Kraven the Hunter

Last night, I watched “Kraven the Hunter,” which came out 13 days ago. Is this finally the movie the Sony Spider-Man Universe needs to break their bad films cycle or is it another one that deserves the thrashing it gets?

Sony has done everything possible to start their own version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While the “Venom” franchise has been somewhat successful, despite the three films just going downhill, other possible films like “Morbius” and “Madame Web” have failed to attract people to the franchise.

Now comes “Kraven the Hunter” in what might be the final film for Sony to prove it is capable of making a comic book film that doesn’t involve Spider-Man. “Kraven” is more similar to its predecessors – a failed attempt at a film that lacks a lot creativity. Micheal Compton said in his review, “It’s a bland, assembly line action film that really feels like it is coasting on autopilot.”

The protagonist is actually Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the son of the evil mob boss Nikolai (Russell Crowe) who gets his powers when he is given a magical serum after being attacked by a lion. Sergei develops animal like instincts and the ability to move like an animal, making him stronger and faster than how he was before.

As Sergei/Kraven tries to get used to his new powers, he is followed by multiple criminals. There is a villain called the Rhino (Alessandro Nivola in one of the strangest performances in recent history), a hypnotic time changer called the Foreigner (Christopher Abott) and even to a point his father Nikolai.

With help from his brother Dimitri (Fred Hechinger) and Calypso (Ariana DeBose), a lawyer connected to Kraven’s past who becomes a helper.

Compton noted, ““Kraven” was directed by J.C. Chandor, whose previous work “All Is Lost,” “Margin Call” and “A Most Violent Year” — all three good films, but none of the material that would suggest that you knew your way behind the camera of a comic book action film.”

Taylor-Johnson brings a little more to the protagonist than the six pack, a boring anti-hero that won’t exactly leave audiences wanting for more films.

Rhino is not really an interesting villain, while the Foreigner is wasted with very little screen time. Compton said, “The villains may be a little undercooked, but it is still more than DeBose is given — a thankless role that has very little to offer.”

Basically, the only thing that does work is Crowe, who pretty much eats the scenery with his over-the-top Russian criminal. Crowe feels like he is in another movie – getting everything he can in his small screen time.

Crowe proves to be the highlight in a film with very little pros to offer. You’d think a franchise would want to be with this much on them they would have to put every bit of creativity possible in the final version, but that is not the case with “Kraven.”

This is a boring film that looks like it will not be in theaters after the holidays and may be the end of Sony making another comic book film that isn’t around the Spider-Man universe.

I felt like nothing happened in this film. Which for a comic book movie is the worst crime to happen since they have been around so much and have a huge fanbase. There’s very little action, and the amount that is in here is good when it doesn’t like CG’ed, there’s so much dialogue which gets boring and tiring fast, and it feels like the main motive in here is being raised in a bad family. This might be the worst film I saw this year and I would highly recommend everyone to not see this film in theaters. Don’t waste your money on this and go see something that will be worth the money, like the new Sonic.

Thank you for joining in on this review everyone. Stay tuned tomorrow for the continuation of “Disney Month 2024.”

Venom: The Last Dance

Tonight, I went and saw “Venom: The Last Dance,” which came out five days ago. How is this final installment in the trilogy?

James Berardinelli started his review by saying, “In 2018, an argument could have been made that a Venom-centric movie was sensible, preferably as a lead-in to the expected big-screen clash between the inky symbiont and his web-crawling nemesis, Spider-Man.” (The previous film that showed the two fighting was in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 3,” left most fans unimpressed and believing a redo was necessary.) However, in the days before COVID, comic book adaptations were very popular. By the time the first sequel, “Venom: Let There be Carnage,” was released in 2021, the Venom franchise had lost some of the spark (despite the domestic gross was almost identical to that of the original, the international box office was cut in half). Now, with the release of the supposed final sequel in the “trilogy,” there’s a feeling that this franchise is struggling to get to the end. And the anticipated fight with Spider-Man is still not to be seen.

