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| Images courtesy of Sony Pictures |
I, like so many of you, am tired of Sony's attempts at secondary Marvel character movies. Sadly I'm going to start this off with something that isn't pleasant. No matter how good Kraven: The Hunter may or may not be, it's too little too late. A mostly great cast, interesting action sequences, a competent story and yet, it's simply not enough.
Kraven was never going to be a blockbuster, judging by how they approached it I don't think they ever intended it to be one. What it is, is an interesting action flick with poorly written dialog, some good acting (despite what they were given) and a dash of bad chemistry.
Solid performances from Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Russell Crowe, Alessandro Nivola and Christopher Abbot provide a solid backbone for the movie. Sadly, like I said before, the dialog is ham fisted and lifeless. They do the best they can with it but a couple of co-stars really let them down and drain the energy out of the room more frequently than adding anything to the project.
Adequately directed by J.C. Chandor and shot by Ben Davis, we get a sweeping beautifully shot film with action sequences that pull off what they were going for. Unfortunately, as usual these days they leaned a little too heavily on some of the digital effects and they were let down by that very thing. When the CG was subtle it shined. It leant gravity and power to the scenes where it worked and pulls the viewer out of the scenes where it doesn't.
The chemistry between Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Russell Crowe is magnificent, they play off each other very well making the scenes they share captivating. Alessandro Nivola pulls off his second best part since Pollux Troy in Face/Off giving constant creepy vibes.
Where this film falls apart is two particular performances, Fred Hechinger and Ariana DeBose. Fred just seemed ham fisted and not at all engaging. Ariana's issue feels a bit deeper. Her chemistry with Aaron Taylor-Johnson was absent. He'd deliver gravitas and she'd hand him back almost nothing. She just didn't lend anything to the movie. We've seen this type of character before in similar films and we've seen it done a thousand times better many times before. It's a shame. With a better performance she could have made this movie go from serviceable to a much more enjoyable experience.
I keep bringing up the action sequences and I stand by it. They are a ton of fun. They aren't over done like so many action movies do these days. They propel the story and keep it moving in the direction they want to take you. Now, all that being said, they aren't Deadpool level or even Fall Guy but they are entertaining and well done (where that aforementioned CG doesn't get in the way.)
All that being said, I think I only looked at my watch one time, it was well paced and didn't seem to get mired down too badly. I had a good time with this movie and don't regret seeing it in the least. Do I think anyone needs to rush to the theater to see this one? Probably not, and now it's looking like it's the last of the Spider-Man spin off Sony/Marvel films I'm not sure that's a bad thing. Marvel might be wise to keep Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Kraven and bring him into the mainstream, he's a well thought out character and this origin story was the best thing Sony had done with one of the spinoffs without Spidey since Venom.
Give Kraven a chance, don't expect more than a fun action movie with dialog straight out of those cheesy '80s action movies we love so much. Go, have fun, eat popcorn, detach and just watch something dumb and fun for a couple of hours.
Trevor West