‘Kraven The Hunter’ Review: Aaron Taylor-Johnson Shows Off Action Chops In Marvel Villain Origin Story That Plays More Like A Mob Movie
After Sony’s recent Marvel misfires on 2022’s Morbius and this year’s Madame Web, I wasn’t holding out too much hope for yet another Marvel villain origin story when I headed to the press screening of Kraven the Hunter. Its shuffling around the release schedule didn’t give me much hope, and word spread from someone at a rival studio that the exhibitor screening didn’t go well, also dampening my hopes.
But I always try to go into a movie with an open mind, and in this case, although Kraven is a well-known villain in the comic book world and has popped up here and there, a starring movie wasn’t top of my list.
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That said, I had a surprisingly good time with this ultraviolent R-rated telling of how a Russian kid, Sergei Kravinoff, grows up to become a fearsome hunter — not of animals, who he spiritually embraces, but of people he stalks just as if he was of the animal kingdom himself.
It turns out to be a spectacular action- and character-driven performance from Aaron Taylor-Johnson and some tight exciting filmmaking from director J.C. Chandor, whose previous films, other than Triple Frontier, are far more indie in style and scope, including his Oscar-nominated Margin Call, A Most Violent Year and the more introspective Robert Redford one-hander All Is Lost.
It all begins with our introduction to the young Sergei and his younger brother Dmitri (played respectively as teens by Levi Miller and Billy Barratt), who have grown up in a life of privilege but clearly have conflicts with their tough-love Russian gangster father Nikoalai Kravinoff (a fierce Russell Crowe). A big-game hunter himself, their father not only expects Sergei in particular to kill these magnificent animals but also follow him into the family business, something he rejects. When Sergei is carted off by a lion and nearly eaten, something inside him changes. Once he recovers, it is as if he has become one with the animal world — thanks in part to a Calypso (Ariana DeBose), who befriends him as a young teen and gives him a key Tarot card with a lion’s painting on it. Later in life, she becomes a trusted confidante.
Nevertheless, Sergei isn’t far from his father’s violent tendencies and sets out on his own path after killing two poachers he finds reprehensible. This gives him a level of power that continues 16 years later into the present day as he has now developed skills as a hunter, stalking people rather than animals.
He also is a protector of brother Dmitri (the older version played by Fred Hechinger) but, like his father, somewhat fails in that regard making his relationship there dicey at best. Facing off against others including Aleksei Sytsevich aka Rhino (Alessandro Nivola), a slippery, take-no-prisoners guy up to no good, as well as the mercurial Foreigner (Christopher Abbott), we see Kraven evolve from someone who feels he is truly doing good for the world instead emerging into the villain he is becoming. But unlike other Marvel bad guys, I had a lot of empathy toward this one, his shattered past and sympatico alliance with misunderstood beasts a fascinating dichotomy to behold. We root for him against even darker forces in this underworld.
Kraven the Hunter is chock-full of sensational action sequences, none better than a signature set piece in which Dmitri is kidnapped and carted off in a black van by two henchmen — only to have Kraven jump into action by climbing skyscrapers with the skills of a monkey and racing up and down streets and towers barefoot to catch up to the van like a cougar stalking his prey. There are a number of other scenes like this that give Taylor-Johnson an opportunity to show off his stunts skills as well as ripped physique with abs that should land him a Men’s Health cover (he bulked up adding 35 pounds for the role).
Crowe exudes his usual authority as a parent who shows little love for his two sons, born from separate mothers now out of the picture. Hechinger, who is having a great year in films like Thelma and Gladiator II, here gets another choice and complicated young man to play. Nivola is especially amusing as the charging Rhino, and DeBose fills the bill nicely as Calypso.
Fight coordinator Mike Lambert should get some credit for staging inventive action that, for a Marvel film, refreshingly doesn’t rely heavily on CGI, but more bare-knuckle action. Editing by Chris Lebenzon also deserves a shout-out for really keeping this thing moving.
Producers are Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and David B. Householter.
Title: Kraven the Hunter
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Release date: December 13, 2024
Director: J.C. Chandor
Screenwriters: Richard Wenk and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Russell Crowe, Fred Heichinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott
Rating: R
Running time: 2 hr, 7 min
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