Is this the last time for Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and his alter-ego symbiote? That is unknown. The movie gives mixed feelings, almost as if it’s enclosing its bets based on the box office. Hardy is probably done but the Venom character could easily return with or without Brock. As comic book readers will tell everyone, it is a separate being. The movie introduces a new villain, Knull, played by the director of the last film, motion-capture master Andy Serkis, who has very little to do by setting things in motion from deep in the Void, where he is trapped. It looks like Sony might be making him the next Thanos. Let’s see how that turns out.

Narratively, the film is all mover the place. The setup is divided between Eddie, who is running from humans and aliens, and the people working at Area 51. The normal, gentle scientists, represented by Dr. Payne, played by Juno Temple, want to study Venom. The unreasonable, trigger-happy soldiers, represented by Rex Strickland, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, want to kill him. Berardinelli admitted, “My hope is that Temple and Ejiofor were well-compensated for their work here because both are playing characters that could charitably be described as underwritten and underutilized.”

Meanwhile, deep in the Void, Knull wants out and has sent his pawn, called Xenophages, to locate the key that will allow him to escape his prison. This key, called a “Codex,” is conveniently found inside Eddie (as a result of his having been resurrected by Venom), and a Xenophage, having sensed him, is now on Earth causing damage. There’s a catch, however: the Xenophage can only locate the Codex when it is active (meaning when Venom comes out) so, as long as Eddie stays human, the Xenophage cannot see him. In order to keep his secrecy, he catches a ride with the hippies Martin (Rhys Ifans) and Nova Moon (Alanna Ubach) and their kids (Hala Finley and Dash McCloud), who happen to be on a vacation to find Area 51.

All this is build-up to the necessary huge CGI fight that fills up the final half-hour. Berardinelli said, “It relies so little on real actors doing real acting that it might as well be animated. It’s loud, chaotic, and not the least bit interesting. Perhaps recognizing there’s a problem with audience engagement, writer-turned-director Kelly Marcel (who wrote the other two Venom movies before taking the helm for this one) inserts a flashback montage that serves primarily as a reminder of how much younger Tom Hardy looked when he started on this franchise six years ago.”

There are a few nice distractions during the course of the twisting road trip that makes the outcome of “The Last Dance’s” first hour. There’s a nice fight on top of a flying jetliner, however it’s too short to leave much impact. Venom dances with Mrs. Chen, reprised by Peggy Lu, to a famous ABBA song. Also, there’s a sing-along in the hippy van with the Moon family. Sadly, the most memorable part of the first two “Venom” films – the conversation between Eddie and the symbiont – has been lessened this time around. It’s still there but it looks more like a necessary footnote than an element of the story.

When it comes to bringing Marvel characters and superhero elements to the big screen, Sony has had worse moments. Berardinelli ended his review by saying, “Although it would be difficult to anoint The Last Dance as the worst comic book movie of 2024 (it has to contend with another Sony dud, Madame Web, for that dubious distinction), it’s another indication that the time has come to shut down any and all attempts to expand the Spider-Man universe into anything that doesn’t directly involve Spider-Man. As for Venom, the potential inherent in the creature has been wasted and squandered over the course of three movies and this final installment is the worst offender of all. Even John Travolta circa 1977 couldn’t save The Last Dance.”

Overall, I think this film is ok. I don’t think this is bad, but I did find the action enjoyable and there are a lot of funny moments. However, I do see how it can be considered all over the place and that it doesn’t leave off with the indication that this is the last time we will see Venom. There is a mid-credits scene with Knull and a post-credits scene with a cockroach approaching the broken vial that had the Venom symbiote in it, but I don’t know if Sony is thinking of incorporating Venom in the MCU. We will have to wait and see. If you want to check it out in the theaters, it wouldn’t hurt. It’s your choice, but if you don’t, then there’s no big loss.

