Kraven the Hunter is an abysmal farewell to Sony’s Spider-Man universe – review
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Goodbye to Sony's Spider-Man-less Spider-Man universe. Your existence was as odd and chaotic as your end. A recent article from The Wrap suggests that the long-awaited Kraven the Hunter will be the last effort to create a franchise centered on the Spider-Man’s rogues' gallery, especially now that Tom Hardy has left the somewhat successful and at times enjoyable Venom series. On the other hand, Morbius (2022) and Madame Web (2024) both flopped at the box office, yet somehow sparked their own bizarre and widespread excitement.
Kraven the Hunter is overflowing with the outrageous visuals we've come to anticipate from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (often referred to as the SSU). You’ll find Aaron Taylor-Johnson, playing the lead role, dashing around London barefoot and acting wild, even scaling walls. Then there’s Russell Crowe, sporting a tiny scarf and embodying a quirky Russian accent reminiscent of Boris and Natasha from Rocky and Bullwinkle. And let’s not forget the animated bison, which has the fiercest expression ever.
This time, JC Chandor is leading the project, bringing with him a solid history of dramatic films like Margin Call (2011), All is Lost (2013), A Most Violent Year (2014), and Triple Frontier (2019). Each of these works explores the lengths to which individuals will go to protect themselves. Kraven the Hunter stands out as the most frustrating entry in the Sony Spider-Man Universe because it's clear what kind of film Chandor intended to create. There are moments when the true essence of his vision breaks through, only to be overshadowed by the need to include another CGI leopard or a scene where Kraven dramatically tells someone, “I hunt… people.”
Kraven, also known as Sergei Kravinoff, seeks to break free from the toxic grip of his mobster father, Nikolai (played by Crowe), along with his half-brother Dmitri (portrayed by Fred Hechinger, who has shown his talent for playing melancholic characters in Gladiator II). The narrative revolves around a straightforward yet compelling theme: are we fated to follow in our parents' footsteps, or can we escape the limitations imposed by our backgrounds?
Hold on a second! Dmitri possesses a remarkable talent for imitation and attempts to earn his father's affection by starting a club where he can showcase his impressive renditions of Harry Styles and Tony Bennett (Crowe expertly delivers the line, “I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t like Tony Bennett”). As for Sergei – and it takes an overly lengthy flashback to clarify – he experienced a bizarre incident involving a lion that resulted in him having big cat blood flowing through his veins, thanks to Vodou magic performed by a younger version of Ariana DeBose’s Calypso (who later returns in the narrative as an investigative lawyer). As a result, he always seems to land safely, can detect even the faintest scents, and possesses eyes with incredible zoom capabilities. Taylor-Johnson effectively uses his raised eyebrow to convey much of the character's personality.
Aleksei Sytsevich (played by Alessandro Nivola) is trying to take charge in a chaotic underworld. We meet him with a dramatic hairstyle and an unknown “condition,” and years later he shows up transformed thanks to a skin-hardening treatment that makes him look like a terrible human-rhino creature, one of the least appealing villains in recent memory. Nivola seems to recognize how ridiculous this is and leans into it wholeheartedly. When he hears bad news, he even hisses like a snake, repeatedly claiming he is The Rhino. Christopher Abbott portrays an assassin known as The Foreigner—he seems stylish and impressive, but he barely gets any screen time. He’s frustrated because Kraven killed his mentor, but will we learn who that mentor is? Not a chance!
Chandor manages to slip in some unique visuals and intense action sequences (the much-discussed R rating in the US indicates that this is more graphic than typical). However, the script by Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway feels quite disjointed, and there's an overwhelming amount of dialogue that seems to have been added after filming, making it hard to find any flow or connection between scenes or even within them. Rest in peace, Sony's Marvel universe – you've really left audiences feeling confused.
Directed by JC Chandor, this film features a cast that includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, and Russell Crowe. It has a rating of 15 and runs for 127 minutes.
"Kraven the Hunter" will be in theaters starting August 13th.
