Hannibal Rising

Honestly, I thought this one would be an early frontrunner for worst of 2007. Another Hannibal Lecter movie arriving with little fanfare had me thinking it would be a total waste of time. Truth be told, director Peter Webber has made a very good-looking, ridiculous, unnecessary movie that is far from terrible but still not successful. The film shows the origins of the cannibal serial killer formerly played by Anthony Hopkins, and played here by Gaspard Ulliel. The movie’s failures are mostly due to a terrible screenplay by Thomas Harris. While Harris has written all of the Lecter novels, this is his first crack at writing a screenplay. Its lousiness is proof that the author’s gravy train has lost all sense of creativity. Lecter is an all-time great horror villain, and part of his creepiness was the mystery behind his motives. A film that tries to say he became a cannibal because he once (accidentally) ate a family member is just ludicrous.