Bullet Points: Kraven the Hunter (2024)
Kraven the Hunter, which hit theaters this Friday, is the latest film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Like all films, Kraven had its good points and bad points. But do the positives outweigh the negatives?!! Let’s find out…
- The Positives: Aaron Taylor-Johnson kills as Kraven the Hunter! He is the R rated action hero we need. He’s got the look, the confidence and the aura to be a big player in the action genre for years to come. Seriously Hollywood, start developing action projects for Aaron! Trust me when I say, the world needs movies where Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a hard boiled detective who plays by his own rules or a guy that was raised by ninjas or a mercenary for hire or a former Special Forces soldier! …While, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is Kraven the Hunter‘s greatest strength, his performance is followed closely by that of Russell Crowe. Crowe plays the gangster father of Kraven (born Sergei Kravinoff) Crowe lends his gravitas to the Nikolai Kravinoff character and he makes for a convincing cold-hearted gangster… The movie’s R rating allowed the characters to have more genuine reactions to their conflicts and while the action heavily relied on CGI, there were some enjoyable action set pieces that did exactly what they needed to do, showcase Kraven’s super human abilities and overall badassery.
- The Negatives: The biggest negative to me was the structure of the story… It starts strong with a great cold open. Then it is followed by a flashback to give us the Kraven origin story. With this being the first Kraven movie I was expecting a portion of the film was going to be devoted to his origins. Since I am not overly familiar with Kraven lore, I greatly appreciated the backstory until I didn’t. The whole flashback portion ran too long, and it felt like spreading more of the backstory throughout the film may have been a better option as opposed to dumping it all on the audience at once… Ariana DeBose plays Calypso, a character vital to the Kraven story, but as the movie wore on the character felt shoe horned in… And then there was the biggest weakness for me, the villains. The Rhino, I had some familiarity with, but The Foreigner was completely new to me. As villains, they were more annoying than they were menacing. I would have preferred if we got a straight up Kravinoff vs. Kravinoff story with baby brother Demetri (Fred Hechinger) caught in the middle, instead of the more indirect approach the movie took. Maybe they were being loyal to the comic book lore and my suggestion would be considered blasphemy… Lastly, the movie had an awkward and anti-climatic ending with scenes that belonged post or mid-credits.
Speaking of mid, that’s an accurate descriptor for Kraven the Hunter. The positives and negatives of the movie cancel themselves out. What remains is a movie you won’t hate yourself for watching, but at the same time will likely never watch again.
Before you never read this review again, please check out these Bonus Bullet Points…
- Bastard Count: There were two “bastards” in Kraven the Hunter.
- Fun Fact: Nikolai Kravinoff is a big Tony Bennett fan.
- Dolby Atmos: On a personal note, Kraven the Hunter holds the distinction of being the first movie I ever experienced in a Dolby Atmos theater.
