‘Kraven the Hunter’ is off-target

Every December, there comes a hero to save us all from prestige awards-season movies. Too much thinking? Need to turn off your brain? Never fear, “Kraven the Hunter” is here, a big ol’ side of comic book beef with no contemplation required.

It’s a Marvel movie from Sony, the studio that has been churning out stand-alones for various obscure Spider-Man characters, like “Venom” and “Madame Web.” So, think slightly goofy, pretty campy and somewhat self-aware about the silliness of the whole endeavor.

Alas, only a few participants have the winking down pat.

Kraven is a foe of Spider-Man from the comic books who is so charming, he’s more of an antihero than a supervillain. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his abdominal muscles slither into Kraven’s leathers for the film, an origin story: a boy has a near-death experience with a deadly animal, and through various magic and mysticism, receives specific qualities from that animal that compose his superpowers.

Privileged but sad teen Sergei Kravinoff (Levi Miller) is attacked by a lion on a hunting safari with his Russian gangster father Nikolai (Russell Crowe). He’s revived by a mysterious potion-wielding ally, and then takes to the wilds of eastern Russia, where he hunts bad guys for sport and taking on the name of Kraven, aka “The Hunter.”

Miller and Taylor-Johnson approach the material straight-faced, playing a character who loves animals and hunts only those he deems predators, like mob bosses. Director J.C. Chandor also is earnest about the film. But many of the actors in supporting roles came to work ready to make big Choices, with a capital C.

There’s Crowe and his Russian accent, playing the big, bad bear of a father, against whom Kraven chafes. He claims his father is an evil drug-dealing gangster, even though we never see him do anything but shame his kids about being weak. Not a great dad, but his criminal bona fides are not on screen.

And there’s Ariana DeBose as Calypso. With a wig that’s wearing her and a selection of costumes that seem to be from a 1990s Janet Jackson music video, poor DeBose is saddled with some clunkers to deliver — her character is constantly loudly pronouncing what’s happening on screen — and her stilted line readings don’t help matters much.

The bright spot is Alessandro Nivola, delivering a creepy-camp performance as Aleksei Sytsevich, aka “The Rhino.” Nivola seems the most in on the joke, or the most willing to get weird, and with his strange accent and bizarre mannerisms, he makes the whole thing worth watching (his transformation is especially silly).

It would have been more fun to watch Kraven hunting, but the action of the film centers around the kidnapping of his younger brother and his desperate attempts to rescue him.

The structure and editing are strange: there seem to be huge chunks of exposition missing, though they weren’t really necessary in the first place. Dodgy CGI, especially for the animals, and obvious green-screen inserts also show the seams on this project.

Nonetheless, there’s a certain pleasurable kind of entertainment to be had in watching Taylor-Johnson (or his stunt double) grapple with a speeding minivan or parkour around London, and the star has enough charisma to just barely hold this thing together.

‘KRAVEN THE HUNTER’

2 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R