I avoided this movie for years. After seeing "Hannibal" I had no interest in seeing how he became the monster he was. Alas, an Amazon Prime membership and down time at work drove me to "Hannibal Rising." I learned that I have a far greater affinity for young Hannibal than old Hannibal. Young Hannibal grew up in WW2 Europe. He went from affluence to fighting for his life due to the war. One particularly tragic event forever changed him.

The actor chosen for Hannibal (Gaspard Ulliel) was excellent. He even had a sinister looking face the way the corners of his mouth curve upward in a Joker-esque manner made him able to sneer with ease. His acting left a little to be desired as his accent (or simply his manner of speaking) seemed forced. Also there was the dialog between him and Lady Murasaki (Li Gong). They constantly spoke in hushed romantic tones as if every word they exchanged was secretive or passionate. It came off as pretentious and grandiose as though they were the two most important or two most passionate people in the world.

If we were to boil it all down, "Hannibal Rising" was a revenge story. Some people are fueled by love, some by hate, others by both. Hannibal was definitely fueled by both and it was his inability or unwillingness to not cross the line that made him Hannibal the cannibal.

This is one of my rare 8 (and above) films. I had no idea that the screen play was also written by the author of the book. At least no one can yell, "Hey, the screenwriter didn't convey the message of the author!"

I thought this film did a fairly good job of showing Hannibal Lecter's auspicious beginning. It could've been better, it could've been worse; doesn't matter. Psychologists have long spent many hours trying to decipher what makes madmen tick and rarely ever come to a conclusion. At best, it's always guesswork.

I think this movie set on about what it was trying to do - present a backstory to "Silence Of The Lambs." I thought the war scenes were pretty well done. The studio could've been scant in this department, but they weren't. It was well presented. My only gripe is the fantastic and fabulous Gong Li was grossly underused in this film. Her martial arts skills are second to none but was never utilized here. Too bad. Still, a worthy entry to the "Silence Of The Lambs" canon.