I’m Frustrated By How Much Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Marvel Superhero Movie Squanders Its Potential

Aaron Taylor-Johnson isn’t new to superhero movies, having played the MCU’s Quicksilver in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, but Kraven the Hunter is his first opportunity to lead one, and while he turns in an entertaining performance, the latest installment of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe never lives up to its potential. Previously, the movies in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe have been a mixed bag. While Tom Hardy’s Venom films have been generally well-received and done solidly at the box office, Jared Leto’s Morbius and Dakota Johnson’s Madame Web bombed in every way a movie possibly can.

For Kraven the Hunter, director J.C. Chandor took some big swings. The movie is violent enough to earn an R rating, which already puts it at odds with typical superhero fare. Most movies might earn a PG-13 rating for sci-fi violence, but ultimately they remain relatively family-friendly. Kraven the Hunter, however, features some of the most violent kills I’ve ever seen in a superhero movie — and I’ve seen every Deadpool movie. But whereas Deadpool’s violence is offset by humor, Kraven the Hunter leans into its titular character’s brutality with very bloody results.

Further, Kraven the Hunter is a truly standalone Marvel movie, eschewing any kind of tie-ins to other films in Sony’s franchise. In an age where superhero movies are tasked with including commercials for the next film in the franchise, Kraven the Hunter is built to exist on its own, which is an undoubtedly admirable endeavor. However, it would’ve been more admirable if the standalone movie had a stronger script and better character development to go along with the decently enjoyable action scenes and Taylor-Johnson’s requisite superhero abs.

Kraven The Hunter Has Too Many Characters

It Gives Every Marvel Villain Included An Origin Story

Kraven the Hunter has a surprising number of Marvel characters for a movie meant to be a single anti-hero’s origin story. There is, of course, Sergei Kravinoff (Taylor-Johnson) and his little brother Dmitri Smerdyakov (Fred Hechinger), both of whom fear and respect their father, the crime lord Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe). Much of the movie’s first act focuses on establishing the relationships between the three Kravinoffs, but it still remains a thinly-sketched dynamic steeped in so much unpacked toxic masculinity that it becomes frustratingly trite.

Therein lies my biggest frustration with the film. The movie sets itself up to deconstruct the idea that men should only ever be strong, and if they’re not predators they’re prey, and therefore weak, which is inherently harmful to men like Dmitri who don’t fit into that paradigm. And while much of Kraven’s journey is about becoming a different man than Nikolai, to walk a path of masculinity that’s not toxic because it emphasizes empathy, the movie’s ending completely undoes all of that. It reaffirms the paradigm in ways that, quite frankly, are baffling for these characters.

Of course, there’s also the problem that, because Kraven the Hunter includes so many characters and spends so much time developing them, little is left for Sergei and Dmitri, which may account for their perplexing turns in the end. Not only do we get their origin stories as Kraven and Chameleon, respectively, the movie also explores the origin of Rhino (Alessandro Nivola) and Calypso (Ariana DeBose), and even has a scene detailing the backstory of the Foreigner (Christopher Abbott). There are so many characters crammed into this movie and none of them are fully developed.

Kraven The Hunter’s Story Is Overwhelmed By Superhero Action

The Story Serves The Action Set Pieces, Rather Than The Action Serving The Story

While the action set pieces are entertaining, I get the distinct impression the movie’s story was constructed around what the filmmakers thought would make for cool action scenes. The story exists in service of setting up these scenes rather than the action working to develop the story and characters. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with big superhero action set pieces, but it’s obvious Kraven the Hunter wants to be a grounded character film, and this is impossible when it includes action scenes that don’t serve the story.

The result is a poorly executed superhero movie with very little personality beyond Taylor-Johnson’s charm. Sure, Nivola is a surprisingly delightful character as Rhino, and Abbott brings some quiet menace to the Foreigner, but even they and Taylor-Johnson can’t distract from the shallowness of the story and characters, which seems to be the consequence of the filmmakers wanting to have their superhero action scene cake and eat it too. It’s frustrating, because there is so much potential in Kraven the Hunter, but at every turn, it’s squandered.

As such, I can’t in good conscience recommend it, except to those who solely enjoy superhero movies for the action scenes, and particularly if you like bloody and violent R-rated action. I will say that any fans of Taylor-Johnson’s will be satisfied by just how charming and enjoyable he is. I was surprised by how much chemistry he has with everyone in the film; I simply wanted so much more of that. But if neither of those things sounds appealing, Kraven the Hunter doesn’t make a good case for why it’s a must-watch Marvel movie.

Unfortunately, that’s the risk of creating a standalone superhero movie — it has to stand on its own. And Kraven the Hunter doesn’t.

Kraven the Hunter is in theaters on December 13. The film is 127 minutes long and rated R for strong bloody violence and language.

Your changes have been saved

My List

My Favorite MoviesMy Watchlist

5/10

Kraven the Hunter

Pros

• Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s performance is fun and charming.
• Kraven the Hunter’s action scenes are violent and entertaining.

Cons

• The movie is overstuffed with Marvel characters and their origin stories.
• The story and script are thin and poorly executed.