After an opening breakout from a remote Russian prison demonstrates our protagonist's considerable physical strength and skills, the film flashes back to the teenage Kravinoff half-brothers and a painfully-laboured origin story that sees young Sergei given his powers (which include an affinity with animals) when healed by an ancient potion following a hunting accident. Sandwiched between half-decent action sequences are stodgy dialogue scenes and Kraven's crusade to take out vaguely-sketched criminal antagonists. It is perhaps more male-centric, bloody and more 'adult' than most recent Sony/MCU films, with a firm focus on the male family dynamic, including Russell Crowe doing Russell Crowe as the uncompromising gang-boss father, and Kraven's more sensitive 'weak' half-brother Dmitri, who gets kidnapped and requires rescuing (a far-from-subtle act of gender-stereotyping subtext). Aaron Taylor-Johnson always delivers and here he is a great fit for the title character, giving an impressive and powerful performance that is way beyond anything else that this film has to offer.
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