesque gore, the rest of the bloodshed pales in comparison to movies like Monkey Man. Meanwhile, the acting is there for a better story; however, Kraven the Hunter is more interested in leaping from plot point to set piece rather than telling a compelling narrative. The result is a wasted cast sometimes spouting the worst lines since Samurai Cop (1991).
Director J. C. Chandor does a decent job capturing Kraven the Hunter. The best examples, though, are quiet scenes with people interacting. The action, despite some thrills, is never on the next level. Consequently, Kraven the Hunter can’t quite kill it.
