Hannibal Rising

[Hannibal Rising] shows us the death of a little boy, and the birth of a monster, but at no point does it make us want to look over our shoulder.

In a nutshell, it's all about the hideous ways of killing, flesh-pounding images, slain heads, blood and gore.

Thomas Harris is now hoodwinked by his creation's faux pedigree. He's scripted him a ridiculously Eurotrashy upbringing, one so silly, it'll remind you of Dr. Evil's memory-tripping: "Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons..."

Hannibal Rising is basically a Steven Seagal vigilante movie with a hero who eats the people he kills. At least it's ecofriendly.

In the finest tradition of TV newsmagazines, Hannibal Lecter's penchant for serial murder turns out to be the result of a traumatic childhood.

Routine, boring, and typical...

Hannibal Rising? More like Hannibal Risible in this truly infantile film that conceives of Hannibal Lector as a superhero in his own origin flick. This tacky, hackneyed idea finds a tacky and hackneyed grammar to boot.

[Hannibal Rising] is a handsome and involving macabre drama, with a pathos that tempers the horror-movie shocks.

The guy's about as intimidating as a mildly irritated kitten, and that certainly doesn't up the creep factor.