I haven’t had the (mis)fortune to see Morbius or Madame Webb yet, but Sony’s latest supe entry isn’t quite as bad as most people are saying. Not a ringing endorsement, I know.
I’m pretty sure the Cineworld execs had an agenda with their advertising choices before the film started. I mean, they’re always going to have a plan of some sort, but they were REALLY sending a message this time round. What advert, you might ask? Well, the Gorgio Armani one. You know, the one where Aaron Taylor Johnson is swimming around in the sea half naked. Yeah, that one. Admittedly, he’s not the king when it comes to the Half-naked Man Perfume Advert Competition (that goes to a certain individual in the Burberry Hero perfume ad where said individual also randomly turns into a centaur at the end. Groovy). Anyway, Cineworld knew what they were doing when they decided to include that advert here, because you’ve already got the bare-chested Kraven the Hunter poster as the film’s central promotional material. And he does indeed randomly display those assets in an early scene when he boards a plane. Because, uh, planes are too hot, apparently. And he does it again at the end. Yeah. Arguably, the majority of the film is essentially an advertisement for Taylor Johnson’s body, in a similar way that Commando was a promotion for Arnie’s figure.
But, anyway, plot. Well, there are two bros who have a nasty father (props to Russel Crowe for adding another dodgy accent to his repertoire). There’s an accident which causes one bro to get super strength after receiving help from a token black character, then he decides to leave the family shortly after to find himself. Then he becomes the protector of big animals (PoBA?), taking out some vengeance against peeps who harvest animals for colonial purposes. Nice. He’s not as nice to the small animal community, though. R.I.P. river fish. Then a couple of baddies resurface from his past life and he’s got to deal with them.
There’s not a lot going on here in terms of acting quality, but the soundtrack’s decent. And that’s probably down to composer Benjamin Wallfisch, who also did the tunes for Blade Runner 2049. That’s a film you need to watch, by the way, if you haven’t already. Oh, and I didn’t really feel like the film warranted a 15 rating. But then I got to the gory third act and thought, ‘ok, it does need that rating’. I had a similar reaction to both The Last Duel and Last Night In Soho, two films that must have come out in a similar time frame. Whoa, these guys are 18, really? Well, I think they could’ve gotten away with a 15 *gets to penultimate scene in both* ah ok, I very much understand why they had to slap on the old 18 rating now.
Anyway, after all that babbling, I don’t think Kraven the Hunter is quite as atrocious as some folks are saying. If you’re going into it expecting high standard narrative structure and competent characterisation, then sure, it’s going to honk. But if you’re looking for some silly, nonsensical entertainment, then it’ll do just fine.