Now THIS is a nice Christmas present! Sony Studios’ Marvel swan song, Kraven the Hunter, is easily in the top two Marvel movies of the year!
The pre-release “reviews” on social media (made by people who had not actually seen the movie, of course), trashed it. After all, it features a grade C Spider-Man villain, and we’ve come to understand that there will not be a whiff of Peter Parker in it. So how could it be good?
Well, shock and surprise, it’s better than good; it’s the best treatment of Kraven we’ve seen in decades and lays the groundwork for (we hope) some sort of sequel.
Kraven the Hunter is the last gasp of Marvel movies from Sony Studios. As explained weirdly in the Deadpool and Wolverine movie, all the Sony movies are now considered part of the Marvel movie universe, Kraven the Hunter is the last gasp of Marvel movies from Sony Studios, so the Spider-Man-adjacent films will now fall under the Marvel Studios banner.
There is plenty of praise to go around for Kraven the Hunter. The writing of Richard Wenk, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway shows (gasp) not only a keen understanding of Kraven and friends, but also realizes the untapped potential of the characters.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson explores the character of Kraven, giving him a depth and sincerity the comic version often lacks. In the Spider-Man comics, Kraven is a one-trick pony whose main ability was grimacing. The writers and director J.C. Chandor give him morals and a fleshed-out backstory, which includes a stunning performance by Russell Crowe as Kraven’s dirtball daddy, Nikolai.
The plot involves Kraven on a mission to kill a list of bad guys responsible for causing misery on the planet and sport hunting.
Along the way, Kraven tries to protect his weak half-brother, Dmitri, who is forever abused and humiliated by their father. As comic readers know, Dmitri becomes the villainous Chameleon, and now we know why.
Kraven is assisted by the enigmatic Calypso (Ariana DeBose), who is quite different from the comic version.
Comic fans finally get to see another main Spidey villain on screen as Alessandro Nivola brings the Rhino to life, once again offering more insight to the character than we’ve seen in years.
Lastly, Christopher Abbot is striking as The Foreigner, a complicated character rarely seen in the comics, and never before this good.
The action is brilliant, with Kraven jumping and climbing around like Spider-Man most of the time. Kraven’s finest moments in the comics came in 1987 with the extended storyline “Kraven’s Last Hunt.” He has been seen very little since.
Kraven the Hunter is a movie that should be seen in the theaters; it’s too good to wait for it to come to the small screen.
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