Hannibal

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman (uncredited)
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
2001

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The sequel to The Silence of the Lambs picks up ten years later as Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lector (Anthony Hopkins) is living a quiet life in Florence. When FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore, replacing Jodie Foster) gets into some trouble over a controversial drug raid, she learns that Dr. Lecter has stepped out of the shadows, and back into the spotlight. Now, she must track the very man who helped her win fame ten years earlier. However, this time, the stakes are much, much higher.

Review:

Tim: The much-anticipated sequel to 1991's thrilling The Silence of the Lambs is, unfortunately, a disappointment. Now, I know there will be many people who disagree with me, but I feel the reason behind that is because so many people so loved the first film, that saying anything bad about the second is almost heresy. I am sorry to say that the truth is, this movie is not that great at all.

Now, standing alone, Hannibal might fend for itself a little better, but it is impossible not to compare it to the original from which it came. The Silence of the Lambs was an excellent film, and Hannibal does not measure up in the least.

The first hour of the film is a despicable waste of time. The film concentrates far too much on an incredibly uninteresting supporting character of an Italian police chief. The character is a pure waste of film, and I cannot comprehend why so much time is spent on him. Furthermore, the early and middle stages of the film did not devote nearly enough time to the two most important characters, those being Lecter and Starling. At one point, I asked someone if Julianne Moore actually was in the film, because it seemed like a good half hour had passed since she appeared at all.

That brings me to the next point. No one could replace Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling, and I do give Moore credit for giving a tremendous attempt. Her Clarice was much stronger than the one we saw ten years ago- which is perfectly fine. My problem was that in the early stages, Moore overplays the new, stronger Clarice, making her seem silly, and as if she's saying, "Look everyone! I am a stronger, tougher Clarice than you remember!" Now, this is all perfectly fine, but there should have been a little more intelligence and subtlety in how they went about showing her.

Anthony Hopkins is excellent as Hannibal Lecter, but no where close to the performance in 1991. It takes the entire film for Lecter to truly get interesting, and as soon as he does, the film ends. While the early stages of the film do present some room for Hopkins to work, it felt as if he was muffled, and never really given a chance to show the combination of intelligence and insanity that is Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

The end of the film is by far the best stage of the film, but also the most gruesome. I enjoy a strongly gruesome scene as much as the next guy, as long as it is properly done. The film displays two gruesome scenes that were simply careless and not thought out attempts to add a gruesome factor to the film. It felt as if someone had said, "Hey, this film needs to be gross," so the producers slapped down a sloppy scene filled with gore. While the disgusting scene I mention (trust me, you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it) is careless and features simply needless gore, it also happens to be the most exciting scene in the movie.

The first hour and a half of Hannibal is beyond mediocre. I would have loved to rip this film apart even more so then I did, however, the film composes itself, and gives a startling and Silence of the Lambs-worthy ending. While Starling never truly develops, Hopkins as Lecter is at his best(worst?), and it provides for some chilling entertainment.

My advice is that if you loved The Silence of the Lambs, then seeing this movie wouldn't hurt too much. Simply prepare yourself for the blow you will get from disappointment.

The aspect of this film that makes me sad is that without The Silence of the Lambs, this film would have been rated much higher. However, when you follow a thrilling, chilling classic like this film did, then you have a certain obligation to rise higher than a normal film would. Hannibal is NOT a terrible movie, but it is definitely not worthy of being called the sequel to The Silence of the Lambs. I hate to say it, but it's true.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Silence of the Lambs, The Stand, The Edge, Sphere