By After the dismal failures of “Morbius” and “Madame Web,” it was hoped that maybe Sony’s Marvel universe of ‘Spider-Man adjacent’ films could end on a high note with the “Kraven: The Hunter” film opening this week.
The pedigree seemed good – an R rating which was more suitable for the material, a solid director in J.C. Chandor, and a strong cast including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Russell Crowe, Ariana DeBose, Alessandro Nivola and Fred Hechinger.
Unfortunately reviews are now in and the results are rather disastrous. On Rotten Tomatoes the film sits at just 15% (3.7/10) which is on par with “Morbius” at 15% (3.8/10) and just above “Madame Web” at 11% (3.4/10). On
Here’s an excerpt of review quotes for the film:
“Kraven is the lumbersexual response to 2004’s Catwoman.” – Joseph Robinson, Fish Jelly Films
“We don’t know whether Kraven the Hunter is truly the final bow of the SSMU. It is undoubtedly a self-inflicted killshot.” – David Fear, Rolling Stone
“The real tragedy surrounding “Kraven the Hunter” isn’t that it promises a future that will never be, but that it could’ve allowed itself and the universe to which it belongs to go out with some dignity.” – Bill Bria, The Wrap
“A clunky, crowded script, muddy visual effects, and glaringly obvious ADR bog down a promising premise. It’s not camp enough to become a cult classic, and it lacks the conviction to carry its most ambitious ideas to the finish line.” – Lyvie Scott, Inverse
“Those hints of a so-bad-it’s-good guilty pleasure are a fleeting tease in an action thriller that spills plenty of blood but never raises the temperature or ignites the excitement.” – David Rooney, THR
“The CGI devolves from ‘adorably cartoonish’ to ‘done as cheaply as possible by a studio trying to cut its losses’ so fast that it comes dangerously close to ‘Scorpion King’ territory by the end.” – David Ehrlich, Indiewire
“It’s a largely joyless affair, and can’t seem to decide on a dramatic or comedic tone, let alone a blend of the two… Rarely has a superhero movie featured this many talented performers phoning it in. But with such bland material, can you blame them?” – Siddhant Adlakha, Polygon
“The movie is so vacuous, so bereft of life in spite of its many desperate and quality actors trying to quicken the cadaver with wasted energy, that it eerily resembles the cobbled together emptiness of the worst 2000s superhero time-wasters.” – David Crow, Den of Geek
“A corny and turgid saga that should bring to a close Sony’s live-action “Spider-Verse,” if not the faltering genre as a whole, it’s an unspectacular affair that melds Marvel, Tarzan, and John Wick to depressing and forgettable ends.” – Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
As announced this week, this will be the last of the SSU/SPUMC films with Sony instead turning its attention towards “Spider-Man 4,” a third “Spider-Verse” film and its “Spider-Noir” series which all take place in different universes to the SPUMC films.
The post The “Kraven: The Hunter” Reviews Are In appeared first on Dark Horizons.
