Dog’s Movie House: “Kraven The Hunter” Competent Comic Movie With Little Reason To Exist!

“Kraven The Hunter” is the story of Sergei Kravinoff (Taylor-Johnson) who as a youth is at odds with his kingpin father. Crowe plays Nickolai with a heavy, theatrical accent and the gruff personality of a human grizzly bear. Nickolai is also a fanatical big-game hunter and while on an African safari with his two kids, a legendary man-eating lion attacks, almost mortally wounding Sergei, who is brought back to life by a magical elixir provided by one Calypso (played as an adult by Ariana Debose) a young child who has a background in Vandun arts. How they meet is a coincidence but not an outlandish one.

In any event, Sergei, with his new lease on life and some very strange side effects from Calypso’s elixer, decides to beat feet and flee from his father’s shadow, much to the consternation of his younger, sensitive brother Dmitri. In the 16 years that follow, Sergei uses his enhanced animal-based abilities to become a hunter of bad men in the same vein as his father. After eliminating a notorious mobster in a Siberian prison, the resulting vacuum leads to the rise of a mobster with the nickname The Rhino (Allesandro Nivola) and we soon find out it’s not just a nickname. Soon Kraven finds himself in the fight of his life while trying to save the life of his endangered brother as well as trying to come to terms with his complicated family legacy.

“Kraven The Hunter” has some pretty talented people behind the camera, including director J.C. Chandor and writer Richard Wenk and it shows in most of the production and storytelling. The opening action sequence in the prison is a good one and most of the effects involving Kraven fighting and climbing buildings and such. The script is solid but not spectacular and the performances, specifically Crowe’s and Nivola’s, are first rate.

So why the “Meh” response? I think it has to do with fact that Sony’s Spider-Man adjacent cinematic universe doesn’t seem to be going anyhwere. The only popular movies the studio has created in this vein are the “Venom” films and that’s only because Tom Hardy is some kind of crazy genius when it comes to his dual performance as Eddie Brock and Venom. The rest of the bunch have been downright awful. “Morbius” and “Madame Web” were nearly unwatchable and reeked of obvious cash grabs. “Kraven The Hunter” is not that bad, but there still is a sensation of “what’s the point” lingering about the film. It also hurts that these “Spider-Man” universe films are lacking one important factor: Spider-Man. Not exactly a selling point.

That said, “Kraven The Hunter” deserves credit for filling the film with some fun Easter eggs and characters from Marvel lore in a way that is more organic than the other films. It’s nice to see a comic accurate Rhino (or close to, at least) and it was pretty neat to see the first cinematic appearance of Spidey’s first comic book villain, The Chameleon. The obscure villain The Foreigner even makes an appearance and works within the framework of the story. Taylor-Johnson is certainly physical enough for the role (dude is ripped) but the script doesn’t give him much in the way of a personality. He has a flat American accent for the most part and only really comes to life when speaking the character’s native Russian.

As a standalone film, “Kraven The Hunter” is passable entertainment, but as part of a larger story involving one of the most iconic superheroes of all time, “Kraven The Hunter” falls a bit short. Not a disaster but more of an agreeable time waster! 2 1/2 Out Of 5 On Kendog’s Barkometer! So Sayeth The Kendog!

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