-Written by Kyle Bain.
In the epic…wait, no, stupid conclusion to the Spider-man-less Sony Spider-verse, Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) finds himself pitted against his most trying enemies yet in Kraven the Hunter. Raised by a powerful, abusive father, Kraven has spent his life trying to avenge those that can’t protect themselves. This time, the belief that no one is his equal, that he is indestructible will be put to the test.
While some of the films present in this wonky universe do hold some weight, Kraven the Hunter is not one. The film fails from the opening seconds, with little to nothing toward which to gravitate. The biggest issue with this film is the dialogue. I had heard the dialogue described as laughable, and while I can understand why someone would say that, it’s actually far worse. Director J.C. Chandor’s film surpasses the “so bad that it’s good” stage, and the dialogue actually becomes frustrating. The writers tasked with scripting this film create something exceedingly juvenile in this regard, and it ultimately comes off as over direct and completely useless. The dialogue is flat, unseasoned, and ultimately unbearable.
I feel bad for these actors. I feel bad about the fact that they likely had high hopes going into this project, potentially seeing this as a stepping stone to something bigger and better. Nearly every major character in Kraven the Hunter is brought to life by an actor that has already established themselves in Hollywood–but Marvel is a veritable cash cow in the grand scheme of things (Sony Spider-Verse aside). I know what these actors are capable of, and I know that they possess the ability to bolster and enhance a soggy, rudimentary script–but even their abilities couldn’t save what they were handed with this film. Kraven the Hunter sucks. I’m rarely this crass when it comes to my reviews, but as I sit here writing (just as when I recorded my initial reaction to the film), I’m becoming increasingly frustrated with just about every aspect of Kraven the Hunter. In reality, a simple “Kraven the Hunter sucks” would have summed up this film effectively–but I need to air my grievances and let these filmmakers know just what went wrong.
The dialogue is bad, and the actors are effectively hung out to dry, forced to be the faces of a failure of a film, but I had still held out hope that other things would work, that something else might be able to propel the film forward to a degree (even if just barely). Almost immediately we are exposed to the CGI, and my initial thoughts were that it was average, and average is better than bad. So, I thought to myself, I’ll focus on this aspect of Kraven the Hunter–but by the halfway point, this had faltered and failed as well. Starting out as mediocre, the animation slipped to cringeworthy and ineffective. Just another strike against a struggling film.
The editing is no better. I understand the concept of slowing down and speeding up certain aspects of a film in order to piece it together, in order to create something fluid–but the team behind Kraven the Hunter can’t even do that. There are moments that end up choppy, the opposite of what they needed to be in order for some of the action sequences to work. Again, something else that this team couldn’t accomplish.
Just about every aspect of Kraven the Hunter is a failure, and the only reason that I don’t give this film even lower than what you’ll read in just a minute is because I’m hopeful that these characters might one day transition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, thrust into the hands of some capable individuals so that they might one day flourish. I hated nearly everything about this film, frustrated to no end by what this means for these actors and their careers. In all honesty, the team behind Kraven the Hunter will be lucky if they aren’t blacklisted for this abomination.
Directed by J.C. Chandor.
Written by Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, & Matt Halloway.
Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessanro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, Russell Crowe, etc.
2.5/10 = AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS
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