Review of Hannibal Rising (2007) by Andrew U — 13 Jul 2009

For the sake of this review, let's set aside the implicit mystery that drove Hannibal Lecter as a character, the implied absence of motive or reasoning behind his serial killer ways, the inscrutability of the sophisticated doctor with the cannibalistic leanings.

Lecter, who through the course of three films beginning with 1991's The Silence of the Lambs (plus the not as well remembered side trip in 1986 Manhunter) has become one of the greatest screen villains of all time, has thrived on his impenetrability, his superiority, his evil-for-evil's-sake actions.

Yes, we need to put that all aside when discussing Hannibal Rising because the new film by its very nature must work against the previous ambiguity of Hannibal's motives. Therein lays one of the more fascinating aspects of Hannibal Rising.

The character has always been portrayed as a coldhearted killer, and yet we as a collective audience have nonetheless always had a soft spot for him in our hearts. That's now taken even further: We don't just admire Hannibal from afar for his undeniable (if dastardly) talents; we're actually conditioned to root for him as he travels on the road to inevitable serial killer.

Hannibal Rising was never going to compare to The Silence of the Lambs, or even the sequels that followed and gave Anthony Hopkins' take on Lecter more room to shine. It is a film that must be taken at face value: a tale of vengeance, an origin story, and ultimately a cash-grab on the part of those who own the character.

And that's O.K. -- anyone who thinks that the many other sequels and prequels and reboots out there aren't done first and foremost for money needs to have their head examined (preferably not by Dr.

Lecter). Taken on its own merits, Hannibal Rising does work fairly well as a thriller where the audience is in the odd position of cheering on the bad guy. Never for a moment does the viewer care about the men who Hannibal hunts down, so transparently evil are they.

Boringly evil, in fact, with none of the nuance or character that makes for a great villain -- like Hopkin's Hannibal, for example. So as Ulliel's Lecter marches sadly, inevitably to his fate, we can applaud the actor's performance (a tough job taking over this character from Hopkins) and we can root for the character as he bites off cheeks and the such.

But we can't do much more than that, because try as we might to set aside Silence of the Lambs and the rest, there's no getting around the fact that we've already filled ourselves with that main course.

And Hannibal Rising isn't much more than appetizer.