Thank you for reading this review tonight. Stay tuned tomorrow to see what I will end off “Halloween Month 2024” with.

Madame Web

Tonight, on Netflix, I watched “Madame Web,” released theatrically back in February, but on Netflix 11 days ago. After hearing all the bad stuff about this latest in the “Sony Spider-Man Universe,” what’s my take on it?

Thus far, Sony’s “Spider-Man” spinoff films have been some pieces of work. Starting with “Venom” in 2018, the film may have taken quite a critical thrashing, but that didn’t stop it from having a crazy impressive box office hit that reached over $800 million worldwide. Three years later, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” also received quite a bad reception, but still brought in $500 million worldwide. However, when it came to the third film, “Morbius,” things didn’t turn out very well, not only having terrible reviews, but also a disappointing box office. This brings us to the latest in the spin-off franchise, “Madame Web,” another attempt to introduce some new characters trying to once again find great success as they had previously with the “Venom” films.

Starting in the ‘70s, we follow the mission in the jungles of Peru led by Ezekial Sims (Tahar Rahim) and his colleague Constance Webb (Kerry Bishé), who happens to be pregnant. When they find a rare species of spider that has special healing abilities, Ezekial turns against the team, steals the spider, and shoots Constance. However, thanks to the help of a local tribe, she is able to give birth shortly before she dies.

Thirty years later, we find Cassandra Webb, played by Dakota Johnson) working as a medic in New York City. After surviving a near-death experience on a particularly rough call, she begins having visions, which she slowly finds out are giving her looks into the future. Meanwhile, Ezekial has been having dreams where Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Mattie Franklin (Celeste O’Connor), and Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced) kill him, causing him to do everything he can to find them. Cassandra’s visions bring her into the situation, leading her to find the girls first so she can protect them from Ezekiel, who will stop at nothing to save him from his demise.

If the first three films in this spin-off franchise is any indication, it would appear that the goal of these films were never really to create a film that would get praised by critics and audiences, but rather to make films that might be able to compete with the true comic book franchises at the box office, and as we’ve seen, it’s been somewhat successful so far, at least as far as the “Venom” films go. Jeff Beck said in his review, “The trouble has been trying to find something else in the limited number of characters they have access to that could achieve a similar level of prosperity.”

Sadly, just like “Morbius,” “Madame Web” has proven not to be that film either, from either a critical or financial point of view. Beck noted, “As a comic book film, it falls prey to the same pitfalls that many of these films have fallen into of late, including featuring a bland/uninteresting plot with sub-par writing and flat/unengaging characters that you end up not caring about in the least. On that basis, the film never stood much of a chance, not if the goal was to make an entertaining experience that comic book fans could get excited about, one that would have them riveted to the screen with impressive action and a compelling plot. Anyone who read the screenplay well before production commenced would've been able to tell you as much.”

That said, while many audiences have had fun criticizing on the film over the last few months, the strange thing is that it’s really not worse than any of the other subpar comic book films we’ve seen over the last couple of years, like “Shazam: Fury of the Gods,” “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” “Black Adam,” or “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” all of them share those similar traits listed prior. Beck said, “"Madame Web" is merely another entry in a continually growing line of disappointments in the genre, a line that shows a clear, unfortunate lack of effort from the filmmakers behind these unremarkable outings.”

If anything, these films, and the disappointing box office numbers they’ve made, have shown that audiences aren’t going to work for averageness anymore. They want fun and excitement, along with engaging characters and storylines that give them a fun experience, not something that puts them in the position of sleeping or just simply shrugging wen everything is done. Beck suggested, “Perhaps it's simply time to go back to the drawing board with these spinoffs, much like DC is doing with their entire collection.” One thing’s for sure, it’s true that changes are most definitely needed, for if things simply stay the same, the list of criticisms will just continue to grow.

“Madame Web” is just another addition to the continually growing list of average comic book films that show a simple lack of effort being put into their stories and characters, leaving viewers with just another entry that gives a little more than a shrug, other than the fun and exciting time these films should be giving.

