(2007) **During WWII, the young Hannibal Lecter and his family are forced to flee their elegant home to seek refuge in a hunting lodge in the Lithuanian countryside. There his parents perish when a plane crashes into a tank (don't ask) and Hannibal is left to try to keep his sister Mischa alive, a task that becomes considerably more difficult when their lodge is overrun with Nazi war criminals of the most evil sort.
Hannibal Rising is an attempt to give us an origin story for the infamous Hannibal Lecter. The author of the Lecter books, Thomas Harris, had a hand not only in writing the book but also in writing the screenplay, so no excuses there. No excuses for the heavy-handed plot details, 2-dimensional characters, poor dialogue, and unnecessary coincidences. However, I couldn't give the movie no stars or one star, that just didn't feel right. Hannibal Rising was beautifully filmed on location, there were some decent action scenes and some gore, and not all of the acting was bad; movies can be much worse, as I know only too well. Still, don't bother with this one. Feh.
8 comments:
My sister and I were just talking about this film today. I've never seen it. I was telling her about the trauma my grandmother's sister endured during the war in Austria, and it prompted my sister to talk about what happened to Hannibal's sister. Her description of the scene kind caught my interest.
I've been on the fence about watching this one but after reading your review I think I'll put it off a little longer.
Just the picture you posted makes this film seem annoying to me. Good review and thanks for the head's up on this one!
whirly, in theory it shoulda been good (and i knew about that plot point going into the movie, and was dreading it), but the scene you're talking about is only hinted at, not shown. maybe it's more explicit in the book? either way this movie is probably off-limits for our friend miko. nuff said.
catfreeek, if you do see it i will be most interested in your opinion, but keep in mind in addition to not being good, it is longish- about two hours- and since you are facing off against the master, every second counts!
jpx, you in particular would be bored and irritated by this one. steer clear!
This is one of those weird movies that come out a lot these days; it's got good production values and in general comes off okay, but it's missing some key charismatic element.
well said octo.
I remember hearing about this movie but had no idea it was ever released! Was it a direct-to-video?
No, I saw it in the theater (for some reason).
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