Kraven the Hunter
Aaron Taylor-Johnson rejoins the Marvel comic-book dynasty as a leonine predator of very evil men.
The beast of a man: Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Image courtesy of Sony Pictures.
Kraven is anything but craven. So, that’s Kraven as in Sergei Nikolaevich Kravinoff, scion of the Russian gangster Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe), who has put down roots in London and upstate New York. Kraven the Hunter is also the name of a Marvel superhero who, following a childhood altercation with a lion, has ended up with the strength and agility of the said big cat. Think Spider-Man and the incident with the radioactive arachnid…
Unlike many of the Marvel hunks that dart all over the multiverse, Kraven is a more earthbound warrior and draws his strength from the natural world, preferring to sleep barefoot in the open grass and who can hold his own with many a large, four-legged predator. He is a role model for the Green Party. And, as portrayed by the intense and charismatic Aaron Taylor-Johnson, he is a highly appealing creation. To see him walk with cat-like tread and parkour his way across the urban jungle of London’s Docklands has to be witnessed to be believed. He also has some engaging adversaries, particularly ‘the Rhino’, an unscrupulous pachydermic thug played with manic relish by Alessandro Nivola.
On the downside, there is some decidedly clunky dialogue and a cartoonish Russian brute inhabited by Russell Crowe as if he were auditioning for a 1960s’ Bond movie. Talking of his late wife, Nikolai mutters, “she took own life. Sick in head.” And, on a more serious note: “I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t like Tony Bennett.” There’s also a preponderance of dubiously rendered CGI critters, running the gamut from a herd of water buffalo to a very angry bear. They do not convince. And the combat stuff is more of the same, in which punches sound like detonating fireworks and characters fly through plate glass windows as if they were made of brittle sugar.
Still, the director J.C. Chandor (Margin Call, All is Lost, A Most Violent Year) brings some interesting textures to the table, providing a contemporary nuance to all the Loony Tunes action. The locations are well utilised (London is almost unrecognisable), and there’s an environmental element that is a welcome counterpoint to the faceless corporate sheen that dominates much of the action. There’s also a nice sardonic humour and it’s a relief to encounter a Marvel epic that feels as if it’s loosely based in the real world, and where much of the magic is actually derived from nature’s very own medicine chest.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, Russell Crowe, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Levi Miller, Tom Reed, Billy Barratt, Diaana Babnicova, Guillaume Delaunay, Anita-Joy Uwajeh.
Dir J.C. Chandor, Pro Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach and David Householter, Screenplay Richard Wenk, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, Ph Ben Davis, Pro Des Eve Stewart, Ed Chris Lebenzon and Craig Wood, Music Benjamin Wallfisch, Evgueni Galperine and Sacha Galperine, Costumes Sammy Sheldon, Sound David C. Hughes and Jeremy Bowker, Dialect coaches Michael Buster, Kohli Calhoun, Liam French Robinson and Ryan O'Grady.
Columbia Pictures/Marvel Entertainment/TSG Entertainment II/Arad Productions/Matt Tolmach Productions-Sony Pictures.
126 mins. USA. 2024. US Rel: 12 December 2024. UK Rel: 13 December 2024. Cert. 15.
