By Guest Reviewer Lone Star Verve
The American Film Institute recently chose their top 50 heroes and top 50 villains of all time. The greatest villain of them all was revealed as the brilliant, cunning and psychotic Dr. Hannibal Lecter from "The Silence of the Lamb." Joining Dr. Lecter in the circle of top three evildoers in film history were Norman Bates from "Psycho" and Darth Vader from the "Star Wars" trilogy. Where we always knew that Bates was driven to madness and murder (along with being a transvestite) by a clinging, overly demanding mother and we eventually discovered that Vader had turned to the dark side because of a lie that he had killed his own wife, we’ve never had a complete back-story on the flesh-eating Dr. Lecter. Now bestselling author Thomas Harris has answered all those nagging questions that we had about our favorite cannibal with his screenplay for the prequel to his Hannibal Lecter franchise, "Hannibal Rising." While trying to sit through this movie though, we suddenly became so sorry that we had asked.
As WWII rages in Lithuania, the aristocratic Lecter family is killed by Nazis. The war atrocities continue for 8 year old Hannibal (Aaron Thomas) and his younger sister Mischa (Helena Lia Tachovska) who are kidnapped by a band of ruthless thugs (lead by Rhys Ifans). With food scarce, the men decide that in order to survive they should eat little Mischa while Hannibal watches helplessly. 
Flash forward to a now teenage Hannibal (Gaspard Ulliel) who escapes to France where he studies medicine and lives with the mysterious wife (Gong Li) of his recently-deceased uncle in a grand mansion on the outskirts of Paris. All the while, he is secretly tracking down and seeking revenge on the men who killed his beloved Mischa. However, a relentless detective (Dominic West) is hot on his trail of terror.
The film is sleekly elegant thanks to director Peter Webber (The Girl With The Pearl Earring) with a few of the murder sequences that are memorably gruesome. Handsome Gaspard Ulliel is also sleekly elegant and smart not to try a Hopkins impersonation with a younger version of such a famous character. The main problem with this movie is learning the pathology behind his cannibalism really spoils all the wicked fun from the over-the top evil of Hannibal Lecter. Plus it doesn’t help that the film drags at times and the dialogue is unintentionally laughable in spots. Over all, we can’t fault Thomas Harris for wanting to disclose the origins of his iconic antihero. But after seeing this latest chapter in Hannibal Lecter’s life, we can’t help but believe that Harris’ real motivation was just another paycheck.
‘Hannibal Rising’ movie trailer.
‘Hannibal Rising’ official website.
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