Review

Hannibal Lecter endures WWII as an eight year old on the Eastern Front. His parents are taken out by the Nazis, and then his younger sister Mischa gets eaten by a band of local German-supporters who are on the run from about everyone in sight.

Later he ends up in an orphanage that has taken over the ancestral home in communist Lithuania. The much put-upon Hannibal makes his escape and heads to his uncle’s place in France. There he finds his uncle has died, but is taken under the wing of the Lady Murasaki, his uncle’s widow. Via the rather talented Murasaki he learns about Japanese martial arts and honour and makes good use of those. Hannibal also turns to medicine and gets down and dirty with the whole anatomy thing, which he also uses to good effect as he goes revenge-minded on the surviving members of the German-supporter crew.

Ever wanted to know why Hannibal, circa Silence of the Lambs, became what he became? Rising seeks to provide the answer. A disappointing movie ensues. Ready to add some fava beans to the recipe?

I was rather disappointed with Rising, which promised a lot but failed on the delivery stride to bowl me over. There are certainly some excellent elements to the movie, but as a whole it fails to really impress, and doesn’t provide anything approaching full justice to Silence of the Lambs. I would say my disappointment was tinged with audience reactions at the cinema where I got to check the movie out. Besides an inordinate amount of teen chicks checking their friggin mobiles throughout (hey, if your life is so important that you need to keep in contact, then don’t bother going to a friggin movie!), I was also subjected to a couple of retards behind me talking about the movie, and the normal teen crowd that simply doesn’t get drama or character development and hence have to go asinine during the non-action parts. And people wonder why this site mainly deals in DVD releases! Basically I would rather catch a movie at home than have to deal with the mentally-challenged post MTV crew down Hoyts. Common courtesy people, if you don’t like the movie then leave, and let the rest of us munch down on our popcorn in peace. You can also stick your mobile where the sun doesn’t shine! Okay off soapbox, onto the review.

The film gets out of the harbour with one hell of an action-packed start. We’re taking German dive bomber, mucho machinegun fire, and a pretty down and dirty visualisation of a forgotten battle in John Wayne’s big one. Director Webber keeps the visuals happening from that point on, as Rising proves to be visually stunning; loved the use of sets, and the awe-inspiring cinematography. Webber is making a serious movie here, and his camera work will have you nodding in approval. Added topping to this cream pie is Webber’s ability to add the right atmospherics and tension to the mix. Finally someone who not only knows how to spell tension, but ladles it on like there’s no tomorrow. Top marks to the Director, this is a film that must be seen on the big screen to get the full impact.

Surprisingly the movie fails on Harris' by the numbers script that seems to have missed the salient points of Hannibal's later mental state

The film is otherwise let down by Harris’s script, which is a by-the-numbers attempt at giving everyone’s favourite cannibal some background depth. All previous franchise scripts have been farmed out to screenwriters, but here Harris makes the mistake of developing from his own source novel. To be brutally honest, the Author doesn’t know the first thing about what makes movies tick, and blows an opportunity to deliver a classic in the genre. We get the background on past atrocities featuring large in an older Hannibal’s mental unbalance, handled wonderful well via continued flashback scenes with some gripping visuals on the perpetrators, but we don’t get enough meat on the bone in regards to the Dude’s developing psychosis. I was fine with Hannibal limbering up to chef status, but what was with the ending? The major shock scene, onboard the barge, pretty much summed up the end-game on the Chianti stakes; the anti-climactic final scene appeared tacked on as if the producers needed another five or so minutes to flesh out the movie.

The major flaw in the film is that Harris fails to deliver on anything remotely like Hannibal’s descent into madness. Hannibal, as shown here, is simply an inhuman monster, with no thought given to developing a plot revolving around the conscious decision on Hannibal’s part to suspend morals as madness takes hold. Hannibal is a psycho from the get-go; not enough effort was spent exploring the character. Hannibal has recurrent nightmares about his sister’s demise; fine and dandy, do you want a side order of wild mushrooms with that? That’s as far as Harris wants to explore the character. More time is given to some of our band of ex-German sympathisers, and at least one of those characters will elicit audience sympathy. You are on the edge of the knife with this film – who is the audience meant to associate with?

To give Harris his due, there is one major plot twist going down which is startling in its simplicity, and which ultimately explains Hannibal’s devaluing of human life. You will need to follow the film heavily to pick up on how well Harris introduces this, and the better than average shock-value director Webber extracts from it. A highlight of the movie that is stunning in its implications for both Hannibal and his future dining companions.

Gaspard Ulliel (older Hannibal) was sensational in Rising. Okay, so he doesn’t look anything remotely like Anthony Hopkins, but he had the intensity and screen presence to bring off the role. You could well believe Hannibal as a psycho given Ulliel’s above-average performance. Loved the snide smiles, and Ulliel’s ability to bring across the character’s natural intelligence. As shown here, Hannibal is already developing his ability to play mental games far beyond the abilities of others, and Ulliel nails that aspect.

Rhys Ifans (Grutas) is always fun times to watch, and once again brings a thoroughly professional and heartfelt performance to the table. You will love to hate him in this movie; betcha Miranda Otto had no idea about his wartime activities (Danny Deckchair reference). Dominic West’s Inspector Pascal Popil was by far the most interesting character due to West nailing the role and stealing some scenes. I would have much rather watched a movie about Popil than the one I sat through to be honest.

Li Gong (Lady Murasaki), however, was the standout for mine. A well balanced character, with plenty of depth, and the right amount of passion displayed by Gong. A winning performance that deserved a much better movie.

T&A isn’t a starter for 10 in this movie. Webber has other things to fry, and doesn’t bother pandering to anyone. Sorry, guys, no bosoms on display from go to whoa. I just wanted to use the word bosoms there, as I feel it’s vastly neglected in modern movie reviews.

Ilan Eshkeri and Shigeru Umebayashi provided a pretty effective score that amply matched Webber’s impressive visuals, the whole fandango went up a notch due to the music. Emotive, potent, you add in the descriptions.

Hannibal Rising was a disappointing movie taken as a whole product, but the parts that go to make it up were well chosen and delivered upon. Perhaps I was expecting a much more drama-orientated movie than the one Webber and Harris decided to run with; end of day I felt I didn’t get enough insight into Hannibal Lecter as a character. There was an opportunity to deliver a knockout with this film, but Harris pushes the ball wide and we have to call on that. I ended up giving the movie a 7/10 due to its great visuals, but couldn’t go much further than that due to it devolving into a revenge-style flick. Some attention to soul-searching via Hannibal would have helped out.

The movie is currently at the cinemas in most markets and will have very little problems in making back its investment. The fourth movie in the uneven Hannibal franchise, Rising perhaps spells end of the road for Mr Lecter.

Worth going to check out if you have seen the other franchise movies, but I would tend to wait on the DVD release. Sure we get some great shots – mask as a wink to Silence of the Lambs, for example – but there’s not enough spice in the mix to make the movie a wholly appetising treat on the big screen. As an entrée the movie succeeds out of the context of the franchise, but as a main course it’s slightly underdone.