Genre
Crime | Thriller
Director
Peter Webber
Country
France | UK | USA
Cast
Gaspard Ulliel, Gong Li, Dominic West, Rhys Ifans, Helena-Lia Tachovska, Kevin McKidd, Richard Brake, Stephen Walters, Ivan Marevich, Charles Maquignon, Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė, Beata Ben Ammar, Pavel Bezdek, Goran Kostić, Robbie Kay, Dennis Ménochet
Storyline
After the death of his parents during World War II, young Hannibal Lecter (Gaspard Ulliel) moves in with his aunt (Gong Li) and begins plotting revenge on the barbarians responsible for his sister's death.
Even though this was just another way for Hollywood to make more money, an origins film on Hannibal Lecter would have definitely been interesting if done in the right manner, and this is not the case, of course.
The writing is a mess, especially the plot. Like the tagline says, it all started with revenge, Hannibal's sister is killed and he wants revenge. But after two hours, a lot of plot holes, and so much nonsense you need a stack of paper to write it all, the film doesn't manage to show a proper transition of Hannibal, from young man looking for revenge to cannibal.
The disgusting script, which was written by writer Thomas Harris, doesn't feature any of the psychological insight of most of the previous entries in the series. To be honest, it kind of portray Hannibal like some sort of sick kid.
Peter Webber's direction is terrible. I am not even sure he knew what he was doing, a little bit like Woody Allen's character in "Hollywood Ending". Only that character was blind. The film completely lacks suspense and tension, but there's plenty of blood. It actually is a bloodbath.
But let's move onto the next point, the cast. First of all, Gaspard Ulliel has none of the charm of Hopkins, and I realize that's much to ask to a young actor, but he doesn't give any justice to the character of Hannibal either. He just grins for the whole thing. Then there is Gong Li plays Hannibal's Japanese aunt. This is some of the nonsense I was talking above. But my point here is Gong Li is Chinese. And even though many think they look the same, they don't. And what did she do to deserve this film? Dominic West gives a decent performance, but the reason why he even signed up for this, a mystery.
Opinion
After a useless remake - "Red Dragon" - here it is a useless prequel of "Manhunter". Unfortunately, "Hannibal Rising" isn't only a useless prequel, but it also is a horrific film as well as a shame for the Hannibal Lecter series.Even though this was just another way for Hollywood to make more money, an origins film on Hannibal Lecter would have definitely been interesting if done in the right manner, and this is not the case, of course.
The writing is a mess, especially the plot. Like the tagline says, it all started with revenge, Hannibal's sister is killed and he wants revenge. But after two hours, a lot of plot holes, and so much nonsense you need a stack of paper to write it all, the film doesn't manage to show a proper transition of Hannibal, from young man looking for revenge to cannibal.The disgusting script, which was written by writer Thomas Harris, doesn't feature any of the psychological insight of most of the previous entries in the series. To be honest, it kind of portray Hannibal like some sort of sick kid.
Peter Webber's direction is terrible. I am not even sure he knew what he was doing, a little bit like Woody Allen's character in "Hollywood Ending". Only that character was blind. The film completely lacks suspense and tension, but there's plenty of blood. It actually is a bloodbath.
But let's move onto the next point, the cast. First of all, Gaspard Ulliel has none of the charm of Hopkins, and I realize that's much to ask to a young actor, but he doesn't give any justice to the character of Hannibal either. He just grins for the whole thing. Then there is Gong Li plays Hannibal's Japanese aunt. This is some of the nonsense I was talking above. But my point here is Gong Li is Chinese. And even though many think they look the same, they don't. And what did she do to deserve this film? Dominic West gives a decent performance, but the reason why he even signed up for this, a mystery.
This movie is so terrible on every level. The lead actor is all sorts of suckiness and the writing is atrocious. As for Gong Li, Hollywood using Japanese and Chinese actors interchangeably is a pet peeve of mine, too. I'm guessing performers go along because it's better to be working than not. Just a guess. As for Dominic West, I imagine he saw it as a opportunity to hit it big since there was a December amount of hype surrounding the production/release of this movie. I could be completely wrong about that. Even if I am, this would still be a horrendous movie.
ReplyDelete