Although the title character is one of Spider-Man’s most notorious foes, the esteemed web-slinger does not appear in Kraven the Hunter. Played as an adult by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kraven is made over here into an anti-hero, light on the “anti.” He’s a violent killer, but strictly of other violent killers.
The son of a vile, mega-rich Russian crime lord (Russell Crowe), Sergei Kravinoff acquires superhuman strength, durability and perception as a kid (Levi Miller) after a safari mishap. Now grown up, Sergei takes to murdering rotten powerful scumbags, and becomes known as “The Hunter,” sort of a boogeyman for oligarchs. He’s abetted by Calypso (Ariana DeBose), a London lawyer with whom he has a childhood connection.
As with 2022’s Morbius, I really wanted to like this saga of a back-bench Marvel character. I’ve had some fondness for Kraven since the mid-’70s, when he was part of the Aurora Spider-Man model kit, which came with its own 8-page comic. But while the Kraven movie is significantly better than Morbius, it too was a disappointment. I sort of enjoyed it, on a geeky level, but I can’t really recommend it.
Directed by J. C. Chandor from a script by Richard Wenk, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, Kraven the Hunter keeps moving, and there’s undeniable satisfaction in seeing big-game trophy hunters and poachers and arms dealers and their scummy like get bloodily slaughtered. But the dialogue is flat, and despite the presence of two other supervillains, the movie feels humorless and lacking in color. It could also be a tough slog for people who are highly sensitive to depictions of violence toward animals.
Nor is there much vibrancy or chemistry among the actors. Taylor-Johnson is impressive physically – he certainly looks capable of Kraven’s superhuman feats – but he isn’t able to develop much of a relationship with the audience. As the young Sergei, Miller has one explosive moment, opposite Crowe, that’s more startling and dramatic than anything the adult Kraven does.
Crowe’s ripe Boris Badenov accent is fun to listen to, but probably the best performance here is that of Alessandro Nivola as The Rhino. His curiously soft-spoken, almost sheepish delivery when he’s in human form somehow generates more menace than his monstrous transformation near the end.
