In the openng moments of Kraven the Hunter, the titular Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) comments on his character’s existence in light of the myths told about him throughout the years. “There’s an ounce of truth in every myth,” he says as he stabs a crime lord in the neck with a large tiger’s tooth. Here he’s talking about himself being a very real entity chasing down evil-doers, but the same can be said of the film itself. The inclusion of the famous Spider-Man villain has been in the works since the canceled fourth Sam Raimi film, and every iteration of the superhero franchise has tried to find a way to fit him in at some point. After nearly two decades of discussions and more than two years of delays on this particular film, many thought the film itself was just a myth and might never be released. The first footage was shown at CinemaCon in April 2022, and we are finally getting the full motion picture. Sony has announced that the Spider-Man Universe (SSU) will come to a close with Kraven the Hunter being the last installment. Save for the box office success of some of the Venom films these expanded stories from the world of Spider-Man have been critical and commercial failures at the Box Office. However this film may work better as a digital and disc release. This film boasts an amazing cast featuring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Academy Award winners Ariana DeBose and Russell Crowe, Alessandro Nivola, and Fred Hechinger, who is having one hell of a year in front of the camera. This is his fifth film to be released in 2024. Unfortunately, it feels like these actors are in completely different movies. There’s no chemistry or even tone symmetry to suggest they read the same script or got the same direction from J.C. Chandor. To the film’s credit, it does deliver on some of its promises. Its gore and swearing content are much higher than your average superhero outing, and these aren’t used for laughs or self-aware gags like many other Marvel films (like Deadpool). This is simply a part of the film and enhances the action significantly. If your main character is going to have super speed and strength and have his DNA infused with a lion’s, you’d imagine he might inflict more devastation on his enemies from sheer brute force. Another bright spot of Kraven is its relatively insular story. The characters span the globe in a cat-and-mouse game but are only after each other. It’s refreshing for the stakes to be lowered from world-ending destruction, with no mystical MacGuffin to keep out of the wrong hands. It’s Kraven against his enemies, culminating in a climax proportional to the stakes. Kraven’s biggest issue is that it does nothing to make its main character interesting enough to care about. Is he materially that different from Jared Leto’s Morbius? They appear to come into similar powers, involving the fusion of their blood with that of an animal. A common failure exists in the characters of Kraven, Morbius, and even Madame Web: the absence of their comic book counterpart, Spider-Man. It’s very difficult for any of these characters to stand alone without him, yet Kraven the Hunter should be the most viable. He’s by far the more widely known of the three, yet he comes away from this film somehow being the least interesting. Yet as for the film itself, I was thoroughly entertained. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is upstaged by the always brilliant Christopher Abbott as “The Foreigner,” a man who has been chasing The Hunter for years after an altercation with his family. Every time he appears on screen the film finds some sense of footing that it lacks when he is absent, and forces audiences to ask the question if he would have been better off being the main villain instead of Alessandro Nivola’s Rhino. Abbott brings a level of mystery and enigmatic power that is intoxicating, and it’s a shame we won’t get more of this character going forward. The death of the SSU comes with a whimper, with minuscule successes that can’t overcome major technical and writing issues. It does feel like Kraven the Hunter was dumped at the latest date they could muster and is being hung out to dry by the studio as they look to return to the well with a mainline Spider-Man picture in the coming years. After years of planning, delays, and reshoots, it’s hard to find much positive to take away from this movie and it’s unfortunate to see Aaron Taylor-Johnson be let down by Marvel yet again after his short-lived time in the MCU a decade ago.
Kraven The Hunter comes to Blu-Ray in its original 2.39:1 with a fetching transfer that is no slouch even knowing that there is a 4K version on the market. While certainly not as flawless as the 4K UHD likely is (it was not made available to me for review), there is a stellar amount of depth and clarity to the picture with discrete details coming through clearly. There is some inventive production design featured in the film along with loads of special effects which you can really take in with this transfer. There are numerous landscapes presented here with each location providing something exciting to explore.
This Blu-Ray release boasts a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that kicks into gear when it needs to. This disc brings these thrilling moments to life with a depth and clarity of sound that is just perfect. As the action ramps up, the sounds of crashing through objects and other raw effects flow out of your side and rear speakers. Each sound is precisely placed with perfect spatial awareness. The track engages all of the active channels with panning effects and sounds of chaos that really makes you feel like you are in the thick of the action.
Kraven the Hunter largely suffers the same fate as most of the other Sony universe Spider-Man spinoffs. Kraven has such potential on film, yet there seems to be very little passion or vision behind the camera to make it all amount to something. The ridiculous amount of bad ADR is enough to know how little most cared to get this right for fans. Movies are made in the editing room, but you cannot completely manufacture a movie out of nothing but alternate dialogue. That being said, the level of hate for this one is slightly outsized. It is not good, but there are cool things we can appreciate amongst the mediocrity. Most of the ensemble is very talented and free from blame. Hopefully this character can get justice in the future. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring an excellent A/V presentation and a fine selection of special features. If you are a fan of the film and are capable, you might want to spring for the 4K UHD Blu-Ray but this Blu-Ray is rock solid.
MOVIE ⭐️⭐️⭐️
SOUND ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PICTURE ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
EXTRAS ⭐️⭐️⭐️