With the exception of the VENOM trilogy, Sony Pictures’ track record when it comes to its Spider-Man Universe films has been nothing short of abysmal. While MORBIUS somehow came close to breaking even, MADAME WEB was a financial bust and both films were heavily panned by critics. The studio seems to have put the brakes on its franchise for now as other Spidey spinoffs that were reportedly in development have been scrubbed. But now we have KRAVEN THE HUNTER, a film that was supposed to have been released in January 2023. It was then pushed back to October 2023 and then again to August 2024 before finally landing in cinemas today. That alone should tell you plenty about what the execs at Sony think of this film.

Set in a time before Kraven encounters the webslinger, KRAVEN THE HUNTER tells the story of Sergei Kravinoff, the son of crime boss Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe, GLADIATOR II; THE POPE’S EXORCIST), who becomes the ultimate hunter. While on a trip to Tanzania to hunt big game with his father and younger half-brother, Dmitri Smerdyakov, Sergei is mauled by a lion. On death’s doorstep, he is given a potion by a young woman named Calypso that not only brings him back to life, it imbibes him with the agility and strength of an apex predator. Distancing himself from his father and brother, Sergei, who now goes by the name of Kraven (now played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, THE FALL GUY; BULLET TRAIN), embarks on a life of hunting down bad guys wherever they may be. As he works through his kill list, Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola, SPIN ME ROUND) sees an opportunity to take Nikolai’s place in the crime world hierarchy, putting Dmitri’s (now played by Fred Hechinger, GLADIATOR II; THELMA) life in danger. With the help of Calypso (now played by Ariana DeBose, WEST SIDE STORY), who is now an investigative lawyer in New York, Kraven hunts down Aleksei but Aleksei is ready. He’s enlisted the help of a mercenary named “the Foreigner” (Christopher Abbott, POOR THINGS; BLACK BEAR), who has his own grudge against Kraven.

Oh, those Russians! They don’t mess around. What is a mess is this story, which is so jam packed with backstory, exposition, messaging and action that it’s hard to maintain any modicum of interest in it at all. The story’s big message is about weakness, or not to be weak, and Nikolai uses the word at least a half a dozen times in the first five minutes of the film. Dmitri and Aleksei overuse it too. With everything going on, the audience doesn’t get a chance to buy into why the bad guys that Kraven is bumping off are bad. Outside of one group of animal poachers, we’re just told they’re bad, so when he claws through them, it’s just one big shrug. At least with Aleksei, we’re given some insight into his motivation thanks to his grumbling monologue, and his motivation is a fairly lame one. Even more ridiculous is the Foreigner, who seems to have the ability to hypnotize people by counting to three… or two… or sometimes one whenever he takes off his pervy glasses. I believe the character in the comic books has to count to ten but movie audiences just don’t have the patience for that. As well with the Foreigner, if he made it known why he has that moniker, it passed over my head with all the exposition going on.

But even all the script problems pale in comparison to the numerous badly done post-production edits that must have taken place over the past two years. In one scene with Kraven and Calypso that takes place in his swish glass house located in the middle of nowhere but still has telephone reception, there is clearly some heavy duty ADR going on as lip movements don’t match what’s being spoken and a few times Calypso is speaking with her back turned to the camera. I think at some point director J. C. Chandor (TRIPLE FRONTIER; A MOST VIOLENT YEAR) must have just thrown in the towel and walked away.

Credit, though, must be given where it is due and Taylor-Johnson is abs-olutely stunning in that his abs are absolutely stunning. This guy has a serious 8-pack going on and Chandor takes every opportunity to let his lens linger on it. His acting isn’t too shabby either, especially as Crowe and Nivola chew up every scene they’re in. Hechinger, outside of singing, which I doubt any of that was really him, doesn’t get much of an opportunity to shine here. If there would be a sequel to this film, his character would certainly have a larger role but that’s just not going to happen. With a production budget of US$110 million, KRAVEN THE HUNTER is highly unlikely to breakeven.

KRAVEN THE HUNTER opened in Hong Kong’s cinemas yesterday (December 12^th). It rolls out around the world today. It’s not the dumpster fire that you’re hearing but it’s not very good either.

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