I'm frustrated by how much Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Marvel superhero movie wastes its potential

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is not new to superhero films, having played the MCU's Quicksilver in 2015 Avengers: Age of Ultronbut Kraven the Hunter It's his first opportunity to lead one, and while he gives a fun performance, the latest installment in Sony's Spider-Man Universe never lives up to its potential. Previously, Sony's Spider-Man Universe films were a mixed bag. While Tom Hardy Poison the films were generally well-received and performed solidly at the box office, Jared Leto's Morbius and Dakota Johnson Lady Teia bombed in every way a film can.

To Kraven the Hunterdirector JC Chandor underwent major changes. The film is violent enough to earn an R rating, which already puts it at odds with typical superhero fare. Most films may receive a PG-13 rating for sci-fi violence, but ultimately they remain relatively family-friendly. Kraven the Hunterhowever, it features some of the most violent deaths I've ever seen in a superhero movie – and I've seen them all Dead Pool film. But while Deadpool's violence is offset by humor, Kraven the Hunter leans into the brutality of its titular character with very bloody results.

Next, Kraven the Hunter is a truly independent Marvel film, avoiding any type of connection with other films in the Sony franchise. At a time when superhero films are tasked with including commercials for the next film in the franchise, Kraven the Hunter it was built to exist in its own right, which is an undoubtedly admirable undertaking. However, it would have been more admirable if the standalone film had a stronger script and better character development to go along with the decently entertaining action scenes and Taylor-Johnson's requisite superhero abs.

Kraven the hunter has many characters

Gives every Marvel villain an origin story

Kraven the Hunter has a surprising number of Marvel characters for a film that purports to be the origin story of a single antihero. There are, of course, Sergei Kravinoff (Taylor-Johnson) and his younger brother, Dmitri Smerdyakov (Fred Hechinger), who fear and respect their father, crime lord Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe). Much of the film's first act focuses on establishing the relationships between the three Kravinoffs, but there remains a thinly sketched dynamic, infused with so much uncompressed toxic masculinity that it becomes frustratingly trite.

Therein lies my biggest frustration with the film. The film sets out to deconstruct the idea that men should only be strong and, if they are not predators, they are prey and therefore weak, which is inherently harmful to men like Dmitri, who do not fit into this paradigm. And while much of Kraven's journey is to become a different man than Nikolai, to walk a path of masculinity that is non-toxic because it emphasizes empathy, the film's ending completely undoes all of that. It reaffirms the paradigm in ways that, frankly, are disconcerting to these characters.

Of course, there is also the problem that because Kraven the Hunter it includes so many characters and spends so much time developing them that little is left for Sergei and Dmitri, which may explain its baffling twists at the end. Not only do we have their origin stories as Kraven and Chameleon, respectively, but the film also explores the origins of Rhino (Alessandro Nivola) and Calypso (Ariana DeBose), and even has a scene detailing the Stranger's (Christopher Abbott) backstory. . There are so many characters in this film and none of them are fully developed.

The story of Kraven the Hunter is dominated by superhero action

The story serves the action settings, rather than the action serving the story

While the action set pieces are fun, I get the distinct impression that the film's story was built around what the filmmakers thought would make for cool action scenes. The story exists in the service of setting up these scenes, rather than the action that works to develop the story and characters. To be clear, there's nothing wrong with big superhero action set pieces, but it's obvious Kraven the Hunter it wants to be a grounded character film, and that's impossible when it includes action scenes that don't serve the story.

The result is a poorly executed superhero film with very little personality beyond Taylor-Johnson's charm. Sure, Nivola is a surprisingly charming character as Rhino, and Abbott brings a quiet menace to the Foreigner, but even they and Taylor-Johnson can't distract from the shallowness of the story and characters, which seems to be the filmmakers' fallout. wanting to have his superhero action scene cake and eat it too. It's frustrating, because there's so much potential in Kraven the Hunterbut at every step, it is wasted.

As such, I can't in good conscience recommend it except to those who only like superhero movies for the action scenes, and especially if you like R-rated bloody and violent action. -Johnson will be pleased with how charming and fun he is. I was surprised by the chemistry he has with everyone in the film; I just wanted so much more of it. But if none of those things sound appealing, Kraven the Hunter doesn't explain why it's a must-see Marvel movie.

Unfortunately, that's the risk of creating a standalone superhero movie – it needs to be standalone. AND Kraven the Hunter no.

Kraven the Hunter opens in theaters on December 13th. The film is 127 minutes long and rated R for strong bloody violence and language.