Hannibal Rising
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: February 9, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
35
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
12
Negative:
14
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Film ThreatMark Bell
This is essentially a by-the-numbers revenge film with some attempts at deeper characterization. The difference between this film and, say, "Batman Begins" is that Bruce Wayne, upon finding the tormentors of his youth, never tried to kill and eat them. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's a handsome film, but the pace is continually gummy and the set-ups stiff and artificial. Most crucially, nothing in it vanquishes the sensation that we're being sold something superfluous -- like a service contract for a carton of eggs. Read full review
50
VarietyDennis Harvey
This upmarket slasher is a well-produced but slow-moving thriller that never quite roars to life. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Most of the movie makes too much sense and is no fun at Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
What Hannibal Rising is, mostly, is a hoot. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJim Ridley
This comically fastidious telling of the Hannibal Lecter origin story completes the extreme makeover of grindhouse fare that "The Silence of the Lambs" started 15 years ago. Meaning: Respectable audiences who wouldn't be caught dead at a (sniff!) horror movie still want severed heads; they just want the bloody meal served on Royal Dalton china. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Thomas Harris adapted his own bestseller and Peter Webber, who previously directed "Girl with a Pearl Earring," had the unenviable task of trying to give this glop, which is too gruesome to be campy, a high gloss. It should be called Man With a Severed Head. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Director Peter Webber can't do much about what's missing from the story: a soul or a sense of purpose. Read full review
40
EmpireKim Newman
Gong Li is welcome as Hannibal's Japanese aunt-in-law/mentor, Gaspard Ulliel isn't a bad young Lecter and Webber's direction is intermittently classy -- but this is a footnote rather than a film. Read full review
40
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The movie streamlines much of Harris's book. It's a shame, because it results in the movie's fundamental flaw -- the one-dimensionality of Hannibal. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Ulliel, the meek missing soldier in "A Very Long Engagement," makes such a tedious Lecter that this quickly becomes a chore, though Dominic West ("The Wire") is good as a French detective on the madman's trail. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Hannibal Rising is basically a Steven Seagal vigilante movie with a hero who eats the people he kills. At least it's ecofriendly. Read full review
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