Though a Hannibal Lecter prequel at first seems tragically ill-advised, it's easy to see the logic behind making Hannibal Rising. 25 years after The Silence of the Lambs, the Lecter brand remains strong, despite a pair of lesser-quality follow-ups (Hannibal and Red Dragon). And given that Anthony Hopkins is getting up there in years, another sequel seems less and less plausible. Even the most ardent fans have little interest in watching a dementia-addled Lecter terrorize a nursing home.
To give the film a dash of credibility, some crafty producer convinced reclusive author Thomas Harris to pen a prequel, and Hannibal Rising was born. In what has to be an industry first, shooting on the film actually began before Harris had finished the book on which it is based. The novel was released in December of 2006 to tepid reviews; the film will likely fare much worse.
The story begins in Hannibal's country of birth, Lithuania, during the waning days World War II. As SS troops and their toadies loot their town, the Lecter family flees to a cottage in the countryside, where Hannibal and his younger sister Mischa watch in horror as warplanes mow down their parents. Left to fend for themselves, the frightened siblings huddle together in the cottage until a group of malevolent soldiers descends upon them, raiding the cupboards and subjecting the children to all sorts of mistreatment. Food is scarce in the desperate chaos that follows the war, and the starving soldiers eventually turn their hungry eyes to little Mischa. The horrific scene -- Hannibal's first exposure to cannibalism -- is treated as the central formative event in his development, and is revisited several times in flashbacks.
A decade later, Hannibal lives in an orphanage, where he's plagued by nightmares and bullied by the other orphans. When he's finally had enough of the abuse, he murders his tormentors, escapes the orphanage and heads to France, where he finds refuge in the home of a Japanese woman named Lady Murasaki (Gong Li). It is there that he begins his study of medicine and quietly plots his revenge against the soldiers who murdered his sister.
Hannibal Rising marks the first time Harris has adapted his own material for film, and it shows. The story lacks the element of suspense that made The Silence of the Lambs so exceptional. Once young Lecter meets up with Murasaki, Hannibal Rising becomes about how the killer methodically tracks down and dispatches his targets. The only suspense comes from wondering what creative method Hannibal will use to slay his next victim.
French actor Gaspard Ulliel's version of Hannibal comes off as simply bland. Much of this can be blamed on his lack of dialogue; only so much information can be communicated with angry stares and wry smiles.
To be fair, Ulliel has impossible shoes to fill inhabiting the character made famous by Anthony Hopkins, whose version of Lecter is ranked number one on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest movie villains of all time. It's difficult to find any trace of that iconic character in Ulliel's version, which is essentially just a really creepy teenager -- more likely to become a member of the Trenchcoat Mafia than a fiendishly brilliant serial killer.
No word yet on whether more Hannibal prequels are planned, but author Harris would be wise to quit before he further damages the franchise. He should heed the cautionary example of George Lucas, who almost killed the Star Wars franchise with his mediocre prequels (which, incidentally, aimed to chronicle the origins of another iconic villain).
Some backstories are better left untold.
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Check out ReelzChannel.com's Hannibal Rising page for clips from the movie.