Hannibal Rising is a 2000 origin story for the character of Hannibal Lecter (played by the combination of Aaran Thomas, who plays Lecter as a child, and Gaspard Ulliel, who plays him as a young adult). The movie starts in 1941 during World War II in Lithuania. Toward the end of the war, Lecter's parents are killed and he is surviving in his family's lodge with his sister Mischa, until a group of five former Lithuanian militiamen, led by a Nazi collaborator named Vladis Grutas, storm and loot the lodge and then kill (and eat) Lecter's sister. The rest of the film is basically a revenge story as adult Lecter hunts down and kills the men who killed his sister. The main supporting cast includes Gong Li as Lecter's aunt Lady Murasaki, Dominic West as Inspector Pascal Popil, and Rhys Ifans as Vladis Grutas.
For those who get the Blu-Ray disc, the movie looks and sounds great. The cinematography of the movie is wonderful, and there are a bunch of really nice location shots. The extras include a commentary track on the movie with the director and producer, about five minutes worth of deleted scenes, a few making-of featurettes, promos for the movie, and preview trailers for other movies.
Overall, the movie is a good origin story for the character. I know a lot of people do not like it because Ulliel does not really channel Anthony Hopkins (plus he does not look like a young Anthony Hopkins), but that was really the point. In this movie, he was not the refined character he was when Hopkins played him. He is on a revenge mission and then discovers he likes to kill, so his revenge mission essentially turns him into a serial killer. Of course, it is hard for any actor to play a different version of an iconic character, but I think trying to make young Lecter exactly like the older version would not have worked or been believable. My only gripe with the movie, and what knocks it down a star for me is that the pacing is fairly uneven. The movie definitely feels like it drags in parts, but overall what is good about the movie outweighs the bad. If you go into it with the expectation that you are not going to get a recreation of Hopkin's performance in Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and Red Dragon, you will probably enjoy the movie.
For those who get the Blu-Ray disc, the movie looks and sounds great. The cinematography of the movie is wonderful, and there are a bunch of really nice location shots. The extras include a commentary track on the movie with the director and producer, about five minutes worth of deleted scenes, a few making-of featurettes, promos for the movie, and preview trailers for other movies.
Overall, the movie is a good origin story for the character. I know a lot of people do not like it because Ulliel does not really channel Anthony Hopkins (plus he does not look like a young Anthony Hopkins), but that was really the point. In this movie, he was not the refined character he was when Hopkins played him. He is on a revenge mission and then discovers he likes to kill, so his revenge mission essentially turns him into a serial killer. Of course, it is hard for any actor to play a different version of an iconic character, but I think trying to make young Lecter exactly like the older version would not have worked or been believable. My only gripe with the movie, and what knocks it down a star for me is that the pacing is fairly uneven. The movie definitely feels like it drags in parts, but overall what is good about the movie outweighs the bad. If you go into it with the expectation that you are not going to get a recreation of Hopkin's performance in Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and Red Dragon, you will probably enjoy the movie.
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