10 Movie Franchises Where The Villain Became A Hero
4. Hannibal - Hannibal Rising
Hey Hannibal fans, do you want to explore the origins of your favourite flesh eater and completely destroy his mystique? You don’t? Oh, you might want to skip Hannibal Rising then. Yes, despite Anthony Hopkins swearing off the part following Red Dragon – wise man – the studio decided there were still more pennies to squeeze.
They squeezed real hard with Rising, which casts Hannibal as a vengeful young man looking to avenge his sister’s brutal death. He hunts down the soldiers who killed and ate her, and it’s basically a vigilante story where a bad man hunts and kills even worse men. Along the way, he also takes a liking to eating their flesh, because revenge is a hungry business.
Hannibal Rising sucks for many reasons, but making Lector heroic is the least of its issues. It destroys the mystery of the character, the revenge story is contrived and the new lead actor isn’t fit to refill Anthony Hopkins' glass of chianti.
Speaking of ruining Mystique...