'œNo movie that contains the line 'You ate my sister' can be all bad,' said Geoff Pevere in the Toronto Star. But Hannibal Rising is pretty darn awful. This prequel to 1991's The Silence of the Lambs shows how the persecution of Hannibal Lecter's family during World War II led him to become a flesh-eating serial killer. Or something like that. Mostly, this 'œglobe-trotting stinker of a movie' is a parade of unintentionally hilarious scenes concerning bloodthirsty Nazis, sword-wielding Japanese, and other ethnic stereotypes. Hannibal Rising's certainly vastly inferior to The Silence of the Lambs, said Peter Hartlaub in the San Francisco Chronicle. But then 'œso is almost every horror film or thriller that has come out since 1991.' On its own terms, the film isn't so bad. Director Peter Webber gives it a beautifully creepy look. If it fails to horrify, blame Gaspard Ulliel, the young actor completely miscast as the psychopath so memorably embodied by Anthony Hopkins. No, blame Freud, said Sam Adams in the Los Angeles Times. Hannibal Rising psychoanalyzes all the mystery out of its mysterious antihero. It's hard to fear a man you find pathetic, or even laughable. 'œThe thrill of The Silence of the Lambs is watching Hopkins do a tap-dance on the edge of self-parody.' Hannibal Rising topples over the edge.
Rating: R
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