Kraven the Hunter (2024)
Running time: 127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)
MPA – R for strong bloody violence, and language
DIRECTOR: J.C. Chandor
WRITERS: Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway; from a story by Richard Wenk (based on the Marvel Comics)
PRODUCERS: Avi Arad, David B. Householter, and Matt Tolmach
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ben Davis (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Chris Lebenzon and Craig Wood
COMPOSERS: Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine, and Benjamin Wallfisch
SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, Levi Miller, Billy Barratt, Tom Reed, Diaana Babnicova, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Damola Adelaja, and Russell Crowe
Kraven the Hunter is a 2024 action movie and superhero film from director J.C. Chandor. The movie is based on the Marvel Comics character, Sergei Kravinoff/Kraven the Hunter, that was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (cover dated: August 1964). This is also the sixth film in “Sony's Spider-Man Universe” (SSU) series. The film focuses on a hunter of men and his complex relationship with his father, a ruthless Russian crime lord, which starts him down the path to becoming the greatest hunter of men in the world.
Kraven the Hunter opens in Northern Russia at a prison. Of particular interest is Prisoner #0864, but soon, prison security and imprisoned Russian gangster, Semyon Chorney (Yuri Kolokolnikov), will learn that this prisoner is really a legendary assassin known as “The Hunter.” Who is “The Hunter?”
He is really Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the elder son of brutal Russian crime lord, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe). Sixteen years before The Hunter killed Chorney, Nikolai took Sergei and his younger son, Dmitri, on a hunting expedition in Northern Ghana. A terrible accident leaves Sergei near death until a local young woman intervenes in a manner that changes Sergei in ways he never imagined.
In the present day, Sergei goes by the name “Kraven.” His activities as “The Hunter” have earned him the ire of many criminals. Kraven has a kill-list, and once someone is on it, they don't get off until he kills them. Kraven reunites with Calypso (Ariana DeBose), the young woman who saved him sixteen years earlier. Now, an adult, Calypso is an attorney, and Kraven asks her to assist him in his activities as “The Hunter” by finding information on his targets.
However, Kraven himself is now being hunted. Wannabe Russian crime boss, Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), and his ally, “The Foreigner” (Christopher Abbott), have targeted Kraven's brother, Dmitri (Fred Hechinger), now an adult, as a way to trap their prey. Kraven will have to prove to his enemies that he is indeed the world's greatest hunter and also its most dangerous apex predator.
Kraven the Hunter is sixth film in “Sony's Spider-Man Universe” line of films. It follows Venom (2018), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), Morbius (2022), Madame Web (2024), and the recently release, Venom: The Last Dance (2024). This film series stars characters and properties commonly associated with Marvel Comics' character, Spider-Man. Sadly, media reports indicate that Kraven the Hunter will be the last entry in Sony's Spider-Man Universe, and that's a shame because Kraven the Hunter deserves a sequel.
Most movie actors could not have saved Kraven the Hunter, if it did indeed need saving, as industry and fan gossip indicated. If we accept those arguments, dear readers, that Kraven the Hunter needed saving, then Aaron Taylor-Johnson is indeed this film's savior. Taylor-Johnson is a talented young actor, and he can certainly portray the tough-guy hero or antihero in a way that seems genuine, if not outright real.
Without Taylor-Johnson, I think Kraven the Hunter would still be a really entertaining film. The screenplay, regardless of whatever number of writers contributed to it, intrigued me. Director J.C. Chandor deftly weaves the film's story across continents and through shifts in plot that keeps things so interesting and involved that I didn't have time to search for plot holes and inconsistencies. Also, Russell Crowe as Nikolai Kravinoff makes his scenes with Taylor-Johnson's Kraven feel ultra edgy and especially dangerous.
With Taylor-Johnson, however, Kraven the Hunter, is not only a really entertaining film, but it is also an exceptional superhero spin-off comic book film. As comic book and superhero movies go, Kraven the Hunter is kind of like a B-movie or, at least, a B-list film, but you, dear readers, don't have to be a comic book fan to enjoy the film or its star. As Kraven, Taylor-Johnson has such animal magnetism; I wanted to see him be in action-mode and be violent. Taylor-Johnson has true movie star qualities, such as charisma and presence, and girl, the camera absolutely loves him. Seriously, Taylor-Johnson carries Kraven the Hunter past what most other actors would have done – all the way to whatever kind of cinematic glory a Spider-Man-adjacent film can have.
Marvel Comics fans will likely enjoy the fact that several Spider-Man-related characters appear in the film, some of them surprisingly so. Still, this film is about Kraven the Hunter, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson makes every subplot, setting, and the other character bow down to his “king of the jungle” performance. Kraven the Hunter is good, surprisingly and shockingly good, because its leading man knows how to be a beast.
A
★★★★ out of 4 stars
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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