If Silence of the Lambs
was the main meal; Hannibal
was the dessert; and the second film version of Red
Dragon, the tea and coffee; then Hannibal Rising is
surely the after-dinner mint. Tasty for a moment, sure, but mainly just
a soft and gooey distraction.
Prequels
have been all the rage for about a decade now – thanks to George Lucas
– but the genre’s been more finely tuned in recent years to segment off
a large part to films that tell the backstory of a particular
character. We’ve discovered the origins of ‘The Batman’ in Chris
Nolan’s amazing Batman Begins
(2005), Learnt a little about the early wrong-doings of gangster
Carlito Brigante in Carlito’s
Way : Rise to Power (2005), Met Father Merrin before
dentures in Exorcist : The Beginning,
and we’re sent hurtling towards the exit sign with Dumb and Dumberer : When Harry
Met Lloyd (2003). In more recent months, we’ve learnt the
origins of some of horror’s biggest icons – Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The
Beginning (2004) and both 'Alien’ and ‘Predator’
in Alien Vs. Predator
(2004). Next, the legend of Michael Myers is told in Rob
Zombie’s Halloween.
Hannibal
Rising is the entrée to Dr Hannibal Lecter’s smorgasbord
of spleen in Red
Dragon and more famously, Silence of the Lambs.
In it, we learn why and how young Hannibal Lecter (played for most of
the movie by Gaspard Ulliel) came to be the mad flesh-eating doctor we
know him as best.
Seems some nasty Nazi’s (are there any other
type?) were responsible for the death of Lecter’s parents and his
sister – who they ate; something he can’t get out of his mind – and the
incident has made young Lecter one angry young man. Some 8 years later,
in Paris, Lecter learns the identity of the men responsible, and with
the help of a mysterious and refined Japanese friend (Gong Li) sets out
to well, kill them.
Anthony Hopkins has made his name – well,
the role bought him back to the big leagues anyway – as the maniacal
and fascinating Hannibal. Even when the script wasn’t that hot
– Hannibal,
for instance, was a poorly written mess of a sequel – he couldn’t
resist playing the character again. Which begs the question, why the
hell has he got nothing to do with this latest version? I know, I know…
it’s about a younger Hannibal, and CGI isn’t ‘that good’, but surely
Hopkins could’ve narrated the thing? Why didn’t he??
Well,
probably because the film just isn’t shit, it’s a silo of the smelly
stuff. What would otherwise have been a direct-to-video shlocker (or
more so, a wonky TV spin-off pilot) has instead been handed a franchise
free pass and escaped to the big screen, rather undeservedly.
Thomas
Harris wrote the screenplay - can you believe it? Yep, the man
who
penned those brilliant novels gives us nothing but dire dialogue here;
terrible and languid pacing; a real lack of characterization; and a
story that bores more than informs. Coupled with the terribly forced
performance of the film’s young lead - seems he’s done little more than
sit down and watch Silence
a couple of hundred times and is now trying to emulate Hopkins’, which
becomes just plain annoying – it’s a recipe for distress.
It isn’t quite as stinky as the similiary-themed Perfume,
but Hannibal
Rising still lets off a foul aroma. Quick! Get your DVD
of Silence
(even Manhunter)
off the rack before this one leaves a scar, and deters you from wanting
to revisit Hannibal the Cannibal ever again.
1.5 out
of 5
Hannibal
Rising Australian
release: 8th February,
2007
Cast:Gaspard Ulliel, Gong Li, Rhys Ifans,
Ivan Marevich, Dominic West Director: Peter Webber
Website:Click
here.
