“Kraven the Hunter” isn’t just one of the worst comic book movies ever made, but a sign that the “superhero fatigue” that has been hinted at for years has finally begun to set in. If audiences finally show declining interest in films based on Marvel comic books, it will be because projects like “Kraven the Hunter” coast off of tangential connections to other characters that audiences might be familiar with. The laziness of “Kraven the Hunter” is glaring, as the film isn’t interested in doing anything to differentiate itself from the countless other anti-hero origin stories of the past few decades. If there’s anything truly noteworthy, it is that “Kraven the Hunter” is so incompetent that it is actually rather impressive that it was released in theaters, and not sent straight to a streaming service.
Although the Marvel logo plays in front of the opening title, “Kraven the Hunter” is actually not part of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe that consists of “The Avengers,” “Captain America,” and “Iron Man” franchises. The film was produced by Sony, who owns the rights to “Spider-Man” and his villains. While Sony has worked out a deal with Marvel Studios to include Tom Holland’s Peter Parker into “The Avengers” universe, they have also produced standalone projects that exist within their own timeline. Some of these films, such as the inventive “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and its sequel, were able to radically change the art style and open themselves to a new audience. Others, such as “Morbius” and this year’s “Madame Web,” feel like desperate cash grabs made to benefit off of the Marvel intellectual property.
Although the character was originally written to be Spider-Man’s nemesis, “Kraven the Hunter” positions its central character as a fledgling vigilante who uses his animalistic abilities and adept tracking skills to take down gangsters, corrupt bureaucrats, and supervillains across the globe. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a genuinely great actor and proved this year that he can elevate genre titles like “Nosferatu” and “The Fall Guy” with his endearing personality. Unfortunately, Taylor-Johnson is almost too committed to this treaty material for it to be unintentionally funny. Even an actor as inherently charismatic as Taylor-Johnson struggles to make the dull dialogue in “Kraven the Hunter” land with any impact, as every line seems designed to either deliver exposition or be cut for use in a marketing campaign.
If Taylor-Johnson at least deserves credit for putting in his best effort, the same grace cannot be extended to the supporting cast. Russell Crowe’s performance as Kraven’s father, the Russian gangster Nikolai Kravinoff, is the most glaring. It is easy to forget that just two decades prior, Crowe’s work in “Gladiator,” “A Beautiful Mind,” and “Cinderella Man” among others indicated that he was one of the greatest actors of his generation. Although Crowe has been the victim of some underwhelming scripts within the last few years, his performance in “Kraven the Hunter” is a new low. Crowe’s goofy Russian accent and inability to articulate the most mundane dialogue robs “Kraven the Hunter” of the opportunity to be a genuinely entertaining B-movie; even the low-budget exploitation films of the 1980s had performers who showed some enthusiasm about the ability to play over-the-top characters.
Crowe’s lack of enthusiasm is understandable, as Kravinoff isn’t even the main antagonist of the film. It’s unclear why a film that barely spends enough time developing its main character would need three separate villains, but “Kraven the Hunter” gives precious screen time to the Russian mercenary Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), who becomes “The Rhino,” and an enigmatic assassin known as “The Foreigner” (Christopher Abbott).
Nivola appears to be the only actor who knew what type of film he was in, as he sincerely commits to acting like a complete cartoon character, which may have been compelling if the CGI effects used to create the “Rhino” persona weren’t so lacking. Abbott is completely wasted in a role that feels like it could be cut entirely. Those unfamiliar with the comics might not even be aware of what his powers are intended to be, as the film shows no interest in explaining them.
The initial appeal of Sony’s spinoff Marvel films was that they were devoid of the universe building that had dominated so many of the films produced by Walt Disney Studios. Even solid MCU films like “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” required their viewers to be up-to-date on everything that had happened in the preceding television shows and movies.
Although “Kraven the Hunter” ditches any references to the “Spider-Man” franchise (with the exception being one distracting visual gag), it is still a largely expositional film that spends the majority of its first hour centered on the dynamic between a young version of Kraven (Levi Miller) and his brother, Dmitri (Billy Barratt). It grinds the pacing of the film to a halt, as “Kraven the Hunter” doesn’t use the same type of non-linear editing to advance the core narrative that made superhero movies like “Deadpool” and “Batman Begins” so successful.
Although it was obviously produced at a quarter of the cost of any of the recent “Spider-Man” films, “Kraven the Hunter” is almost unwatchable when it actually tries to act like an action film. Shots are cut together too quickly to understand the setting, the blood and gore are surprisingly tame, and the stakes are impossible to determine when each character’s powers are left unexplained. It’s rather shocking that the film comes across as such an amateurish piece of work, as director J.C. Chandor has a lot of talent. He previously helmed the Oscar-nominated financial drama “Margin Call,” the gritty survival thriller “All is Lost,” the crime epic “A Most Violent Year,” and the underrated action film “Triple Frontier.”
It is unclear if Chandor was simply in way over his head working on a project of this scale, or if there was some studio meddling that resulted in the haphazard final project. Either way, Chandor will hopefully take this as a lesson to step back and work on a project that truly excites him. It’s been a rough year for comic book movies, but even the nostalgia bait of “Deadpool and Wolverine” or the cynical edge of the “Joker” sequel is preferable to something that is as devoid of value as “Kraven the Hunter.” Its failure is seemingly going to put an end to a spinoff universe that never should have existed in the first place.
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