Kraven the Hunter (2024) Review

"She died not long after that, and I never saw her again."
-Calypso Ezili



Sergai Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) was raised his entire life to take over the criminal empire of his father, Nikolai (Russell Crowe).  However, Sergai rejected this path to live an isolated life as Kraven the Hunter, a man who hunts down and kills bad men.  When Kraven's little brother, Dmitri (Fred Hechinger), gets caught up in a fight between multiple groups of criminals, Kraven has to return to civilization to save his brother and teams up with Calypso (Ariana DeBose), the woman who gave him superpowers to begin with, to hunt down everyone who is after Dmitri.


What Works:

I think we all expected this movie to be the next Morbius or Madam Web.  I know I did, but this movie has one key element that that those two movies didn't have; a protagonist to root for.  Kraven is far more likable than Morbius or Madam Web ever were.  I was actually able to get invested in this movie because Kraven is actually really likable.  He hunts down arms dealers, gangsters, and poachers.  He's good at what he does and he's actually trying to make the world a better place.  You can absolutely have an ethical discussion about whether killing bad people is justifiable, but I think it works for the character and I was on board with what he was trying to do.

It also helps that Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a better actor than Jared Leto or Dakota Johnson.  The script isn't good, but Taylor-Johnson is doing his best despite that.  He manages to make most of his dialogue work and his performance helps make Kraven even more likable and someone to root for.

This movie is absolute schlock and I'm totally okay with that.  I love silly and ridiculous action movies.  In some ways, Kraven reminded me of some classic 80's Canon films.  This was just the 2024, superhero version of that.  There is plenty of ridiculous action to cheer for, especially in the 3rd act.  I can absolutely see this being a movie that people watch with a bunch of beer for a so-bad-it's-good movie night.

The other highlight of the cast is Alessandro Nivola as Rhino, who just chews the scenery.  I hope he had fun making this movie because it felt like he did.  The final showdown between Rhino and Kraven is just so damn fun.

Finally, there are many, many flaws in this movie.  From the dialogue, to the script, to the CGI, but I think most, if not all, of those aspects made the movie even more enjoyable to watch.  I had a genuinely great time watching this thing.


What Sucks:

As I mentioned, this movie has flaws.  There is a lot of obvious dubbing over of lines from all of the reshoots.  It's definitely noticeable, but I think Madame Web is a bigger offender.

Ariana DeBose is not good in this.  That could definitely be due to the reshoots messing up her overall performance, but she has some really bad line deliveries.  "She died not long after that, and I never saw her again," is an all-time terrible line.

The script is bad and occasionally nonsensical.  Look, it may have made me enjoy the film even more, but this is a multi-million dollar film made by a massive studio.  It's embarrassing and pathetic that this is the final product.


Verdict:

I had a blast with Kraven the Hunter.  A lot of it is schlock and is firmly in so-bad-it's-good territory, but it isn't all bad.  Aaron Taylor-Johnson makes Kraven really likable and easy to root for.  They got me invested in the story, which is high praise.  Plus we get some really fun action and a great, if cheesy, villain in Rhino.  I had a great time watching this and it's easily my 2nd favorite of the Sony Spider-Man Universe, with Venom 2 being my favorite.

 6/10: So Bad It's Good  


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