Hannibal Rising

So where to start with Hannibal Rising? To be honest I just don't know. This film does not deserve the barrage of negative press it has received and while not being particularly bad, it isn't particularly good either.

Hannibal Rising attempts to explain what turned Lector into the charming cannibal and chart the path from ordinary sole to out and out sicko. The film's opening sees Lector as a young boy and the first set-piece is excellent as is the directing throughout. Young Hannibal is living with his family in wartime Lithuania when the Russians and the Nazi's start tearing up the country. The Lector's have abandoned their castle and are living in the apparent safety of a woodland lodge. This all changes when a Russian tank discovers the lodge. The family members get caught in the crossfire of war and to cut a long story short are all dead when the smoke has cleared - with the exception of Hannibal and his sister. They are eventually stumbled upon by a bunch of renegade soldiers who eventually end up killing and then consuming Hannibal's sister.

This vision continues to haunt Hannibal throughout the film and he frequently has nightmares about the atrocity. We see a mute Lector then escape from Lithuania (he has been in a regimental orphange for young men) and flee to France in search of his uncle. It is in France where Lector turns from victim to villain as his passion for violence spirals out of control. The death of a local man soon points the chief of police into Lector's direction but the cop is always one step behind his cannibal nemesis.

The film starts to take shape as Lector embarks on a revenge mission to find and destroy all the men involved in his sister's murder.

The premise for Hannibal Rising isn't bad and in truth neither is the film, however there are a few problems. The main one being is that it doesn't feel like a Hannibal film. Tony Hopkins is a hard act to follow, especially for a young actor and while Gaspard Ulliel puts his own spin on the role, you can't really equate this teeny bopper cannibal to the sick freak we all know and love. You have to give Ulliel credit for putting his own interpretation on this but it just doesn't feel like a Hannibal Lector movie. In fact, the film would be better served without the Hannibal connection at all and would be best presented as a revenge thriller. While it does nothing to really tarnish the Lector legacy, it doesn't add to it and is one film (and possibly book) we could have lived without.

Some backstory's you can just live without - this is one of them. Another resultant problem is that we are expected to feel sorry for Hannibal because of the heinous attack on his family and sister. However Ulliel, more out of place Goth than charming villain, is a difficult character to route for. He may well have benefitted from a better adversary, the main cop tailing him was forgettable and a more worthy opponent may have elevated the whole thing - traditionally the Lector character is at it's best when he has someone to spar with - Norton in Red Dragon & Ray Liotta/Gary Oldman in Hannibal spring to mind. No such names here I'm afraid.

Having never actually sat through the entire Silence of the Lambs I cannot say I'm a Lector afficionado by any means, but having seen both Red Dragon and Hannibal on the silver screen I can say that Hannibal Rising is inferior to both by some margin.

As stated at the top of the review, this film is by no means an out an out disaster and when judged on it's own merits is ok in some areas and really quite good in others. The production values, locations and directing are brilliant and very slick - this film has been put together very well and with a big name cast could have been so much more.

Some of the killings are inventive and Lector's 'calling card' is brilliant, if you're in it for the gore then I doubt you'll be disappointed.

If this was a stand alone revenge thriller then I'd probably have enjoyed it more, but unfortunately it isn't and with it being a 'Hannibal' film you do expect a bit more than is offered here. Recommendation wise it's pretty much 50/50.