Some movies don't need to be made...simple as that. This applies 100% to "Hannibal Rising", a film that is completely unnecessary to the Hannibal cannon and should never have been made.
For a basic plot summary, "Hannibal Rising" tells the story of young man Hannibal (Gaspard Ulliel) who comes into his psychotic personality after a terrifying experience involving his young sister & cannibalism. After becoming an orphan and moving in with his aunt Lady Murasaki (Li Gong), Hannibal vows to find his sister's tormentors and inflict grisly punishment on them.
Besides all the other laughable stuff (for example, the young Hannibal putting on a barred mask) in this film, the glaring weakness is easy to identify: Hannibal Lecter was scary because he couldn't be understood. As human beings, it is difficult for us to understand the mentality behind a cannibal, and that is why Anthony Hopkins' Lecter was so creepy. Trying to explain Lecter's flesh-hungers is not only probably impossible, but also just plain dumb. There needed to be some endgame thoughts before even pitching this movie, such as "what purpose will it serve?" or "does this story really need to be told?".
It doesn't help that the acting is nothing special and there is no psychological tension whatsoever. Pretty much just emotionally flat all the way through.
Overall, then, I consider "Hannibal Rising" to be one of the most ill-conceived movies of all-time. It didn't need to be made, and then even when it was it was made very poorly (likely in order to try and attract a younger audience to the Hannibal franchise). Save yourself over two hours of boredom and skip this one.
For a basic plot summary, "Hannibal Rising" tells the story of young man Hannibal (Gaspard Ulliel) who comes into his psychotic personality after a terrifying experience involving his young sister & cannibalism. After becoming an orphan and moving in with his aunt Lady Murasaki (Li Gong), Hannibal vows to find his sister's tormentors and inflict grisly punishment on them.
Besides all the other laughable stuff (for example, the young Hannibal putting on a barred mask) in this film, the glaring weakness is easy to identify: Hannibal Lecter was scary because he couldn't be understood. As human beings, it is difficult for us to understand the mentality behind a cannibal, and that is why Anthony Hopkins' Lecter was so creepy. Trying to explain Lecter's flesh-hungers is not only probably impossible, but also just plain dumb. There needed to be some endgame thoughts before even pitching this movie, such as "what purpose will it serve?" or "does this story really need to be told?".
It doesn't help that the acting is nothing special and there is no psychological tension whatsoever. Pretty much just emotionally flat all the way through.
Overall, then, I consider "Hannibal Rising" to be one of the most ill-conceived movies of all-time. It didn't need to be made, and then even when it was it was made very poorly (likely in order to try and attract a younger audience to the Hannibal franchise). Save yourself over two hours of boredom and skip this one.