'Kraven The Hunter' will not have audiences cravin' more

From actors to writers and directors, "Kraven the Hunter" had all the talent it needed to make a decent superhero (or supervillain) movie. Yet, "Kraven" merely delivers another round of clichés and plot holes — the main character is awesome, the bad guy is also awesome, and they're gonna have a big fight. And that fight is akin to a 5-year-old bashing their action figures together while making "bam-bam" noises.

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"Kraven the Hunter" tells the story of Sergei Kravinoff, who was attacked by a lion as a young man on a hunt in Ghana, but he was revived by a mysterious potion that gives him special, animalistic powers. Kravinoff endeavors to chart his own course through life, running from family drama (his dad is a gangster constantly overcompensating for a severe inferiority complex), while learning to use his powers. He takes on the name Kraven and hunts down people he deems as bad. His methods are rated-R level brutal and bloody. Along the way, he connects with a high-powered attorney named Calypso (another Marvel villain, not that they let that show in this movie), makes time for his little brother's birthday, kills a lot of people, and ultimately cannot escape his family drama.

For a taste, check out this violent and bloody trailer (some clips here are not actually included in the final cut of the movie).

Between the characters, the backstory, the side stories, and action, this movie has little energy left for depth or originality. Will this rise above Sony Picture's poor comic book movie record? No. Is this a decent addition to the overall Marvel movie universe. Maybe. Aside from "Venom," "Kraven" is perhaps the best of Sony's collection of lackluster Marvel movies. It can certainly be a fun watch for fans, but won't often be revisited in the future.

Years ago, as Marvel began building its cinematic universe, it also licensed out some of its Spider-Man characters / villains to Sony Pictures to make movies of its own. While Marvel Studios went on to dominate, and change, Hollywood, Sony's films became known for, well, simply being bad ("Madame Web," "Morbius"). Except for the "Venom" series, which was generally well-received by fans. With "Kraven the Hunter," it's clear that "Venom" was an anomaly.

"Venom" was able to overcome any faults with a little humor. It appears that "Kraven" attempted to overcome its faults by cranking the movie up to an R rating. However, any potential for laughs has been replaced with gruesome violence.

Perhaps the main reason that "Kraven" doesn't work is its story. You can see little details and themes that writers placed along the way (character quirks, family drama, humans vs nature, and vigilante justice). But you never get to linger on any of this as the movie is interrupted by one flaw or another.

Kraven is renowned for being the world's greatest hunter, yet he seeks help from Calypso, because she's a lawyer and can therefore find people he cannot. After that, Kraven reminds us that he is the world's greatest hunter and there is nobody on the planet he cannot find.

In another scene, four men walk into a building and Calypso comments that they don't look like they belong there. But why? They're just four guys, in suits, among a crowd of other people in suits.

The audience is merely spoon fed the idea that there is danger, just as they are spoon fed the idea that dad is bad because he's a gangster, yet his gangster empire is never explored.

It's these sorts of cheap lines and sloppy writing tricks that get plugged into the story, just so they can keep things moving.

"Kraven" has the talent, but not the delivery

Marvel has clearly crafted a formula for cinematic success with its own studio. Yet, Sony continues to lean into poorly paced writing, an over reliance on CGI, and never exploring any depth available to creatives. For "Kraven," part of the disappointment is the fact that it had so much going for it.

We know the actors can bring it, we've seen it in their past work, starting with Aaron Taylor-Johnson ("Kick-Ass," "Godzilla," "Nowhere Boy"), but also Ariana DeBose ("Hamilton," "Argyle," "West Side Story"), and Russell Crowe (he's freaking Russell Crowe). Their performances here are not bad, but they are barely given any room, as if they were assigned cookie-cutter characters to fill in a hurry.

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Taylor-Johnson carries his role well, but perhaps the character that succeeds the most is Aleksei Sytsevich (aka Rhino) played by Alessandro Nivola. In this poorly paced movie, his scenes can be brief, but he doesn't waste a second and manages to deliver a villain with some complexity.

Debose's Calypso is a major missed opportunity. Calypso is rarely given any depth, just hints that there is more going on with this person. It makes you wonder who this person is and what their place is in this story.

One could assume that Calypso, and Kraven in general, are simply on the screen to establish them in a cinematic universe, set up to be used in other movies where we will find out more about them. Since Sony likely won't be pursuing future "Kraven" films, you'll have to accept that this is it, and we'll never get to a point where we understand why these people are supposed to be villains.

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Director J.C. Chandor came to "Kraven" with movie-making cred earned from "All is Lost," "A Most Violent Year," "Margin Call," and others. Richard Wenk ("The Equalizer" series) co-wrote the film. And yet, between the actors, writers, and director, none of this talent can (or was allowed to) uplift this movie.

"Kraven the Hunter"

2/5 stars

Screen or stream?: Wait to stream this at home.

Rated R: Gruesome violence.

Good for kids?: No. This is not a comic book movie for children.

What else?: I don't want to downplay Sony's successes with other Marvel efforts. Its Spider-Man animated features with Miles Morales are, no pun intended, amazing.