We are gathered here, today, to acknowledge the end of the Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU) with the home release of the J.C. Chandor-directed Kraven the Hunter (2024), the latest attempt of taking an absolute bastard villain and turning him into an anti-hero. While this works superbly with a character like Eddie Brock’s Venom (despite a strangely off-putting final outing in its trilogy), the focus on taking the enemies of Spider-Man and making them general audience stars really only works in one of two ways: making them audaciously charming or giving them a script that doesn’t reek of 1990s schlock. We’re 30+ films deep into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) proper. If you can’t do a superhero film without resorting to outdated tropes and narrative tools, failing to trust the audience to get the character as designed, maybe just stop. Which is what is happening now. There are some great ideas in Kraven and the character is convincingly brought to life by the always-committed Aaron Taylor-Johnson (The Fall Guy; Godzilla (2014), but, despite this, the film is too keen to fit the killer into the hero role for the film to be anything more than the rote original story it is. If, however, you enjoyed the film upon release, rejoice as you get some insight into its making via four featurettes, five deleted/extended scenes, and a single blooper reel.
L-R: Russell Crowe and Director J.C. Chandor on the set of Columbia Pictures and Marvel KRAVEN THE HUNTER. © 2024 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Upon the sudden passing of their mother, Sergei Kravinoff and his half-brother Dmitri (Levi Miller and Billy Barratt, respectively) are taken by their father, Nikolai (Russell Crowe), to Ghana to hunt with the hope being that doing so would refocus the boys and bring the three closer together while also providing an opportunity for Nikolai to finally kill a legendary lion. During the hunt, however, Sergei is attacked by said lion and nearly dies, saved by a mysterious liquid given to him by a young girl, Calypso (Diaana Babnicova). The elixir saves Sergei’s life, but it also changes him, giving him enhanced speed, strength, and reflexes — all attributes that he uses to stop those who prey upon the weak. Now, as an adult, Sergei goes by the name Kraven, placing evil beings of the world on a list only he can cross them off of. But when one of those individuals, Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), catches wind of Kraven’s identity, motions are put into place to turn the tables and put the hunter down for good.
Thought this is an initial review for EoM, in order to examine the film and discuss its bonus features, what follows may address or acknowledge aspects that may fall into spoiler territory.
At this point in comic book adaptations, there should be no need for heavy-handed setups or even the ignoring of critical elements of a character in favor of doing capeshit (to use the modern denigrating vernacular). Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, this enemy of Spider-Man is a straight-forward big game hunter who goes after the neighborhood’s friendly vigilante, at least initially, in order to prove he’s the best hunter there is. He does this with absolutely no super powers, yet, in the script by Richard Wenk (The Equalizer; Jack Reacher: Never Go Back), Art Marcum (Iron Man; Men in Black: International), and Matt Holloway (Iron Man; Men in Black: International), based on a story by Wenk, not only does Kraven have super powers, he goes from a being who doesn’t kill into one who kills with incredible ease. Now, it could be argued that the point of the film is to highlight how Kraven’s desire to be the opposite of his father places him on a path to become just like him, albeit differently, supporting this by weaponizing a young Sergei’s own words against himself when he states that his father would only become legendary for killing the lion if he did it without weaponry, with only the tools he was born with. To that end, Kraven, by using his own abilities to cut down mercenaries, traffickers, poachers, and anyone else who’s made it onto his list, is just like his father, killing because he enjoys the hunt and because he is the greatest predator. Unfortunately, the path to get to this supposed poignant moment in the final moments of the film as Kraven reads a letter from his now-deceased father and dons the signature lion’s pelt vest (made here by Niokolai out of the lion that tried to kill a young Sergai) is marred by just about everything that occurs before it starting with the heavy-handed introduction of Calypso and including the under-established Aleksei in the narrative setup before Sergei’s lion attack, two things which could have been more easily integrated if the audience was trusted to go with things without heavy exposition, something the script remembers late in the film when explaining things through natural character interaction.
