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With: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, Russell Crowe
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Written by: Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, based on a story by Richard Wenk
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Directed by: J.C. Chandor
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MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence, and language
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Running Time: 0
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Date: 12/13/2024
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Shot In Its Own Foot
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Yet another by-the-numbers entry in the "Sony's Spider-Man Universe," J.C. Chandor's Kraven the Hunter likewise feels lazy and cynical, as if under the impression that the least amount of effort will still be profitable.
Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is taken to a Russian prison. After beating up two prisoners in the yard, he is summoned to meet a powerful criminal, whom he quickly kills with a tiger's tooth. He then escapes. In flashback, we learn the his origin story. He was a boy called Sergei, whose powerful, drug-dealer father (Russell Crowe) was merciless in his attempts to raise "men not cowards." During a hunting trip, Sergei is attacked by a lion, but saved by a medicine woman's daughter, Calypso.
From that point on, he has super powers. He decides to run away, leaving behind his younger brother Dmitri. Years later, Sergei, now Kraven, finds the grown-up Calypso (Ariana DeBose), now a lawyer, and strikes up a partnership with her. When his brother (Fred Hechinger) is kidnapped by a supervillain known as the Rhino (Alessandro Nivola), Kraven dashes off to the rescue, little realizing that he is walking into a trap.
The talky origin story in Kraven the Hunter foreshadows pretty much everything that happens in the movie, with little emphasis on the "shadow" part; it's all pretty clear. The only thing to do is wait to enjoy whatever occasional action sequence doesn't look like rubbery CGI effects, such as some flipped/crashed cars, or Kraven scaling a building with his hands and bare feet.
Actors are forced to read painful dialogue, but their paychecks must have been enough that they still manage to look cheerful while doing it. Musical theater star Ariana DeBose is here for virtually no reason at all; Kraven teams up with her Calypso in order to help him "find people he can't," even though his entire purpose is to find people. (Why wouldn't he be able to find someone?)
Perhaps the most dramatic thing in Kraven the Hunter is the realization that it was directed by J.C. Chandor, whose first three movies, Margin Call, All Is Lost, and A Most Violent Year, signaled an exciting and promising career. That career has now been hunted to extinction.
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