The Stream: The story is meh and the visual effects are not good.

The Big Screen: Aaron Taylor-Johnson makes a convincing action hero.

The Final Bill: Despite a charismatic performance from Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the plot and production around him are pretty unremarkable.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: J.C. Chandor
Writers: Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway (screenplay by); Richard Wenk (story by)
Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, Russell Crowe
Genre: Action, Thriller
Rating: R for strong bloody violence, and language.
Runtime: 1 hour 59 minutes
Production Companies: Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Avi Arad Productions, Matt Tolmach Productions, Pinewood Studios
Platform: In theaters December 12, 2024
Notable Trailers: Love Hurts, Flight Risk, Sinners, Wolfman, One of Them Days, 28 Days Later

What’s up, Streamers!?! You’ve seen Wicked. You’ve seen Gladiator II. Now, you’re twiddling your thumbs, waiting around for Mufasa: The Lion King and Nosferatu. But, don’t you have an itching for a comic-book movie that needs a-scratching? The long-awaited, much-delayed Kraven the Hunter was released this weekend and is the Spider-Man-adjacent hero that may satisfy that craving *wink*. In Kraven the Hunter, we get an origin story of sorts of Sergei Kravinoff/Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who in a bid to defy his father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe), sets off to hunt and mercilessly destroy bad people. Aided by a life-saving potion and a tenacious attorney, Calypso Ezili (Ariana DeBose), Kraven sets out to protect his younger brother and his own identity. CGI tiger fighting hijinks ensue.

While Kraven the Hunter is another installment in the Sony Pictures franchise of Spider-Man periphery characters, it is at least better than Morbius and Madame Web, which may not be saying much. For one thing, Kraven has a good and charismatic central performance from Aaron Taylor-Johnson. He is very convincing as a hulking, vigilante with unexplained powers. He’s brooding and has the physicality that is demanded of the character. Unfortunately, the story is so basic and unremarkable that it lets Taylor-Johnson down. It is both bland and overstuffed that it gets distracting and may even cause you to lose interest. Actually, the first 40 minutes suffers because Taylor-Johnson is not present. From then on, there are too many extraneous characters with too many random motivations. There just too much going on that doesn’t really come together neatly. On top of that, the visual effects are pretty bad. They look really fake and almost like they are unfinished. That was pretty disappointing. Lastly, this movie fails to deliver the laughs that are necessary to sustain this genre. It seems like the movie wants to be funny, but it is not successful in being funny. There really should be more to laugh at in this movie with its ridiculous story and Russell Crowe’s thick Russian accent, but it really lacks a sense of humor and self-awareness of how silly it all really is. It feels like they tried for laughs but missed the mark.

Ultimately, Kraven the Hunter is meh on most fronts. The story is a basic origin story. The screenplay fails to bring much humor to it. The visual effects are not good. The saving grace is that Aaron Taylor-Johnson settles into Kraven and gives a charismatic and entertaining performance. While not boring, this movie is pretty bland, but the spectacle of a comic book movie may be worth it when it arrives on streaming. Grab a handful of popcorn on your way to Siberia.