Put simply, if Kraven the Hunter were packaged without the Marvel Comics connection, names changed and script kept the same, the film as a whole would likely fit nicely into the genre of cinematic treats like The Beekeeper (2024) and the upcoming A Working Man (2025). Yes, these are two Jason Statham (The Transporter) projects, but they are also meat-and-potatoes actioners where, at least in the former, the premise is completely ridiculous and the script knows it, allowing for the audience to have a good time. Wanna imbue your central character with superpowers? Who cares if they’re a brand-new creation. Wanna use an ambiguous hitman who may or may not have preternatural abilities? Who cares because you’ve got Christopher Abbott, an incredible talent for playing out-there characters (Piercing; Possessor), and he can make anything work, regardless of its ambiguity. Heck, even the element of Aleksei’s transformation into Spidey villain Rhino is supercool in a Killer Croc skin condition way (though explained using a reference to another Spidey villain Professor Warren, a.k.a. Jackal) until the appearance of the actual horn, the literal interpretation taking the fun out of it. All of this to say that the action sequences are quite top notch and it’s great that there’ so many of them, each creating opportunities for Johnson to display his aptitude for stunt work and performance, while also demonstrating that Kraven can be incredibly entertaining when it leans into what it is. But anytime it tries to make itself a “comic book film,” the deviations from the source material and the roteness of the choices bring down the whole. As an admitted fan of action films, it’s hard to totally discount a film that includes sequences that involve (1) a foot race against a car through London, (2) Predator-style traps in the woods demolishing foot soldiers, and (3) a poacher getting their throat ripped out by teeth. All of this and the setups used to demonstrate the strength of Abbott’s The Foreigner make for some good times … shame they are marred by such barbarous banality.
In terms of the home release itself, a typical home release would include information on the physical edition or the technical information regarding the on-disc performance. This review being based on a 4K UHD digital edition provided by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment means that we’re not able to provide discussion on any of the usual material with any hands-on experience. According to the press release, there’s a 4K UHD Blu-ray steelbook option as well as the standard physical editions. For those who want to get the most out of their bonus features, you’ll want to get either of the HD options or the digital edition as the SD DVD only includes the blooper reel and two featurettes. All of this is outlined at the bottom of this review.
That said, if Kraven is something you plan to revisit in your SMCU mourning tour, the included special features are decent to explore. They aren’t long by any measure, but you absolutely get the sense of how this cast and crew felt about making the film, how they envisioned it all coming together while on-set, and certainly the work put in by Johnson to do the role justice. The four featurettes average five-minutes and explore everything from Johnson’s preparation to take on the role, the stunt work in the film, Chandor’s vision, and a brief highlight of the supporting cast. Of everyone in the film, it’s a tie between Johnson and Crowe for MVP. Both of them understand what kind of film they’re in, each one giving their performances a sincerity, even when the script makes little sense. For instance, it makes no sense that adult Calypso (portrayed by Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose) would help Kraven as she does as they have no actual relationship to each other in the 16+ years since she saved his life, yet one certainly believes in Kraven’s earnestness when he offers a team-up. Likewise, Crowe’s Nikolai is an absolute bastard as a parent, yet there’s a strange softness within the performance that informs why Nikolai’s children continually aim for his approval despite the character’s emotional cruelty. The bonus features don’t entirely dig into this, but we get enough to support the perception.
L-R: Director J.C. Chandor, Producer Matt Tolmach, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson on the set of Columbia Pictures and Marvel KRAVEN THE HUNTER. © 2024 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The most frustrating thing about Kraven is that there’s a solid B movie buried in here. A charismatic Johnson beating the crap out of bad guys, often with a wink and a smile and frequently executed in such a way to demonstrate (without telling us via dialogue dumps) just how good of a hunter he is. In concert, these things make Kraven quite fun to watch. However, by not trusting the audience to go with things, by structuring things in a way that implies audiences don’t yet understand comic book films, and relying on the exact same things that were problems in prior releases like Madame Web (2024) and Morbius (2022), not to mention the recent Venom: The Last Dance (2024), it’s truly no wonder as to why the SMCU couldn’t build itself up. It didn’t trust the audience. Talk down to them at your peril, always. With luck, any future attempts will apply this lesson. Fingers-crossed.
Kraven the Hunter Special Features:
4K UHD, Blu-ray, and digital
- Five (5) Deleted & Extended Scenes (4:32)
- Becoming Kraven (5:01)
- Beast Mode: The Stunts of the Hunt (5:15)
- Outtakes & Bloopers (2:37)
- Kraven’s First Hunt: The Direction (5:12)
- Allies & Antagonists: The Killer Cast (5:53)
DVD
- Outtakes & Bloopers (2:37)
- Kraven’s First Hunt: The Direction (5:12)
- Allies & Antagonists: The Killer Cast (5:53)
Available on digital January 14th, 2025.
Available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD March 4th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Sony Pictures Kraven the Hunter webpage.
Final Score: 1.5 out of 5.
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Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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