As you might have guessed, which is universal, this film doesn’t make any sense. Things just seem to be all over the place and it’s hard to connect everything together. You just wonder why certain things are done, especially when it starts borrowing pages from “Doctor Strange.” I don’t recommend this because of how it doesn’t make sense, but then again, this is one of those films that is bad, you start to laughably enjoy it.

Thank you for joining in on this review tonight. Stay tuned next Friday for the finale of “Liam Neeson Month.”

Morbius

Tonight, I watched “Morbius,” which came out in April, online, and I will let everyone know what I thought about this film that is based on a lesser-known Spider-Man villain.

With the worldwide success of “Venom” and its sequel “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” it was inevitable that Sony would continue to expand on their villain Marvel universe. Drew Tinnin said in his review, “Morbius is next up, giving audiences a 90s inspired horror actioner that delivers on its promise to be ridiculously entertaining. Jared Leto’s take on The Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad had the unenviable task of competing with iconic interpretations of the character.” Playing the Living Vampire, Leto gets the honor of introducing a Spider-Man villain that’s never been in a live-action movie before. Tinnin said, “Unfortunately, his performance and most of Morbius as a whole are layered in melodrama and CGI fakery.”

A sick Michael Morbius is looking all over the planet to find a cure for his rare blood disease. This search takes him to the entrance of a bat cave where he sees the essential health benefits of mixing bat blood with human DNA (no COVID subtext here). Using artificial blood that Morbius has prepared and combining it with a healthy balance of bat blood leads to a breakthrough with…unplanned consequences.

His partner, Dr. Bancroft, played by Adria Arjona, does her best to protect Morbius’ secret, even after (as Tinnin puts it) “she winds up going from an idealized Mary Sue trope to the more familiar comic book cliché of Mary Jane.” Morbius and his childhood friend have the same condition, which leads to an inevitable fight when Milo, played by Matt Smith, becomes public frenemy number one.

Following the same formula that came before is fine, that’s what an entire movie universe has been built on. Tinnin said, “Morbius, however, seems fine with barreling towards the end without delivering on the moments in-between that make that ending worthwhile. The chemistry between Leto and Smith is effective, mirroring the relationship between Peter Parker and Norman Osborn a.k.a The Green Goblin. But Morbius cashes in on the dramatic beats of better films that came before it, from Venom to Spider-Man: Far From Home.”

There are some real scenes of horror that call back to the Universal Monsters, especially in an early transformation scene. Tinnin mentioned, “With so much bat imagery flapping around, nods to Batman could’ve been an easy cop-out. The shape-shifting from Leto into Morbius comes straight from the werewolf mythos, looking painful and exhilarating all at once.”

Surprisingly, the choice to not rely on prosthetics and instead rely on the latest visual effects ends up being the greatest strength of “Morbius.” Tinnin noted, “The matches in lighting and the facial mapping technology are genuinely impressive. The only problem is an overreliance on CGI. Action beats showing Morbius discover his abilities give way to incoherent blurs across the screen. Aware of its own visual messiness, the overused slow-mo effect that we’ve all seen before rears its ugly head in nonsensical ways.” Slow-motion should be used to show something we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Here, it’s just put in because it’s worked in other movies, so why not?

Tinnin mentioned, “Morbius rushes into its finale at a fevered pace, only to circumnavigate it in favor of a post-credits sequence that, apparently, Marvel fans have been waiting for.” The Sinister Six now has a number of possibilities thanks to what was created in “Far From Home.” This is where the problem is. Tinnin noted, “Characters like Michael Morbius don’t have room to breathe when an entire universe is at stake.” This is exactly the movie you think it is and, for that, “Morbius” is a welcome introduction into a world that keeps expanding even when it shouldn’t.

