As strained as it is bloodsoaked and morally wayward, the would-be action adventure “Kraven the Hunter” (Columbia) is a hopeless dud. On the upside, moviegoers misguided enough to patronize the film will likely be too bored to be much corrupted by it.
After a brief slice of mayhem set in the present day, director J.C. Chandor’s brutish origin story for the titular Marvel Comics character carries us back to the unhappy youth of his alter ego, Sergei Kravinoff (Levi Miller). Both mild-mannered Sergei and his equally gentle half-brother Dimitri (Billy Barratt) live in fear of their Russian gangster dad, Nikolai (Russell Crowe).
Determined to toughen both lads up, Nikolai forces them to join him on an African safari, during which Sergei has a near-fatal encounter with a lion. Yet a magical potion given to him by a stranger named Calypso (Diaana Babnicova) — a girl his own age to whom viewers have previously been introduced — not only revives Sergei but endows him with superpowers.
Once grown, and now played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Sergei uses his gifts to track down criminals to whom he doles out do-it-yourself justice, gaining him his nickname. The intense isolation of his undercover lifestyle is relieved only by his ongoing relationship with Dimitri (Fred Hechinger) and his newly-minted partnership with the adult version of Calypso (Ariana DeBose).
Calypso, a crusading attorney who is meant to serve as our ethical compass, briefly questions Sergei’s extra-legal methods. But this does nothing to stop his sequential rampages. Throw in the fact that Calypso’s family features a long line of tarot card-carrying witches and it’s clear that cinephiles of any sense will not feel a yen for “Kraven.”
The film contains excessive graphic violence with much gore, benignly viewed vigilantism, an occult theme, a few uses of profanity and several instances each of rough language and crude talk. The OSV News classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
