Hannibal Rising

My God, what have I done to deserve this? Hannibal with a samurai sword, an woman with a Hiroshima complex, lots of nonsense and a host of lousy actors. Next time they might take it from the other end, I suggest "Hannibal Rises Again: Revenge From The Grave." Thomas Harris, I know money is a nice thing, but you're a clown. (22/01/2008)

An absolute mess-up of everything. Please don’t get mad, but I was so incredibly unamused by this movie that it also made me incredibly angry. It's not even a little bit suspenseful, all the scenes - war, "plot" (?) or murder - are filmed in such a way that you just can't get interested. The Hannibal character is a chapter in itself - an unsympathetic jerk who alternates between two expressions, i.e., wannabe angry and awkwardly broody. Plus, I don't understand, I really don't, that the script could have been written directly by Thomas Harris. The only thing that saved Hannibal Rising from being a waste was the music, which was co-written by my favorite madman, Ilan Eshkeri. Otherwise, yuck and gross. When the film is based on shots of bloody blades, disemboweled entrails and other scenes from a butcher shop, and when you see all that but still don't enjoy it... Something's wrong. (02/12/2009)

I haven’t read Thomas Harris, and I also don't have a particularly positive relationship with this series, but Hannibal Rising is fine as a standalone post-war drama. For example, Gong Li is absolutely great, she's just contextually very misbecoming. So it’s all positive in reminding us of the reality that cannibalism may not be something from the realm of legends and hearsay, or one of the deviations of snobbery. (23/09/2012)

It's a shame to see such a prosaic and clichéd revenge story that has nothing to do with the famous character of Anthony Hopkins except perhaps the name. However, despite this shortcoming, Hannibal Rising is not entirely disposable. The minimalistic style is brilliant. The incredible cold scenes of the opening are followed by the colorful scenery of France. Everything is brilliantly lit and has a captivating atmosphere. The acting is average and the music is not particularly notable, but it’s still quite watchable. If you don’t desperately try to fit this prequel into the series about the famous cannibal, you may not necessarily be disgusted by it, because it is actually quite solid. (29/09/2008)

Great disappointment, the weakest Hannibal hands down. The plot is very unoriginal and boring, the murders aren’t interesting and there are lots of unnecessary scenes and holes in logic. Gaspard Ulliel looks silly rather than demonic and in two of the murders he almost made me burst out in laughter, which doesn’t happen often and, more importantly, shouldn’t happen. 50% (03/12/2007)