Hannibal Rising Review
Hannibal Rising is the origin story of horror icon, Hannibal Lecter, who was first seen in The Silence of the Lambs. The story follows young Hannibal Lecter from his young childhood into young adulthood, when his character first acquired his taste for flesh.
Director Peter Webber brings a sense of the epic to the film. His imagery is both haunting and beautiful. The film is probably the best looking of the Hannibal Lecter movies. Despite the plodding nature of the film, Webber manages to keep the viewer entertained with insightful framing and stunning imagery.
The acting in the film is pretty standard. You have some quality actors with very little to do. The most complex character is of course, Hannibal Lecter, played by Gaspard Ulliel, a relative unknown in the Hollywood scene. Ulliel’s performance is alternatingly powerful and clumsy. Ulliel definitely has a screen presence… when he doesn’t talk. As soon as he opens his mouth, the illusion that he is a good actor is shattered. I liken his performance to trying to pick up an extremely hot chick, you know, someone like Bea Arthur, having her open her mouth, and finding out that maybe she is a little retarded. If she would just keep her mouth closed everything would be alright. I think the directors were on to this phenomenon, as young adult Lecter doesn’t talk for the first half of the film.
The brutality on this film is much hyped and surprisingly unshocking to people that have their pulse on the horror genre. It’s not the imagery that is shocking in this film, as very little is actually shown. The most shocking things in this film are the things that happen to the characters, which are frequently not shown in any explicit manner. This is one of those films that likes to leave the brutality up to the viewer’s imagination… A.K.A., the filmmakers pussed out.
Despite the films lack of brutality, this is not the worst aspect of the film. The worst part of Hannibal Rising is the fact that it all feels like you’ve seen it before. The WW II origin of Hannibal is not all that dissimilar from Magneto’s origin story in X-Men. Later, when Hannibal learns the ways of eastern philosophy and discipline, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Batman’s origin story in Batman Begins. Basically, Thomas Harris is a ripoff artist of a writer as his origing story for his most popular character is merely a combination of Batman and Magneto’s origin stories. Once, the business of Lecter’s origin is passed, the film turns into your average revenge story. Not the most creative thing that I’ve ever heard, and it certainly isn’t executed in an original manner.
Despite all of the films flaws, the beauty of Peter Webber’s direction carries the film, as does a solid performance by Gong Li. Webber actually manages to make the viewer feel sorry for Hannibal, which is quite an accomplishment considering he is a psychopathic cannibal.
Final Synopsis: The film is beautiful, but flawed. If you enjoy strong imagery, you’ll like this. It’s not the fastest paced film out there. If you’re looking for visceral brutality and gore, this is not the film for you. If your mind is more imaginative in the brutality department, you could probably manage to freak yourself out fairly well with this film. It’s worth a rent for people with high visual aptitudes and long attention spans. Lecter fans should get a boner for this.
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