Hannibal Review
by Brandon Herring (HalloweenFan2K AT aol DOT com)February 18th, 2001
Hannibal * * * 1/2 out of * * * *
Starring: Sir Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Ray Liotta, Giancarlo Giannini, Ennio Coltorti, Francesca Neri, Gary Oldman.
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Running Time: 131 Minutes
Rated R: graphic violence, gore, language.
I was eight years old in 1991. I remember watching some Hollywood news show with my parents and the trailer for "Silence of the Lambs" appeared on there. I grabbed on to my Mom, as she looked down at me and smiled. I remember wanting to see the movie so badly, and hearing so many good things about it. However being eight years old my Mom would never let it happen, then her and my dad rented it and she said she couldn't even go downstairs to our basement to do the laundry it scared her so much. By this time I was really enthused, and finally seven years later when I was fifteen I finally sat down and watched "Silence of the Lambs" and since then it has been one of my favorite movies.
A few years ago Thomas Harris wrote a sequel to "Silence of the Lambs" to which he also wrote, he entitled it "Hannibal" and it furthered the adventures of the doctor on the loose in Italy. I picked it up and read it and remember it being a total page-turner, very intense and well written. The ending however severely disappointed me but I was still happy that I had read the book. Around two years after the book was written, a big screen adaptation was made, and even with the absence of Jodie Foster "Hannibal" is still a success, but in more ways than one.
The film opens set ten years later, with an intense sequence to which Agent Clarice Starling and her companions go to a fish market to find a woman who is in drug dealing. A shoot-out occurs, and since the woman is holding a baby Starling does not want anyone to shoot this woman, however when the woman pulls out a Mac 10 on her, she shoots her in the chest splattering HIV positive blood all over the baby. Afterwards pictures are released showing Starling shooting this woman with a baby in her arms, and not showing the gun, Starling is relieved of her duties as an FBI agent for a while and goes out living her life as a normal person.
Still in her life tracking down her longtime nemesis Dr. Hannibal Lector, she is asked by a multimillionaire Mason Verger (Gary Oldman who is uncredited) whose face was horribly disfigured after a little run into with the Dr. Lector himself, Verger wants his revenge and wants Starling to find him for him. He wants to use Starling as the bait, for he knows the feeling Lector has for Starling. We then go to Italy and meet Rinaldo Pazzi (Giancarlo Giannini) who is a cop, trying to figure out the strange disappearance of a certain doctor's patient. This doctor of course if Lector himself going under a different name.
After Rinaldo finds a picture of Lector on the FBI's ten most wanted list, he finds out that there is a huge reward of $3,000,000 dollars, and he instantly tries to devise a plan to capture Lector. Rinaldo Pazzi however does not realize that the sly, brilliant Dr. Hannibal Lector has devised a little plan of his own, and goes back to America to find Clarice herself and have the biggest reunion of the century leading to a shocking climax that will make your stomach turn, while having your eyes glued to the screen at the same time.
What may be the biggest controversy of all time, is why Jodie Foster didn't return, of course when you watch this movie you can't help but compare Julianne Moore to Jodie Foster in the role as Clarice Starling, but let me be the first to say even though Julianne Moore (who I love and think is the most beautiful woman in the world) she does not come nearly as good to Jodie Foster, but in the role of Clarice she does a damn good job of it. She keeps her attention focused on her costars, her dialogue comes quick and snappy out of her mouth, and she seemly fits the role of Clarice 10 years after coming in contact with Hannibal himself.
Even ten years after he won a Best Actor Oscar for his brilliant yet terrifying performance as "The Cannibal" himself, Anthony Hopkins is fantastic in every scene he is in. In fact he's great in every second of even scene he is in, and he is just as scary and terrifying now as he was then. Since "Hannibal" is mostly his movie, him and Clarice as not together as much as they were in the first film, but the first time they talk in this it was to me a very powerful part, and I found myself holding my breath as they talked. In a role uncredited, Gary Oldman plays underneath all that gruesome make-up a great Mason Verger, and almost brings the character from the book to life. He is creepy, but you almost have to feel sorry for him for the life he lives in.
Ridley Scott's beautiful direction and the cinematography add much depth to "Hannibal" as well. It's beautifully shot with fantastic camera angles and great set direction. Not to mention the fact that half the film was shot in Italy, this is a very beautiful film without a doubt. Even with all these plusses "Hannibal" has a couple minuses, the gore quotient in the film is at times unnecessary and I will not ruin it, but a scene towards the end was so graphic and disgusting that I had to actually cover my eyes while peeking through, something I don't do much. The other minus was that the middle of the film for about 40 minutes falls flat, and gets extremely boring while Rinaldo is tracking down Hannibal.
The ending climax was to me very intense, and it had my heart racing fast. The face to face confrontation of Clarice and Hannibal was very powerful and riveting to the end. "Hannibal" is a movie that even though it isn't even as close to being as good as "Silence of the Lambs", it still stands a great movie, with some great acting, beautiful photography and a great story.
Reviewed by Brandon Herring 2-9-01
http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Brandon+Herring
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