Hannibal Lecter is at it again, only this time penetrating his audience with his past in his new movie, “Hannibal Rising.”
“Hannibal Rising” is a prequel to all of the other Hannibal movies made; however, this is the first movie whose script was written by Thomas Harris, the original creator of Hannibal Lecter. Even though this movie is quite different from the last four in that it portrays a much younger and less sophisticated Hannibal, the movie was well thought out and realistic.
Although Anthony Hopkins does not dazzle us with his mysterious and intelligent abilities, the younger Hannibal (Gaspard Ulliel) does a great job at portraying the Hannibal we all know and ponder about. Not only does the script allow Ulliel to integrate Hannibal’s original personality into the movie, the movie shows the audience Hannibal’s development, hence the name “Hannibal Rising,” which makes the movie well-worth theater prices.
At first, the audience may wonder if they walked into the wrong theater because it begins with children prancing around while vintage music plays in the background. Then bombs begin to explode and a family, including the children, start scattering for shelter, which gives the audience the impression that they are watching the typical World War II movie.
However, the movie becomes more recognizable when two orphaned children, Mischa Lecter (Helena Lia Tachovka) and Hannibal (Aaron Thomas as the young Hannibal), are held hostage by Nazi wannabes.
Not only do the children witness their parents’ death during the battle, they endure the desperation of evil men who believe they need to eat human flesh to stay alive.
It is during the first 20 minutes of the movie that we learn how Hannibal developed his appetite for flesh.
Even though Grutas (Rhys Ifans), the man who led the pack of Nazi wannabes, seems to be the most gruesome and evil of the cast, Hannibal turns heads after spending eight years in an orphanage housed at his parents’ old castle. Though Hannibal has yet to kill his first victim, the audience cannot deny the look in his eyes when he stares deep into his teenage nemesis’ flesh.
Eventually, Hannibal discovers that he has an aunt and escapes from the orphan prison to seek a better shelter with her. It is during this phase of his life that we learn how he became a doctor, and how he developed other personality characteristics we see in the older Hannibal.
Because his Japanese aunt, Lady Murasaki Shikibu (Gong Li), lost her husband in Hiroshima, and Hannibal lost his parents and sister to the devils of war, she clings to Hannibal as her last remaining relative. This is only one of a few short relationships that the audience can catch a glimpse of Hannibal’s humanity.
Even though Lady Murasaki begins to see Hannibal for what he really is, an evil man who is no longer the innocent child he once was, she remains loyal to him to the extent of covering up his murders.
After Hannibal’s first murder, through the aid of a medicinal concoction he steals from work, he remembers that tragic day when his sister was eaten. Not only does he stick himself to gain back memories, he uses those memories to track his enemies down and exact revenge.
Though Hannibal is a little under-developed in this movie as he tries to methodically go about killing his enemies, this personal characterization makes this movie more realistic because every serial killer makes their mistakes as they begin their killing sprees.
However, Hannibal remains confident that he will drag the murderous men down with him.
The audience could definitely see Hannibal’s fangs (and I mean literally) and claws as he searched and captured each and every despicable man who murdered his sister.
The anticipation of them dying heightens as they are tortured, and the audience can see in these men’s eyes that they are no longer men, but they are scared children who are as scared as Hannibal once was. Moreover, these feelings spill over into the audience.
Therefore, I warn those who are sensitive to blood and flesh to look away, but they should watch the rest because this movie is not all about the gore (though it plays a part). It is about the psychological aspects of a serial killer.