Hannibal Rising

I've just seen this film ... Well, good things first. This film is well made, with attention to details, no stupid goofs, actors performance didn't make me uneasy for the most part. I'm from Lithuania myself, and Lithuania was displayed quite truthfully - thanks, Hollywood. Now bad things ... I think that they bother me because I've seen the original Hannibal movie, and was expecting something else. But anyway: 1) First, I didn't like the idea of making a pervert serial killer a kind of positive hero, or martyr. Hey, Hollywood, you want youngsters to admire serial killers and try to be like them? You'll get it. The love story of Hannibal also fits here. 2) Second, the idea of making Hannibal a kind of samurai sword fighter is, IMHO, absolutely out of place here. I understand that sword fighting looks cool by itself, but we are making a good old western serial killer movie here, or don't we? 3) And, finally, the performance of the main hero. The Hannibal is very evil person, but he had personality, charisma. And conversion from normal person to a maniac seems a good place to demonstrate passions, emotions, TO ACT. This Hannibal spent all the film with the same blank face - he's the real killer ... of the movie. To sum it up - a well done movie for teenagers, who want to see some cool action, some maniacs, some blood and killin' and don't pay attention to the actors performance (unless it is really bad) and the ideas of the film. And, of course, who never saw the original. However, if You expect from this movie something similar to the original, just don't waste your time. Imagine a mix of samurai movie, teenage maniac thriller and love story, all with a good budget - You'll get the idea.

I went to a free screening of this movie tonight, Thursday December 12, 2006 at the mall cause they gave out free passes at my work across the street. I wont give really much away...but the movie itself was great. Great locations, great acting--especially by Gaspard Ulliel as Hannibal. I swear his acting was so good that it was scary and near perfect as the demented Hannibal Lechter. The story about how he came to be was great also starting with his youth during WW2 in 1944. And 8 years later, the main plot line unfolds showing him becoming a medical school student in France where he begins to learn of the many body parts that make a human work. All in All this movie is a delectable revenge type movie with scary, dark bad guys and many gruesome deaths. *two thumbs up*

Like come on, sure it's not silence of the lambs, but nominated for worst sequel/horror movie, that's just dumb. Snobby reviewers who can't judge a movie on its own merits, only a comparison to one of the greatest thrillers ever made. Of course any other Hannibal stories won't compare, doesn't mean they are aweful. This is an interesting tale of revenge that setups the character. Worth the watch if you enjoy the Hannibal movies.

Strange opus with a rather complex feedback: I really like certain aspects of the film while others bother me. First of all, I think it's a critical mistake to explain the origins of an imaginary evil character. Indeed, it's always better to confine a reader or a spectator to the darkness so that he's always able to imagine the worst. Moreover, in doing so, we find ourselves in a rather embarrassing situation of being in empathy with Hannibal Lecter: failing to be forgivable, a revenge is always understandable. Despite this rather negative introduction, the actors are excellent including the enigmatic Gaspard Ulliel and the gorgeous Gong Li , and the film enjoys a particularly neat photography.

Truly disturbing and succeeds in making you understand why Hannibal Lecter turned out to be the person he became. Not justified, but understandable. Don't leave this out when revisiting the other movies.

Contrary to a lot of other comments on this board I thought this was a great film. And having just finished the book beforehand it met all my expectations no problem. Ulliel looked very menacing as the anti-hero Lecter but charming at times as well, just as Hannibal should be and he is backed up by a strong supporting cast (Rhys Ifans in particular). There are nice references to The Silence of the Lambs the Samurai's face mask that Hannibal tries on resembling the mask worn in SOTL and the music that he listens to in his room at the medical school which is the same as he has playing in his cell in Baltimore. I was hooked from start to finish and would recommend this film to anyone.