FILMSTARTS author Sidney Schering described “Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage” as a “disappointingly bloodless symbiote romp” in our 2-star review of the film. In doing so, he expresses a widespread feeling among Marvel fans: The films from the so-called SSU (Sony's Spider-Man Universe) would probably be better with an R rating, because that means characters such as Venom and Venom are often very brutal in the comics Carnage passes. But “Kraven The Hunter” now provides pretty clear evidence that an SSU film with a US age rating for adults (in Germany “Kraven” is rated for ages 16 and up) is not necessarily more entertaining.
Because with a running time of 127 minutes, the longest SSU film by far is one thing above all: damn boring. Director JC Chandor (“Triple Frontier”) takes a lot of time for an origin story that oscillates between silly and unspectacular. Many dialogue scenes simply last too long and everyone in the prominent cast seems to be acting in a different film. The few, often very short action scenes stand out for their brutality, but they do little to change the boredom that prevails in “Kraven”.
He has the superhero six-pack, but he shows the necessary charisma far too rarely: Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Kraven.
As a teenager, Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) was attacked by a huge lion during a hunting trip in Africa and only survived thanks to a mysterious potion that Calypso (as an adult: Ariana DeBose) gave him. Since then he has become incredibly strong, can run very fast, has superhumanly acute senses and a special connection to wild animals. He primarily uses this to hunt down all sorts of villains. However, he has always spared his father Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe), even though he rules a drug empire and made Sergei's childhood and that of his younger brother Dmitri (Fred Hechinger) hell.
However, after Kraven strikes in a Russian prison, he finds himself in the sights of crime boss Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), who wants to expand his territory in London. With the help of a mysterious killer named The Foreigner (Christopher Abbott), Aleksei attempts to take Kraven out of harm's way. To do this, he identified Dmitri's only weak point…
An R rating does not make a good film
Anyone hoping for an excessively violent party due to the US age rating of “Kraven The Hunter” will definitely be disappointed. Because the few peaks of violence have little impact on the overall duration. Although they are quite brutal, they still lack any impact because they are not staged particularly spectacularly. When Kraven bites off a henchman's nose in a scene, you just shrug your shoulders. Better is a chase through the streets of London, in which Kraven chases barefoot after a car containing his kidnapped brother.
When Kraven dashes and slides through the English capital, it doesn't just have a lot of dynamism. It's also clear to see that real stunt people actually put their bones here. However, the same cannot be said about many other action scenes. In Kraven's frequent obstacle courses on the walls of houses, the not particularly convincing use of a computer-animated double catches the eye. The situation is similar with the numerous CGI animals: While the lion at the beginning is reminiscent of the quality of Disney's “The Lion King” remake, a herd of buffalo and a leopard are clearly inferior.
Action scenes like this are surprisingly rare in “Kraven The Hunter.”
The bigger problem is that such action scenes remain the exception because director JC Chandor takes a surprising amount of time for other things in between, by blockbuster standards. After the opening in the Russian prison, a flashback shows how Kraven gets his superpowers. With tarot cards, a mysterious magic potion and the blood of the aforementioned lion, all of which somehow play an unexplained role, this origin story is as arbitrary as it is uninteresting.
That would still be manageable if Chandor and his screenwriters picked up the pace again later. Instead, “Kraven The Hunter” sags a lot, especially in the middle part – which is mainly due to the fact that characters constantly have to recite exposition and several dialogue scenes last far too long. Stars like Russell Crowe (Oscar for “Gladiator”), Ariana DeBose (Oscar for “West Side Story”) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is considered the new James Bond, do little to change this. Chandor has assembled a cast that is strong on paper, but their interaction is disappointing.
Russell Crowe steals the show
The first reunion of Kraven and Calypso as adults goes around in circles after just a few seconds. The pair's interaction is already tiring because there is simply no chemistry between Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ariana DeBose. The celebrated actress from the hit musical “Hamilton” seems pretty out of place in the Marvel film adaptation. At least in a funeral scene they briefly show their whole class.
Taylor-Johnson, on the other hand, looks good with a six-pack and a five-day beard, but is unlikely to score any points in the 007 race with “Kraven The Hunter”. His screen presence, which has been sufficiently demonstrated in films like “Bullet Train”, completely disappears behind a monotonous, growling performance. The leading man qualities are missing, which is particularly noticeable when compared to Russell Crowe. As Nikolai Kravinoff, the screen legend can bring all his charisma to bear and always give the monkey a lot of sugar. The scene in which he makes a mess of Alessando Nivola's character on a hunting trip together is delicious. And so you look forward to every further appearance of Crowe – and not just to see which new, colorfully patterned scarf he will wear in the next scene.
Alessandro Nivolas doesn't really look threatening as the villain.
Alessandro Nivola (“Face/Off”), on the other hand, seems to have had a lot of fun filming as Aleksei Sytsevich aka Rhino. But when he apes Kraven sneaking around in an almost grotesque scene, he acts like he's in a completely different film. In addition, with his white shirt and his little black backpack (which, without giving too much away, has something to do with his Rhino transformation), he really doesn't look like a villain in a superhero or anti-hero film.
Conclusion: “Kraven The Hunter” is significantly more brutal than the previous films from Sony's Spider-Man universe, but not a bit better.