Another splashy superhero movie is hitting theaters, and with it, parents less versed in comic books might well be wondering if it’s age-appropriate for their kids. After all, there’s a world of difference between the violence seen in Shazam! and Logan. Maybe your child loves Harley Quinn on the Batman Animated Series, but are they ready for the sexual violence at play in Birds of Prey?
With so many superhero movies playing safely in the PG-13 sandbox, parents might miss when a rated-R movie slips through the MPAA’s chokehold on Hollywood blockbusters. Or hey, maybe your kids are a bit older, and can handle some more mature content? I’m not here to make that call for you. After all, you know your kids better than I, random internet film critic.
I’m just here to let you know what’s in store in Kraven The Hunter, with the lightest spoilers possible.
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What is Kraven the Hunter rated?
Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Russell Crowe face off in “Kraven the Hunter.”
Credit: Jay Maidment / Sony Pictures
The latest in Sony Pictures Spider-Man spinoffs, Kraven The Hunter, is rated R.
For context, other R-rated superhero movies include Logan, Kick-Ass, Watchmen, Punisher: War Zone, and all the Deadpools 1-3, including Deadpool and Wolverine.
How violent is Kraven the Hunter?
Well, remember how the red-band trailer showed the titular anti-hero biting the nose off a guy and spitting it at another? That gives a good sense.
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The violence in Kraven is often brutal, inventive, and bloody, employing hand-to-hand combat, a tiger tooth as a killing tool, and an array of very gruesome booby traps, including a bear trap to the face. Notably, director J.C. Chandor rarely lingers on the gore. But it’s definitely a bloodier film than the Dark Knight trilogy.
What kind of sexual content is in Kraven the Hunter?
Aaron Taylor-Johnson smolders in “Kraven the Hunter.”
Credit: Jay Maidment / Sony Pictures
Nothing notable.
While the movie centers on a murderous vigilante who plays by his own rules, Kraven as a character is very chaste. His relationship with lawyer Calypso (Adriana DeBose) is friendly, but only very, very vaguely romantic.
While the film is absent of sex, it has sex appeal. Kraven is a big fan of popping his top off, displaying his rippling abs. And the cinematography recurringly leers at the actor’s brawny bod.
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How much cursing is in Kraven The Hunter?
By my count, three uses of the F-word, including Calypso dropping a mother— you get the idea. Otherwise, the characters swear casually. But for a movie that involves a lot of gangsters, there are way less F-bombs than the average Martin Scorsese movie.
What should parents know about Kraven the Hunter?
Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Fred Hechinger play brothers in “Kraven the Hunter.”
Credit: Jay Maidment / Sony Pictures
This Spider-Man spinoff is a gleefully violent and pretty gory action movie, involving a vigilante who takes justice into his own hands to kill bad guys. Along the way, drugs will be mentioned — as he battles a pair of nefarious drug kingpins. But most of the horrid crimes of his prey are kept offscreen, save for some poachers cruelly chopping the horns off slaughtered wildebeests.
Kraven the Hunter opens only in theaters Dec. 13.