Kraven Better Movies

Well, we were warned, but we went ahead anyway. We watched Kraven the Hunter (2024). 

It starts out pretty well. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is thrown into a Russian maximum security prison - as a lifer. He is brought to a meeting with the incarcerated mob boss who runs things. In a nice little fight, he kills the boss and his cronies, then escapes from the prison and is picked up by a copter. His dialog with the handler who provided logistics lets us know that this version of Kraven hunts bad guys - arms dealers, oligarchs, the usual. 

Then we get the flashbacks. Young Kraven, played by Levi Miller, is the son of a Russian oligarch, Russell Crowe. Along with his slightly sissy brother (Billy Barrat), they have gone on a hunting safari to Africa, where Crowe hopes to bag a lion. Miller and Barrat find the lion, but Miller doesn't want to shoot - the beast is too majestic. But when Crowe wounds him, the lion grabs Miller and takes off with him, lightly killing him. 

Fortunately, a young local woman, Calypso (Diaana Babnicova) sees this and happens to have a magic healing potion. She gives him the potion, which, combined with the lion blood that got in the wound, brings him back to life and gives him animal powers.

Back in the present, ATJ finds out his brother (now played by Fred Hechinger) has been kidnapped by Alessandro Nivola, a nerdy looking guy whose skin turns impenetrable. He is the Rhino. He also brings in the Foreigner, Christopher Abbott, who clouds men's minds by counting slowly. 

So there are two threads to the movie: The family drama of two sons of an abusive, toxic, criminal father, and the superhero (or antihero, maybe?) fighting supervillains. The family stuff is probably better handled - Crow in particular does a great job. But I thought it was kind of boring. Then there's the superhero stuff, which is not that great, but is at least exciting. The villains were a bit odd: Nivola looks like an account when he isn't rhino-ed out. And he can't be Rhino for long, because it causes excruciating pain. Hechinger is a bit better - at least a little more fun. 

I guess the real problem is that this is a Sony "Spider-verse without Spider-man" picture, like Madame Web, Moribius, etc. The writing is a committee-generated mess, the CGI is lame, and they are saving the best stuff for the sequel that will never, ever come. 

It is also almost certainly the last of these. I think this is where they cut their losses. I have a very high pain threshold for comic book movies, and will watch even the lowest of them. But I won't be sorry to see these go.