'Kraven The Hunter' review: The final nail in Sony's unintentionally hilarious Marvel universe
Courtesy of Sony
Let’s pour one out for our homies on the Sony backlot who came up with the idea of an interconnected universe of characters whose primary claim to fame was being Spider-Man's nemeses. Of course, these movies never included the well-known web-slinger, nor did they ever attempt to integrate him into the catalog of films that includes such memorable titles as “Morbius,” “Madame Web,” and now “Kraven the Hunter.” This exclusion is largely due to his shared partnership within Disney’s broader Marvel Cinematic Universe. But, we must give a shout-out to the lowly film exec who allowed these movies to exist because the memes, plotlines, and various clips that have circulated on the internet have been a much-needed shot of endorphins at moments when our country was in shambles. We will never forget you “It’s MORBIN time!”
Even just the concept of the SUMC—Sony Universe of Marvel Characters—is objectively hilarious in its own mediocre way. It was created by the studio in an attempt to monetize the warehouse of IP they acquired decades ago when they purchased the rights to Spider-Man. But none of these films feature Spider-Man, nor do they include even a non-Tom Holland version of him, which begs the question: Why bother? The easy answer is money. These movies were greenlit at a time when anything with Marvel and superheroes could sell tickets, and Sony needed to boost their bottom line.
Yet, there's a part of me that will miss this universe simply because the ADR in “Madame Web” and “Kraven” is so poor it will likely be used as a “what not to do” for future sound engineers. And that’s the kind of educational tool money can’t buy. Or maybe it’s because they represent a bastion of studio greed—similar to Universal’s failed “Dark Universe”—which, at the very least, fostered a bonding experience among groups of friends who couldn’t wait to quote the now-infamous line: “He was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died” after a few drinks on a Saturday night. Great stuff.
Which brings us to “Kraven the Hunter,” the final nail in the SUMC coffin. The film attempts to provide a wealth of backstory and exposition for a character well-known in “Spider-Man” lore, but it does so with the same tepid, unintentionally hilarious tone and aesthetic as its predecessors. At one point during the finale, there’s a scene involving a herd of CGI buffaloes that look like they were plucked straight from a PlayStation 2 cutscene. Another sequence features Kraven (played with a chiseled 8-pack by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) leaping off the side of a building in an air Jordan-like stunt and jumping on cars like a real-life version of Frogger.
This is Kraven’s origin story, and we learn of his tumultuous upbringing through a lengthy sequence set on an African safari with his stern Russian oligarch father, Nikolai (Russell Crowe—chewing through both accents and dialogue).
He is killed and conveniently brought back to life by his friend and future love interest, Calypso (played by Ariana DeBose in a thankless role, but one I imagine collected a nice paycheck after her Oscar win).
Though we never learn why he calls himself "Kraven," the years since the accident have transformed him into a ruthless executioner with a knack for protecting exotic wildlife and eliminating bad guys on a list he’s created. Chief among them is Aleksei, aka “Rhino” (Alessandro Nivola—making lemonade out of oranges), a nerdy-looking fellow who hides his true nature behind a tube connected to a backpack and his stomach. Nivola almost deserves award recognition for trying to salvage whatever semblance of logic screenwriters Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway tried to incorporate into the script—especially during the awkward and utterly preposterous transformation he undergoes when he inevitably adopts his villainous form. (The results should have audiences filing a class-action lawsuit against Sony.)
Fred Hechinger, who’s having quite the year between this, “Gladiator II,” and “Thelma,” plays Kraven’s younger brother, who gets kidnapped by Rhino’s goons. His special ability is mimicking voices, which leads to an all-timer of a scene where Hechinger lip-syncs Harry Styles songs. Meanwhile, Christopher Abbott has a blast playing a villain named "The Foreigner," whose powers are never fully explained—a common theme throughout the entire film. As for Johnson, rumored to be the next James Bond, he doesn’t have much to say or do, and there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about his one-note character.
Director J.C. Chandor takes us to various locations, including Siberia, London, and Turkey, but none of them have any distinct characteristics. In fact, I’d argue they were filmed on a soundstage in Hollywood. He’s the latest filmmaker to get sucked into the big-budget superhero vortex after shepherding smaller scale gems like “A Most Violent Year,” “All Is Lost,” the massively underrated “Triple Frontier,” and “Margin Call.” Clearly, this was a studio gig, and Chandor did the best he could, given the circumstances and what I imagine was significant executive oversight. He now holds the distinction of having directed the last movie in the beleaguered SUMC, and for that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.
Grade: C
KRAVEN THE HUNTER is now playing in theaters.
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