"Hannibal" falling

There are so many ways to describe "Hannibal Rising." Brutal. Bloody. Cruel. Innovative, in some ways, and disturbing in all the rest.

But there is one word that sums it all up perfectly. It's a word that operates on many levels, especially where Hannibal Lecter, the infamous serial killer and cannibal from earlier movies, like "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal," is concerned.

Yum.

It could refer to Hannibal Lecter's special taste for human flesh — yum, yum. It could refer to the wickedly and strangely attractive French actor who plays Hannibal in this version of the story, Gaspard Ulliel — yum. Or it could simply refer to Hannibal's reaction to finding a large, fresh fish in the bag of a man who he has just brutally slaughtered: "Yum."

The prequel to the other Hannibal flicks, "Hannibal Rising," is the story of how Hannibal became the notorious killer so many people know today. At the end of World War II, Hannibal Lecter lived with his family in Lithuania — his parents were killed in the war, leaving him and his beloved younger sister, Mischa (Helena Lia Tachovska), alone to fend for themselves. A group of Nazis descended upon the children, eventually deciding to kill and eat Mischa in order to survive the winter. This, of course, scarred poor Hannibal for life.

Ten years later, Hannibal makes his way to his uncle's house in Germany. His uncle, who died a year ago, left the house to his wife, the beautiful Lady Murasaki Shikibu (Li Gong). She takes Hannibal in, teaching him about armed combat (which she knows, for some reason), while her cook teaches him about the better points of fine cuisine ("The cheeks of the fish are the most delectable part. This is so for most creatures."). Being an exceedingly intelligent man, Hannibal gets into medical school in France, where he and his aunt move.

But Hannibal has never forgotten Mischa, so he decides to set out to find and destroy the men who killed and ate her. This is where the movie begins to fail. Before this point, it stood a good chance of being more of a psychological story, in the vein of "The Silence of the Lambs," but when Hannibal strangles the first man with a rope and a horse (seriously, don't ask), it becomes more a slasher flick than a smart thriller.

It's a credit to the writers, director Peter Webber and Ulliel that the audience continues to sympathize with Hannibal throughout most of the movie, even when he's crushing people to death with boats or jabbing swords through their heads. The use of frequent flashbacks keeps Mischa onscreen and in the audience's heads. Though Hannibal may do some fairly horrific things, it is impossible to forget the little girl's chubby face and blonde hair, just as Hannibal is unable to forget her.

But despite this, and through no fault of his own, Ulliel is one of the problems with the movie. There's no doubt that he is channeling the physical aspect that Anthony Hopkins put into his older version of the cannibal, but there's little going on underneath the pleasant, slightly twisted smile and cold eyes. The beauty of Hopkins' take on the character was that in his hands, the cannibal seemed incredibly refined and polite and cultured — even when he was hacking someone apart, he played classical music in the background. Yet there was always something under the surface, that little hint of craziness in his dead eyes. Ulliel, though he tries, just cannot match Hopkins' performance.

There aren't many chances in this movie for Hannibal to show what a brilliant man he is. Sure, he's at medical school, but that's less of a place for character development than it is a backdrop for one of the more disturbing murder sequences (pool of floating corpses, anyone?). Ulliel's Hannibal spends most of his time either participating in cruel butchery or in awkward and eyebrow-raising sexual tension with his aunt.

That right there is another aspect of the film that makes it fall flat. Hannibal Lecter is not a character that many people fantasize over — mostly because, before now, he was played by Hopkins, who isn't exactly Johnny Depp. But it's more than that — he's just not a romantic hero, even when being played by the considerably younger and more attractive Ulliel. And even while Li Gong is a woman who many men doubtless dream about, and who many women would happily go gay for, the relationship between her and Ulliel is so...slimy. Think Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, except that Ashton Kutcher keeps cutting people to pieces and making kebabs of them (which is not totally implausible).

"Hannibal Rising" is definitely not a date movie. It's not a movie to which you want to take your five-year-old sister. It's not a movie that you want to watch before hitting up All-Beef Night at your favorite restaurant, because after seeing this movie you may be tempted to hop on the Vegan train. It is a movie that you watch with your friends and a pile of celery sticks for snacks — a diet movie, if you will.

"Hannibal Rising" (117 minutes) is rated R for strong grisly violent content and some language and sexual references