Good movie but grossly overrated

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

... Firt off, never ever "not" watch a movie because, of ratings. So many times I have found delight in movies that I passed up because of other people. This will be the review you want. This movie got bad ratings because, of acting, drawn out, and because, people felt a classic should not have a prequel..Sorry, they could not be more than wrong about this. This movie has that grotesque "it" factor that any Hannibal movie goer dreams of. Not only that it has war, blood, guts, tells the story in a GREAT pace! You could not ask for a better prequel. The acting that Gaspard Ulliel shows off is one in a million. Just like rain man their could not be a better person to do this film. He is a psychopath, of course he is going to act weird and disturbed. From the opening to the constant nightmares, to the drug induced dreams to over come his flashbacks, and to the revenge of deaths at the hand of a mastermind. Its simply fantastic pace. The dirty grim-my Germany and France scenes are Amazing coming from an American with such movies as Saving Private Ryan or Apocalypse Now... Think of this movie as a war ridden "NO MANS LAND" with a touch of intellectual landscape. Each scene has its stay and not one feels like it is out of touch. The music is rich with the original silence of the lambs and fits again with the landscape of post war living. .. Watch. This. Movie! I cannot say much more about that. Have fun and remember movies are a way for us to escape to be someone we are not just for a few minutes of our lives. Enjoy 9/10 stars!

Just finished watching the Hannibal show and thought I should get into watching the movies in sequence. Hannibal Rising is beautifully shot and shows how Hannibal became Hannibal the cannibal. Would've loved to see an other movie or two during his younger years showing his character develop more. Aaron Thomas did a great job playing the part as well.

I found this movie to be unnecessary the plot is interesting but is executed very poorly and is just boring everything was predictable. I absolutely despised the characters they all seemed life less and generic and forgettable compared to silence of the lambs which had some of the most iconic pop fiction characters. The main problem with this movie is that only the first 20 minutes and the last 30 minutes really matter since the rest is just filler to fill the 2 hour 9 minute screen time the filler is so boring i would rather stare at the DVD cover for 2 hours and 9 minutes. This movie is an absolute disgrace to the masterpiece that was silence of the lambs. I hope with all my heart that this review will save the poor souls who are about to watch this.

It's 1944 Lithuania. Mischa and Hannibal Lecter are the children of aristocratic parents. They abandon their castle as the Russians close in. They're caught in the crossfire as they hide out in their country home and the parents are killed. A local militia working under the Nazis turn to looting for themselves. They come upon the Lecter children and does something horrific. Eight year later, Hannibal is haunted by nightmares of Mischa. He's living back in Lecter Castle which has been turned into a state orphanage. He is bullied but he stabs his bully. He escapes to Paris to live with his aunt Lady Murasaki Shikibu. It's a long journey of revenge against those who killed Mischa.I love the kids. It could have been a great horrifying horror. The first thirty minutes are terrific. The movie insists on moving on and on. The orphanage is another possible chapter but it just rushes forward. Thomas Harris wrote this which just goes to show that being the originator doesn't mean being the best going forward. Gaspard Ulliel is no Anthony Hopkins but then again, nobody is. The story simply grinds down and down. This could have been a great little horror with kiddie Hannibal. It is the law of diminishing marginal utility. The more explaining Harris does about the origin of Hannibal, the less satisfying it becomes.