After the death of his parents during World War II, young Hannibal Lecter moves in with his beautiful aunt and begins plotting revenge on the barbarians responsible for his sister’s death.
Well here we are, the last film of the Hannibal series, and honestly, it’s a shame the film franchise ended on such a weak film, it’s not that the film is that bad but it is the weakest of the series.
When I first heard about this film I wasn’t to sure what to expect, being another prequel in a short franchise, I felt that it was a film that not needed. I have a love/hate relationship when it comes to prequels, as much as they can be enjoyable I feel it can also take away a-lot of the mystique from certain characters, which is never a good thing.
The guy who plays Hannibal was a weird casting choice, Gaspard Ulliel, a french actor/model who I’d never heard of before (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing) and haven’t heard of or seen in anything else since. He does play a good Hannibal, but you just get the sense he’s trying too hard.
The rest of the casting wasn’t to good, apart from Rhys Ifans, who I’ve always felt is an under-rated actor. You feel that the cast are easily disposable. Also the dialogue wasn’t the strongest either, which is a shame compared to what we’ve had before. I knew this wasn’t going to be the next “Silence Of The Lambs”, but I did expect more than what we saw.
I’m not against this film because there’s no Anthony Hopkins or any other weak excuse like it, I just felt this film was unnecessary and it reeked of a last cash in. As with the case with many horror franchises, this film was one that should’ve stopped, always one film too far.
This is a film that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone really, it’s only worth a watch if you want to watch the whole series, but if you miss it, you’re not missing anything so don’t worry.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
- Actors screen tested for the role of Hannibal include: Hayden Christensen, Macaulay Culkin, Hugh Dancy, Rupert Friend, Dominic Cooper,Tom Sturridge, and Tom Payne.
- Thomas Newman was considered as a possible composer for this film.
- A fake severed head and a rubber penis were stolen from the set.
- While Lecter injects himself with sodium thiopental, he playsJ ohann Sebastian Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” in the background, the same music that plays during his escape in The Silence Of The Lambs The recording was made in 1955 by Glenn Gould. In the other movies featuring Hannibal Lecter, Gould’s 1981 recording is used.
- “Lady Murasaki” (Shikibu Murasaki) is actually the name of an 11th-century Japanese novelist. Her “The Tale of the Genji” is regarded as a masterpiece of Japanese literature.