In actuality, this movie was supposed to come before “Far From Home,” but because of COVID, this was re-edited due to constantly being pushed back. I know the critics really thrashed this movie, but I just found this to be alright. Leto and Smith really helped this movie out since you buy their friendship turned rivalry. However, the action seems like it was borrowing a lot from “The Matrix” movies, since there were times, you couldn’t make out what was going on. Also, there are parts that feel like they were borrowing from other comic book movies.

Spoiler alert: there are two mid-credits scenes where Michael Keaton returns as the Vulture, who has been transported into this universe. He’s released from prison, and meets up with Morbius, telling him to form a team, which is leading up to the Sinister Six movie.

Thank you for joining in on my review tonight. Stay tuned this Friday for the next review in “Brad Pitt Month.”

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

For the first time in over a year, I went to the theaters today with a friend and checked out “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which came out yesterday. How is this compared to the first one? Let’s find out:

The difficulty of the pairing is done. Now that the strange friendship between disgraced journalist Eddie Brock, reprised by Tom Hardy, and disgraced alien Venom have put everything behind them, sharing appears to be more difficult than either one thought. Throw in a strange creation of a symbiote, and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ends up being a violent, messy, but entertaining fight through couples therapy for the duo.

Eddie’s career is slowly being fixed thanks to his super-strong symbiote, which helps him solve a decades-old case involving serial killer Cletus Kasady, played by Woody Harrelson. Meagan Navarro said in her review, “But Eddie cramps Venom’s style and the two have commitment issues that breed constant bickering, eventually building to domestic violence. It leaves both vulnerable when Kasady escapes death row after transforming into Carnage.” Kasady first goes to free his lost love Shriek, played by Naomie Harris, from her secluded cell before going to his search for revenge.

Navarro noted, “Written by Kelly Marcel (Cruella, Fifty Shades of Grey) from a story by Hardy, Let There Be Carnage leans in hard to the odd couple schtick from the previous entry. Nearly everything else falls to the background or wayside; this is a rom-com in disguise. Eddie and Brock quarrel, break up and must learn to overcome their differences once the child they’ve unwittingly birthed turns out to be a homicidal maniac with daddy issues.” Eddie always had difficulty with relationships, but for the right symbiote and help from his ex-fiancé Anne (Michelle Williams) and her fiancé (Reid Scott), Eddie finds personal growth in the madness.

Director Andy Serkis takes the ball, runs with it, and doesn’t stop for the fast 90-minute runtime. It’s the right runtime for this comic book adaptation, but it does get messy. Navarro noted, “Let There Be Carnage winds up feeling more like an abridged version of Carnage and Venom’s long-awaited cinematic confrontation, with chunks of story excised to get to the action.” Shriek really gets the shaft. Harris tries to insert wild, crazy energy into the character, but there’s nothing in the script for her to hold on to. Shriek ends up downgraded to plot device meant to showcase how three’s a crowd in her failed love. She does have a grudge against the officer, played by Stephen Graham, that put her in the secluded cell, but that also gets looked over. Shriek’s inclusion ends up not being utilized at all.

The PG-13 rating does lighten the action a little. Carnage ends up with most of the kills, Venom to a much smaller point, but it’s never as satisfying as we expect. Navarro noted, “Serkis attempts to circumvent the limitations with many explosions or quick cuts, but it’s difficult not to miss the lost potential. A mid-credit scene serves as a requisite tease but also possibly explains the reduced rating.” My thinking is that there will be something in the new Spider-Man movie that will be coming out close to the holidays.

Comic book fans wanting this to be a fight that they have been expecting for news will most likely be unsatisfied. It’s a fast and violent fight that ends neatly. Navarro noted, “For those connected with the quirky bond between Eddie and Venom, the sequel dedicates its entire identity to that aspect. It’s a sloppy entry in superhero fare, but it’s hard not to be charmed by Venom attempting to cheer up his host with a lavish breakfast and pep talks. Or a dose of self-love and acceptance in the form of a confessional mic drop at a costume party.” If you’re looking for some comedy entertainment, this sequel really brings that. However, for a long-awaited fight between the two famous symbiotes, it leaves empty.

