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The
monstrous Hannibal Lector is given a back story in Hannibal Rising,
which is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Harris. Gaspard
Ulliel stars as young Hannibal, the eldest son of a rich aristocratic
family who is left an orphan after his parents are killed during
WWII, and his baby sister Mischa (Helena-Lia Tachovska) is eaten
by a band of looting SS Troops led by the sociopathic and sadistic
Grutus (Rhys Ifans). Psychologically scarred by the event, Hannibal
is taken in by his late uncle's oriental bride Lady Murasaki (Li
Gong). They both relocate to Paris where the cunning and highly
intelligent Lector is given the education, means, and opportunity
to revenge his sister's death by killing and consuming the flesh
of those responsible.
A soulless composition, Hannibal Rising fails to provide
a back story worthy of Lector's legacy, and only tarnishes the mysterious
complexities and frightening nature which Lector conjures. Harris'
disgraceful screen adaptation of his own book side steps many important
character motives and traits which made his novel interesting enough
to endure, and also features terrible dialogue uttered with no emotion
by its failing cast. This has left director Peter Webber to create
an unsympathetic and uninteresting movie devoid of emotion and logic,
and with an over abundance of hardcore violence, gore, and as many
sly Silence
of the Lambs era images as possible, the latter
only succeeding in reminding us how good the franchises former instalments
really were.
The acting on hand is rather poor. Gaspard Ulliel - who although
inhabits the look and the statuesque posture to play the part -
is frustratingly missing the wicked charm, that wink of the eye
which Lector possesses to seduce his victims, Li Gong is extremely
dour and only excels in providing good scenery, and Dominic West
seems to be going through the emotions with his boring portrayal
of a key character. Only Rhys Ifans and his not so merry gang of
war criminals provide solid performances.
The films look is its only saving grace, with the gorgeous photography
by Ben Davis, lavish production design by Allan Starski and set
decoration by Judy Farr, (along with an effective score by Ilan
Eshkeri and Shigeru Umebayashi) stopping the film from drowning
in its own ego and shallowness.
A cash-in devoid of the menacing nature and intelligence of previous
instalments, Hannibal Rising should only be seen if by those
in dire need of some well deserved sleep, exactly the opposite effect
a thriller should have on its audience.
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