Hannibal Rising

The diminishing returns of the Hannibal Lecter franchise falls to its nadir in the needless prequel "Hannibal Rising," the banal origin of our favorite cannibal sophisticate. Generically handsome yet visually inert, it's not just a bad film -- it's downright dull. Peter Webber's direction is as plodding and obvious as the pedestrian script, adapted by novelist Thomas Harris himself. Gaspard Ulliel plays the sociopath-in-training with a disaffected smirk in a failed effort to appear enigmatic and calculating. There isn't a surprise to be had in this excruciatingly long would-be thriller, especially not the "shocker" revelation that "explains" Lecter's obsessive revenge and ritualistic cannibalism. Where "Manhunter" and "Silence of the Lambs" became electrified by the smart, resonant dialogue and the psychological artillery of Lector's mind games, "Hannibal Rising" is all cheap supermarket-rack psychology. Gong Li briefly brings the film to life as the conflicted Lady Murasaki Shikibu, Lecter's last living relative (his aunt by marriage) and a fellow orphan of the war, while Dominic West plays Inspector Popil, ostensibly on hand to match wits with Lecter in a film absent of wit. Rhys Ifans and Kevin McKidd co-star as the men who made Lecter what he is. The DVD is available in the original theatrical version and extended unrated edition with approximately 12 minutes of added footage.

Both editions feature commentary with director Peter Webber and producer Martha De Laurentiis (recorded separately and edited together), and Webber identifies the added scenes in the unrated edition for the viewer. There's also the obligatory 16-minute making-of featurette and a more interesting seven-minute guided tour of the film's design and look with the production designer. Also includes four easily expendable deleted scenes and one extended scene, about four minutes in total, with optional commentary by Webber. Author and screenwriter Thomas Harris is conspicuously absent from all supplements although he's referenced throughout.