In a world where the casual superhero fans of 2024 were left craving for more, we were only given one single MCU flick, while we were bombarded with three from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. The disappointment of this imbalance is palpable. Kraven the Hunter, the latest entry following Madame Web and Venom: The Last Dance just two months ago, is rumored to be the last one (so they say). Let’s hope they stick with it. The Sony Spider-Man Universe is in disarray, with every installment that gives these Spider-Man villains their own movie failing to be a critical hit. Some might say the Venom trilogy was a positive, while I question their taste of what’s considered “good.” I wasn’t really planning on seeing it after it’s been pushed so many times (originally supposed to be released last year and this past Labor Day weekend). But it seemed cheaper to check it at the movies and get it out of the way faster. Usually, I tend to go into these with an open mind and try to enjoy them from a guilty pleasure perspective. With what we got here, it’s not just terrible but one of the dullest comic book movies I’ve wasted my time with.

What’s the Story: When a lion attacked Sergei Kravinoff (Levi Miller/ Aaron Taylor-Johnson) while on a hunting trip to Tanzania, the blood drips inside his body, combined with a potion a young girl named Calypso gave him, prompting him not only to come back alive but to gain unexplained powers of super strength and enhanced sense. Sixteen years later, Sergei, going by the alias Kraven, takes the time to kill criminals, especially those hunting animals. This is the opposite of keeping in the family business from his Russian crime lord father Nikolai (Russell Crowe). But the hunter goes on the path of vengeance after Russian mercenary Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola) kidnaps Sergei’s half-brother Dmitri (Fred Hechinger), enlisting the help of an older Calyspo (Ariana DeBose) to track him down and understand what it means to be the most excellent hunter.

The thing with every one of these movies is there have been major expectations to witness the origins of the most popular villains fans appreciate from the comics without facing everyone’s favorite web-slinger. All we get inside Kraven the Hunter is a boring backstory that’s pretty stupid the more you think about it and having the attention on an anti-hero whose story fails to engage the audience that never goes beyond exciting for two lifeless hours. For me, the film’s only positive was the opening sequence, where Kraven makes a daring escape from a Russian prison to carry out a hit. However, the film quickly loses its charm. Based on what I’ve heard about Madame Web, a film I refused to view after hearing how unintentionally terrible it was, it influenced my perception of how it would be an improvement. But even with its attempts at humor, the film takes itself so seriously that it fails to provide any fun.

But somewhere beneath this lies a good movie that should’ve deeply explored the character better, and it probably was different from what Sony had in mind. It could’ve done more with the conflicting father/son relationship with Kraven and his big hunter dad, and it’s a dynamic that is not given any depth to care about since it gets forgotten after it starts. That’s because when it has a screenplay co-written by Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (Uncharted, Transformers: The Last Knight), the results are, no surprise, a mess that never raised above mediocre at best. The most shocking aspect is the stark contrast between J.C. Chandor’s previous character-driven dramas, such as Margin Call, A Most Violent Year, and All is Lost, and his new venture into the big-budget comic book universe. This unexpected shift is sure to pique my interest, leaving you curious about his vision for this in the first place.

Aaron Taylor-Johnston’s potential as an actor has been growing on me over the past few years, and while I initially didn’t share the excitement about his casting as Kraven, I can’t help but feel hopeful. This isn’t his first time portraying a superhero on the big screen. His performance as Kick-Ass was memorable, and he was a decent Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron. He’s got the physicality down, but he’s been given some clunky dialogue to work with. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough to bring Kraven to when trying to embody the character’s badass nature. The real question is, how come he has an American accent when the character from the comics is Russian? Even with his unique abilities that have Kraven running fast and whatnot, he comes off as uninteresting, leaving his relationship with Dmitri barely serviceable to buy.

Just when I thought Crowe was here for a paycheck with whatever accent he’s speaking, Ariana DeBose isn’t much better, sadly. She is at a point in her career where she needs to fire her agent after her post-Oscar win, which has her in films that leave more to be desired. It’s infuriating to see her talent being wasted in the disappointing Argylle. Her Caylpso has her not caring at all (and who can blame her), and it doesn’t help when most of her bad lines are clearly ADR for a character already underwritten.

With Alessandro Nivloa taking on the Rhino, it’s another over-the-op villain who occasionally gets a couple of laughs, but not enough to count the guy as a straight-up cartoon. Since he has this condition of changing into an animal, he’s always carrying around a backpack to control it, making him look like he’s going door-to-door asking people to hear about the word of God through Mormonism. That’s a bummer since, deep down, I expected him to be this movie’s Matt Smith from Morbius in knowing what he signed up for, and he was in no way a saving grace. But there was no reason for Christopher Abbott’s The Foreigner to be included since this already has too many villains, and it’s like they needed another with a kind of unique superpower that’s never explained.

The action does not get better, either. Many believe that since it’s the first in the SSU to receive an R-rating, it’ll up the ante on the violence. However, the R-rating did not enhance the action as expected. Sure, it gets bloody when Kraven utilizes his skills to kill as many men as possible and has the chance to throw in F-bombs, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be good. None of the action sequences left a lasting impact thanks to the editing and poorly done CGI, especially for the design of Rhino in the third act. Hell, the animals couldn’t look faker, with the lion that mauled young Sergi got an unintentional laugh from me. Chandor brought no real style to them as it all looked flat when raising the body count.

It’s surprising how boring this turned out to be, and I got a shock of disbelief over a line clearly dubbed by Taylor-Johnson. As someone who will defend superhero movies whenever they’re unfairly dismissed, Kraven the Hunter will never be one of them. I challenge anyone to say this is better than Deadpool & Wolverine, and I’m ready to voice my reasons why they’re 100% wrong. When you look at this and Morbius side-by-side, movies like this explain why the superhero genre has fallen on hard times. Who knows if this universe can redeem itself to make these villains good enough to land their own movie, but the lesson here for the last six years is it makes sense for them to fight Spider-Man one-on-one so that they won’t waste all this time and effort.

Failing to capture a sense of thrills for a character meant to be hardcore, Kraven the Hunter shows this cinematic universe never had the brains to improve with each film, ending things on a very dull note. The action feels stale, but the unconvincing performances from a talented cast genuinely disappoint. It’s an adaptation that never reaches its potential, making it a less-than-watchable experience.

Grade: D