I probably will think that this movie is not as good as the first one, but I still liked it. If you enjoyed the first movie and are looking for the sequel to continue what the first one succeeded at, the sequel might have succeeded at that. Still, it’s not a good comic book adaptation, but a decent, fun one. Check it out in the theaters if you want to, but stay safe if you go.

Thank you for joining in on tonight’s review. Next Friday, I will be looking at the first sequel in “Addams Family Month.”

Venom

Guess what online readers? Tonight, I got to watch “Venom,” which came out four days ago. Now, I will give everyone my thoughts on the movie. 

Matthew Rozsa started his review by admitting, “Call me crazy — certainly I'm in a minority when it comes to my fellow critics — but I liked "Venom." Heck, if it wasn't for the sloppy and formulaic script, I might have even loved it. At a time when every superhero film tries to (a) serve as either the springboard for or the continuation of a cinematic universe, (b) bog itself down in ponderous self-importance a la "The Dark Knight" or (c) do both of those things, it is refreshing to watch a movie that tells a self-contained story — fully aware of the fact that by virtue of its genre it is going to be braindead and cheesy — and as a result is just plain fun.” 

In fact, if “Venom” wasn’t based on a famous superhero character (one of the many villains Venom, who was first in a movie in “Spider-Man 3”), it could just be basic horror action comedy. It is about Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), a devoted reporter who unintentionally ruins both his job and his relationship with Anne Weying (Michelle Williams) when he hacks on her laptop so he can face the crazy billionaire scientist, Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) about his handful of dirty business deals. Six months later, Brock is a nobody who can’t keep himself straight, and that is how he would have stayed if it wasn’t for one of Drake’s employees, played by Jenny Slate, who found him to explain that what he thought about Drake was right this whole time. This makes Brock break into Drake’s high-tech science lab and, as things always happen, the whole plan ends up with Brock getting an alien symbiote named Venom transferred to him by his friend Maria, played by Melora Walters, who gives him superpowers while speaking to him in his head. Even with the help of Anne’s doctor boyfriend, played by Reid Scott, they can’t figure things out completely. 

This isn’t really the basic movie formula for the superhero genre, but you could forgive that when you think that when looking at the synopsis. Rozsa said, “The Venom/Brock hybrid isn't exactly a hero; for most of the film's running time, they're focused primarily on self-preservation, and it isn't until Venom realizes that he is also a loser like Brock that they team up to save the planet in the name of naked self-interest.” 

With that, seeing how “Venom” tries to lighten up the superhero genre by making the protagonist into an antihero doesn’t really make the movie work. Rozsa mentioned, “Like all genre pictures, "Venom" lives or dies by the execution of its standard parts rather than by its originality.” Even though I know that the movie is nowhere near perfect, it has more good elements than bad. 

I know this film isn’t getting good reviews from critics, but I personally had an enjoyable time watching this movie at work tonight. It was funny, action-packed, but I know there were parts where it was messy. However, I still think everyone should go to the theaters to watch this movie and judge it based on your own reasons and not listen to the critics. 

Spoiler alter: in the mid-credit's scene, Brock goes to a prison to interview serial killer Cletus Kasady, played by Woody Harrelson, and the post-credits scene is an animated Spider-Man segment that I think is setting up for the animated Spider-Man movie coming out next month. 

Before I saw this film, I did notice that they are thinking of making sequels to this movie, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they somehow combine this with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, if Disney doesn’t buy Sony soon. We’ll see if that happens, but for now, definitely see this movie.  Especially since they had been talking about making this spin-off ever since "The Amazing Spider-Man" movies. I think that this film is better than "Spider-Man 3" since Tom Hardy did a better job as Venom than Topher Grace did.

Thanks for joining in on my review tonight. Stay tuned tomorrow for the continuation of this year’s “Halloween Month.”