Prequels have a bad habit of not living up to their originals. "Hannibal Rising" is no exception to that rule. To be fair, "Rising's" Hannibal, played by French actor Gaspard Ulliel, tries to fill enormous shoes previously occupied by Hollywood legends Brian Cox and Anthony Hopkins.
Unfortunately, Ulliel fails miserably to live up to their example. His portrayal of a younger psychopath is admirable, but fans of the previous Hannibal films looking for a younger version of Cox or Hopkins will be disappointed. Ulliel simply does not sound like the Lecter audiences have come to know and fear, possibly resulting from his accent. His attempt at being charming yet sadistic is admirable but falls short of believable, and his nasal voice is a constant reminder that this is not Lecter the evil charmer as seen in previous performances. Instead, audiences see a hyper-violent young man who comes across as not sadistically charming but just plain sadistic.
Beyond Ulliel's performance, "Rising" fails to frighten. Audiences expecting to scream will finish the film without having screamed once. Although certainly not a story for the faint of heart, "Rising" is grossly unsatisfying in its feeble attempts to scare audiences. Nothing is sudden or unexpected, and audiences will watch with more curiosity than fear as Hannibal sets upon his victims. Some of the dismemberments and feasts even manage to be mildly funny.
While not living up to its predecessors' standards, "Rising" does manage to answer some questions audiences have been asking for years. In a small cottage in Lithuania, we finally learn where Lecter found his taste for human flesh. By his teenage years, Hannibal is already incredibly violent and devoid of empathy.
Ulliel's character displays little in the way of transition. He breaks through his muteness and refines his killing technique, but the transition from man to monster is utterly absent from the film. During his killing spree not once do we see Hannibal hesitate; his humanity never pokes through. In the end, he becomes more beast that man, but besides his 8-year-old self, audiences never feel any sympathy toward him.
His victims are no more successful in trying to evoke pity. In previous films, audiences watched in horror at the unspeakable things Hannibal did to the people he killed. In "Rising," he is seen merely as an avenger and no sympathy is felt whatsoever toward any of his victims, only bemusement.
An interesting element of "Rising" is also one completely without precedent in the previous films. An Eastern theme never once found in "Manhunter," "Silence of the Lambs," "Hannibal" or "Red Dragon" is introduced in "Hannibal Rising." Viewers watch as Hannibal trains with a Japanese sword and knife, his weapons of choice in three of the seven killings in the film. Hannibal the Cannibal now seems to be able to add "samurai" to a repertoire that already includes psychopath, criminal genius, psychologist and charmer.
Purely on an entertainment scale, "Hannibal Rising" does not come across as a loathsome movie. It has adequate acting and action and brings new perspective to an iconic character. But at the same time, it is not scary, confuses audiences with unnecessary add-ons to the Hannibal persona and completely fails to develop man into monster.
