Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) doesn’t have the best relationship with his father, Nikolai (Russell Crowe). For starters, dear old dad left his son for dead during an African hunting trip, resulting in Sergei gaining enhanced senses, super strength and an almost mystical rapport with wildlife. Things go from bad to worse when Sergei rejects his father’s criminal lifestyle, resulting in Nikolai hiring thugs, the Foreigner (Christopher Abbott) and the Rhino (Alessandro Nivola), to take down his son for good.
Kraven the Hunter is the best of Sony’s Spider-Man-adjacent universe, which includes such bombs as Madame Web and the three Venom films. That’s an admittedly low bar to pass, but Kraven does it through a blend of J.C. Chandor’s energetic direction and the surprisingly stacked cast, who have fun wielding thick Russian accents as much as they wield their many lethal weapons.
Festooned with leopard animal skins, leather vests, impossible abs and ‘70s-era porn star facial hair, Taylor-Johnson is clearly having the time of his life playing an anti-hero who eventually becomes one of Spidey’s most fearsome foes. It’s a shame he’ll never actually meet him, though – this movie bombed so badly that it effectively ended the Spidey villain franchise for good.
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