Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Kraven: The Hunter

Kraven the Hunter

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In my review of “Nosferatu“, I described it as a critically acclaimed film that I could recognize as well-crafted but never truly enjoyed. “Kraven the Hunter” stands as the opposite for me—a film widely panned by critics, and while I can see the validity of their critiques, I found myself enjoying it more than I expected going in.

In “Kraven the Hunter”, directed by J.C. Chandor, Sergei Kravinoff, portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, is a formidable hunter who, after surviving a lion attack, is saved by Calypso’s potion, granting him the abilities of nature’s greatest predators. Empowered by these newfound abilities, Kraven embarks on a mission to hunt criminals, confronting his own nature and the legacy of his family.

These Sony Spider-Man-adjacent movies have largely failed to live up to whatever potential the Sony executives saw in them. While critically panned, only the “Venom” films managed to achieve financial success and, in my humble opinion, were fairly enjoyable. I even liked “Venom: The Last Dance,” which, despite its obvious shortcomings, managed to be entertaining. I can’t say the same for “Morbius” or “Madame Web“, but “Kraven the Hunter” definitely shares more of the enjoyable qualities of the “Venom” films than the lackluster appeal of “Madame Web” or “Morbius”.

“Kraven the Hunter” serves as the origin story of one of Spider-Man’s most infamous villains. Fans familiar with the dark and grim “Kraven’s Last Hunt” storyline will know exactly the tone and stakes being referenced here. However, as with all of Sony’s Spider-Man-adjacent movies, the villain is reimagined as an anti-hero, and Spider-Man himself is nowhere to be found. In this adaptation, Kraven gains his superpowers, flees his oppressive home, and retreats deep into the Russian wilderness, living off the grid and forging a primal connection with the nature around him.

There isn’t much of an actual storyline in “Kraven the Hunter.” Once the origin story is out of the way, the film primarily focuses on Kraven hunting poachers and later shifting his attention to criminals like arms traffickers. The plot kicks into gear when his brother is kidnapped by Aleksei Sytsevich, better known as the Rhino. This sets the stage for a classic Rambo-style, one-man-army showdown against dozens of men in the dense Russian wilderness, culminating in a final battle between Kraven and a CGI rhinoceros-man.

And yet, it’s this simplicity that I actually enjoyed about “Kraven the Hunter”. There are no convoluted connections to a dozen other superhero movies, most of the action scenes are well-executed, and while Kraven isn’t the most layered character, he’s engaging enough to keep me entertained. I recently saw this movie pop up in a WatchMojo list of the worst films of the last 10 years, and while WatchMojo is little more than a clickbait YouTube channel, they really missed the mark by including “Kraven the Hunter” on that list.

And sure, “Kraven the Hunter” is an easy target for criticism. During chase or escape scenes, Kraven is often glaringly rendered as a CGI character when scaling buildings, and Rhino is a pretty second-tier villain. That’s still nothing compared to a character like the Foreigner, who has an incredibly unimpressive power set. Russell Crowe cranks his thick Russian accent up to 11 as Kraven’s father, delivering a one-note performance as an abusive, domineering patriarch.

This all makes “Kraven the Hunter” feel like a throwback to a 2000s superhero origin story. But with all the interconnected cinematic universes Marvel and DC have been churning out over the past 17 years, it actually kind of feels like a breath of fresh air. It’s just a straightforward, solo outing for a B-tier comic book character, and honestly, it’s kind of nice to get one of those every now and then.

“Kraven the Hunter” isn’t going to win any Academy Awards, but I found it to be an enjoyable, simplistic no-brainer. Maybe my expectations were lowered by all the negativity surrounding the movie, but I ended up enjoying it more than “Nosferatu“.


Kraven: The Hunter poster
Kraven: The Hunter poster
Kraven the Hunter
  • Year:
    2024
  • Director:
    • J.C. Chandor
  • Cast:
    • Aaron Taylor-Johnson
    • Ariana DeBose
    • Fred Hechinger
  • Genres:
    Action, Thriller
  • Running time:
    127m

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