Review of Hannibal Rising (2007) by Graham P — 03 Dec 2010

Really, really poor adaptation of a money spinner novel by Thomas Harris; who once wrote good books before he realised he could make just as much - if not more money - for writing dross. If ever there was a screen villain who didn't really need (or whose character would only be somewhat cheapened by) a back story, it's refined psychologist and cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lector. In this film his early life - growing up in Eastern Europe in the years following the second world war, and the grizzly murder of his sister - gets fleshed out as a series of ridiculously unlikely events.

Acting in this film is generally mediocre; Gaspard Ulliel - as young Lector - does his best Anthony Hopkins impression, but the poor writing means that he comes across as a caricature. The villains he is out for revenge against are quite forgettable. Nothing in the proceedings comes across as either interesting or likely. Really, Hannibal Rising is a mess of a production that represents a film studio and author trying to milk their cash cow to death. They do.