In Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, a young Hannibal watches as his parents violently die, leaving his young sister in his care. Alone and without any means of support, he is forced to live in a Soviet orphanage. He flees to Paris to find his uncle has died but his Japanese widow, Lady Murasaki (Gong Li) welcomes him. Even her kindness and love cannot soothe the nightmares and sorrows that plague him.

Let's face it. Whenever we talk of the criminal genius, Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter always springs to mind. Hopkins has made Hannibal into such a deliciously enigmatic 'gentleman serial killer' that he is etched in our minds as the iconic villain. Why, Hopkins even upstaged poor Jodie Foster in "Silence Of The Lambs" - and spawned two sequels, "Hannibal" (2001) and "Red Dragon (2002).

Now, here is a movie about Hannibal Lecter WITHOUT Hopkins - and you can figure out what it is up against, especially the huge audience expectations it has to fulfil. Granted that "Hannibal Rising" is an 'origin story' about Hannibal's childhood and his formative years, Hopkins could not have taken on the role even if the producers had wanted him to. Expectedly, this effort by Peter Webber can only go down the way of 'Limbo Rock' (how low can you go?) - especially with a wooden Gaspard Ulliel in the title role...

The movie opens promisingly with the Lecter family getting caught in the war in Eastern Europe in 1944. Young Hannibal (Aaron Thomas) and his sister Mischa (Helena Lia Tachovska) watch helplessly as their parents are killed in a battle between a Nazi air-plane and a Russian tank. Later, the siblings are captured by a gang of vicious Lithuanian looters who decide to have Mischa for dinner. Of course, these events traumatise the boy, and eight years later, when Hannibal (Ulliel) goes to Paris to live with his uncle's widow, Lady Murasaki (Gong Li), he develops a taste for blood and revenge. In a way, Murasaki helps to hone his 'carving skills' - teaching him the use of her samurai sword and the Japanese tradition of chopping off heads of the enemies.

From here on "Hannibal Rising" starts sinking into cheap slasher territory that not only demystifies the Lecter legend, but also turns it into a laughing stock. First off is the head of the local butcher who has racially insulted Murasaki. At this point, our 'hero' has not yet developed the taste of Chianti to go with human meat, but not to worry. There are lots more to come - as Hannibal goes after each of the Lithuanian thugs who had consumed his sister.

With such a lame script (from the critically-roasted novel by Thomas Harris who also did the screenplay), we would expect a compromise in the cast's performance. No such luck, though. You would get better acting from a ventriloquist's dummy than from Ulliel. Dominic West, who plays the investigating French Inspector Popil, has such pedestrian dialogue that he can do nothing to enhance the action. Thank goodness for Gong Li, who helps to add exotic spice to the proceedings.

Hopkins has made Hannibal into such a charismatic genius that "Hannibal Rising" may present fans of the iconic villain a problem: How to erase such a disappointing movie from their minds so that they can still relish the memory of his exploits. Get themselves sloshed on Chianti and red meat, perhaps?

The movie opens with the Lectors fleeing Lecter Castle as the war in Eastern Europe closes in on them. They flee to the family's hunting lodge in the woods to escape the advancing German troops. A young Hannibal is only steps away from his parents when they are killed, leaving him and his sister Mischa behind. However, Hannibal finds himself faced with an even more horrible fate - setting him up for a life of nightmares, bloodshed and vengeance.

Hannibal is taken back to Lecter Castle by a Soviet tank crew. His home has been converted into a Soviet orphanage. Hannibal is forced to stay at the orphanage until he flees to Paris to find his uncle. Hannibal finds out that his uncle has died but he gets acquainted with his uncle's widow, Lady Murasaki (Gong Li), who welcomes him into her house.

The vengeance streak in Hannibal comes to the fore when he kills a local butcher for insulting Lady Murasaki and him. With his aptitude for science through which Hannibal is accepted into medical school, Hannibal hones his skills and tools and prepares to mete out justice on the war criminals that haunt him night and day. His quest leads him on an insatiable quest for blood and vengeance; a serial killer that was born, not bred.

"Hannibal Rising" is a prequel to "Silence of the Lambs" and the movie dutifully builds up the profile of Hannibal and attributes the development of the monster within Hannibal to what he saw on that fateful day when his sister was cannibalised. The show then takes us through each vengeance as Hannibal plots and executes his victims in a plain, straight-forward sequence. There are no highs or lows as he exacts his vengeance systematically and with nary an evidence for the police to link him to the murders.

After exacting his vengeance on the first two war criminals, viewers can more or less get a feel of what Hannibal will be up to for the rest of the movie. In short, the movie is short on excitement and thrills that the sequels had lavishly dished out. Gong Li as Lady Murasaki, is little more than a fanciful prop who does little to add or subtract from Hannibal's character. The chemistry between Hannibal and Lady Murasaki is also quite unsure and there's little love lost between the two screen leads. The viewer is sometimes left to guess whether the aunt-nephew relationship is at play, or whether the love relationship is driving the two of them at various points in the movie.