Sometimes a film makes a ton of money out of nowhere and spawns a franchise (John Wick), sometimes a film is made with the intention of starting a franchise (Iron Man), and sometimes a beloved character (Spider-Man) with several successful films and a treasure trove of great villainous characters spawns a franchise that... doesn't have said beloved character??? Thus was the impetus for the SSMBWSMCU (Sony Spider-Man But Without Spider-Man Cinematic Universe), one of the most misguided and epic failures Hollywood has had in recent memory that I couldn't help but enjoy the ride of.
Kraven the Hunter is the latest and final entry in this mess of a series, if you can even call it a series. It follows the titular Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), whose relationship with his gangster father (Russell Crowe) leads him to hunting and killing bad men in high places. When his identity is revealed, a rival crime lord 'The Rhino' (Alessandro Nivola) kidnaps Kraven's brother (Fred Hechinger), sending the titular hunter on a path of vengeance.
I'm gonna get it out of the way right now, this is a baaaaaad movie. Is it the worst of the 'Sonyverse'? No. But it holds a lot of the issues of the previous films, some of which there's just really no excuse for. Madame Web was heavily criticized for its problems in the ADR department, with several lines not syncing up with the actors mouths. It isn't as bad here but it does happen a few times, and that just shouldn't be the case for a film of this budget. The CGI is pretty weak and is pretty constant even if it's just way too much digital blood. The biggest issue here though is the script. The dialogue is pretty bad, but the way it's structured both tonally and narratively is where it falters the most. We get a random opening action scene followed by a boring and wildly drawn out flashback that sets up the very basic of who Kraven is. Then we get a hodgepodge of random underdeveloped storylines and characters that feel held together by cheap tape, with the tone being your typical PG-13 action movie at one moment, only for Kraven to throw a bear trap at someone's head the next. It's just wildly clear that this is a film with a rampant identity crisis having no idea what it wants to be.
Now obviously this is not without its many... many... many flaws, but I can't lie I had a good time. I do wish it was shorter as it has a long runtime for 'so bad it's good' fun, but the whole mess of it just kinda worked for me. The action is goofy and either genuinely entertaining or fun to make fun of. The dialogue is at times hilariously bad, but the cast is what I appreciated most. Aaron Taylor-Johnson isn't necessarily good, but he has a natural charm that I can pretty much always vibe with. Alessandro Nivola is doing some crazy shit here, his performance is almost like a Russian Christopher Walken impression and at one point he makes a noise somewhere between a cough and a laugh that is genuinely one of the strangest things I've ever witnessed. Crowe is doing a silly lil accent again, Ariana Debose is kinda just there, Fred Hechinger is pretty fun as Kraven's brother. A big highlight is Chris Abbott who I forgot was supposed to be in the movie. I don't even know who he plays and he kind of just shows up for four scenes but is set up to be a tough villain. Terrible character development but while everyone is dressed in hunting gear he's trying to fight in a light blue turtleneck, and honestly just seeing him doing his thing in a big movie like this made me happy.
So no, this is not a good movie. I'd venture as far as to say it's a bad movie. I do think though that out of all these Sony Spider-Man-less movies this is the closest to having the shell of a good movie there, and I had a good time with it despite how poorly made it is. 2/5 but a fun 2/5
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