Home Video Review: ‘Kraven the Hunter’ Brings Sony’s Weird Cinematic Universe To An End
by David Lewis
Sony’s half-hearted foray into the superhero universe-building has seemingly come to an end with the derivative but sporadically diverting Kraven the Hunter, now available on Digital.
Following in the footsteps of Morbius, Madame Web, and three Venom movies, the latest entry in Sony’s “Spider-verse Without a Spider-Man” series shines a spotlight on the Marvel Comics villain known as Kraven, a ripped, mustachioed tracker with the supernatural senses and abilities of all the beasts of the African savanna. Here, he’s played by superhero movie regular Aaron Taylor-Johnson (significantly beefier than he was in Kick-Ass or as the MCU’s Pietro Maximoff in Avengers: Age of Ultron).
After an overlong prologue in which he gets his powers, Kraven is shown bringing brutal justice to animal poachers and mob bosses alike, but still living under the shadow of his corrupt criminal father (Russell Crowe) and trying to take care of his meek and easily manipulated little brother (Fred Hechinger). Eventually, he runs afoul of criminal businessman-turned-beastman the Rhino (Alessandro Nivola, apparently unrelated to Paul Giamatti‘s Rhino role in 2014’s Amazing Spider-Man 2), only to find that the real bad guy is someone close to him.
Taylor-Johnson certainly has the physique and the intensity for the role, which he balances with some good comic timing. But a character like Kraven just isn’t very interesting without a hero like Spidey to interact with. Saddled with too much exposition and pointless references (Kraven’s apparently afraid of spiders … but why does that matter in a world without Spider-Man?), Kraven is yet another film made by committee, straining to satisfy longtime comic fans and casual movie goers alike, but ending up in the grey area of mediocrity. It’s also R-rated, but instead of using that to make something more serious and adult-minded like Logan or fun and foul-mouthed like the Deadpool movies, it only offers needlessly heavy gore and violence — all depicted using CGI effects to ensure that nothing looks even close to reality.
The real shock is that director J.C. Chandor, responsible for the excellent survivalist drama All is Lost and the slow-burn crime thriller A Most Violent Year, signed on for something so lacking in personality.
Likewise, Hollywood still hasn’t really figured out what to do with Oscar winner Ariana DeBose or Girls co-star Christopher Abbot either. Here, they both play expendable characters very loosely based on ASM side characters. DeBose is Calypso, whose witchcraft and archery skills are barely touched upon, while Abbott plays The Foreigner, who is wasted as one of the Rhino’s henchmen (as if he needed any).
For all its haphazard nature, Kraven has a misplaced sense of confidence, ending with a huge twist that signals a sequel or a spin-off. With hindsight, the twist probably would’ve been better served as the inciting incident for this film instead. Oh well, maybe they’re saving that for when this whole universe is rebooted.
The Blu-ray’s extras are typically lackluster as well. Featurettes show Taylor-Johnson staying in character between takes by lifting weights and “roaring” at people and inanimate objects, as well as capably performing some of his own stunts. Chandor attempts to convince viewers that Kraven is “different” from all the other recent superhero movies. There are some deleted and extended scenes that are too brief to really register, and a few minutes of fun outtakes and bloopers, which mostly revolve around Crowe’s loose, jokey presence and DeBose’s seriously infectious laugh.
Kraven the Hunter is now available on Digital and comes to 4K UHD and Blu-ray on March 4th.
