Hannibal Rising

"This upmarket slasher is a well-produced but slow-moving thriller that never quite roars to life..."

"Silly, slack and unforgivably tedious, Thomas Harris's screenplay is padded with interminable flashbacks and a bombastic score that telegraphs every emotion Hannibal represses. And there are a lot of them..."

"Hannibal Rising isn't a classic, but it's entertaining and a surprisingly fitting addition to the franchise..."

"The story's beginning is in a rush to get to the the killings, which get more and more disgusting..."

"It's all quite a mess, with awkward performances, worse dialogue and a painfully protracted running time conspiring against any chance of enjoyment, even in a so-bad-it's-good guilty pleasure way..."

"Gong Li is welcome as Hannibal's Japanese aunt-in-law/mentor, Gaspard Ulliel isn't a bad young Lecter and Webber's direction is intermittently classy -- but this is a footnote rather than a film..."

"Unfortunately, there's none of the dark humour of The Silence Of The Lambs and the dialogue's often simplistic. Gong Li is a visual treat as Hannibal's particularly beloved aunt, but like Ulliel, her character is a bit thin. A straightforward revenge drama with added gore, Hannibal Rising is worth a watch out of curiosity, but don't expect it to give you deep, probing insights into the psychology of everyone's favourite cannibal..."