Mischa and Hannibal (Gaspard Ulliel), baby brother and sister, are inseparable; it is their love for each other that ties their bond. Their companionship is forever binding, until, with their family, while hiding from the Nazi war machine a twisted set of circumstance sets the pace for a most vicious attack on the future of one Hannibal Lecter for the sworn vengeance for the brutal killing of his baby sister. Years later, we find Hannibal, the teenager, setting up in Paris, and living with his aunt Lady Murasaki Shikibu (Li Gong) and studying at medical school here he finds his forte. Still searching for his sister's murderers, still bitter and still ever hopeful of satisfying his desire for retribution. This chance arrives, and soon we are to learn that for a pound of flesh lost a pound of flesh must be repaid. This is the horrific tale of justice and honour, a young mans growing pains that will have the guilty paying with more than just flesh and bone. This is the up and rising tale of the young Hannibal, prey you do not meet him, for meat you shall be to him. Taste his wrath

Review: We have seen the earlier days of Batman and Darth Vader. Now a film about the beginning of another famous character arrives, telling us how Hannibal `Cannibal' Lector succumbed to the dark side of human nature, and became one of the world's notorious killers. Sadly "Hannibal Rising," which looks like a typical revenge story, wouldn't tell us much about it except that two females played important roles in his younger days.

Not that "Hannibal Rising" is a bad film. The film, which begins with young boy Hannibal's harrowing experiences during the WW2, is competently done as long as its acting, production designs and cinematography are concerned. French Gaspard Ulliel may not be the most credible Hannibal after watching Welsh Anthony Hopkins or Scottish Brian Cox playing the same role, but Ulliel's Hannibal is creepy enough to convince us of his future as `Cannibal' Lector. Rhys Ifans is also great as a ruthless kingpin with sadistic traits...more

"If you think this is one of those bad luck stories about childhood pain then the dark comedy will put an end to that"
Peter Veugelaers: EntertainmentNutz

Red Dragon (2002) and Silence of the Lambs (1991) were straight thrillers/suspensers in the four-part Hannibal movie series based on books by Thomas Harris. Prequel Hannibal Rising follows in the footsteps of Hannibal (2001) as both are black comedies; both films cover much the same territory as each other as well as their penchant for over-the-top gross-out effects.

 The basic joke, accentuated with one-liners and plotting, is how the villain is not so villainous when he’s a victim punishing those who victimised him, and they are going to be hanged by the authorities anyway.

 So, what’s the difference between Hannibal killing them off and the police getting at them? So much for preventive measures. Layered on that, is how inept the police are anyway. It doesn’t make for good social cohesion in practice, but is just and plain an irony here, reflecting injustices in the world.  

 In Hannibal Rising, it is World War II in Lithuania where the young Hannibal Lecter has his childhood incident in a closeted cabin, while all the time it is snowing outside, darkly photographed, relived in his nightmares as a young adult. To get revenge on the perpetrators, the possessed older Hannibal decapitates heads serially, at even seemingly minor slights when in a fish market.

 If you think this is one of those bad luck stories about childhood pain then the dark comedy will put an end to that. This is messed up between the underlining serious (including religious iconography), the comical, the macabre and the cerebral (in this, it will isolate audiences), like one absurdist comedy and not exactly a revenge movie.

 In spite of an elaborate production quality, helmed by second-time director Peter Webber (The Girl with the Pearl Earring), and two solid supporting performances by Gong Li, as Hannibal’s gracious aunt, and Dominic West, the inspector, it is saying nothing new in the series.

Hannibal Rising may be the weakest of the lot
Jeremiah Kipp: Slant Magazine
Hannibal Rising feels as stodgy as a museum case, and it seems so hastily cobbled together one feels vaguely ripped off by the ticket price. The film lacks suspense because we all know the monster-in-the-making is going to get away with it....more

Almost entirely devoid of shock or suspense
Josh Rosenblatt: Austin Chronicle
All the seductiveness is gone from Hannibal, as is the riddle behind his motivation, and what remains is the whining of an adolescent with a taste for human flesh.....more