Kraven the Hunter

Sony's final (hopefully) Spider-villain film is another mess

Sony Pictures has been incapable of wringing out the full potential of the Spider-Man IP it own. The Peter Parker character has been passed to creative control in a 50-50 partnership to Disney’s Marvel. However, the remaining villains of the comics under Sony’s purview have been grossly mishandled, delivering some of the worst super-hero films of the last decade with Morbius (2022) and Madam Web (2024) amongst the traumatic memories. What appears to be the death knell of the current iteration of Sony’s spider-properties has arrived with the 2-year-delayed release of Kraven the Hunter (2024).

Kraven the Hunter follows Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the estranged son of a Russian oligarch (Russell Crowe), who after taking a mysterious substance to heal from life threatening injuries as a child, has a varied set of enhanced powers. He employs his newfound skills to hunt some of the more despicable crime bosses of the world.

Kraven the Hunter is directed by JC Chandor, who was well-renown in the mid-budget world with films such as Margin Call (2011), All is Lost (2013), and A Most Violent Year (2014). However, since that type of film has largely disappeared from the entertainment landscape, Chandor has chosen to go the blockbuster route instead. He previously helmed the enjoyable if generic Triple Frontier (2019) for Netflix and now helms his first superhero film.

There are hints at Chandor’s directing prowess in the patience he has for certain scenes and dialogue to unfold. However, he is completely outmatched by the behemoth machinations of the genre and scale. Kraven the Hunter is another Sony film that feels like a hodgepodge collage of an army of producers switching and changing things on the go. This is symptomized by the sound mixing and ADR work, which is atrociously bad and noticeable. One can notice moments where mouths are moving and no sound is coming out, and vice versa. It is astounding how, after a two-year delay from its original release date and a massive budget, these basic technical elements aren’t up to scratch. It is also becoming a worrying trend for Sony, who faced the same technical issue in Madam Web earlier this year.

Chandor inserts clarity and excitement where he can. There is one particular chase sequence through London that was gripping and exciting, and the first act sets up Kraven the Hunter’s characters fairly well, steering clear of the more obvious cliches. However, as the film progresses, we are barraged by numerous supervillains with their side-plots, family drama spins, and a shoe-horned storyline about an investigative lawyer. The result is a film increasingly unfocused and diluted where you stop caring about any of the characters, lore, or storyline by the time the final fight rolls along.

There is a talented cast of Oscar winners attached to Kraven the Hunter, but they are sadly delivering performances of different tonalities and levels of intensity. Taylor-Johnson is successful as a brooding leading man, but isn’t given much material to dig into. He also continues a trend in Sony villains, where they are modified to be compromised heroes instead. This is just another example of the timid approach Sony has taken with this material, fearful of making an outright villain a protagonist.

The supporting cast is abandoned, both by the script as well as by a guiding hand from Chandor. Crowe employs a goofy Russian accent that makes it impossible to take any of his dialogue seriously, Alessandro Nivola as the villain Rino is hamming up his performance way too much, and Christopher Abbott comes out of a horror film tone, clashing horrendously with the macho plot. But Ariana DeBose, as the investigative lawyer Calypso, stands out the most. She is an incredibly talented actress, yet you can sense she had zero interest or investment with this character and film. She sleepwalks through every scene and gesture, and you can almost feel the edits in the film trying to cut out her rolling eyes.

In the end, Kraven the Hunter is the whimpering end of Sony’s attempt to craft a Spider-Man villain universe. It doesn’t stoop to the lows of Morbius or Madam Web, yet it barely clears that very low bar, and its muddled and non-sensical plot and narrative make it more effective as a sleeping agent than an entertainment product.

3.9/10