HANNIBAL
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Distributed by: MGM

Date: 2/13/01
By: Rice

    When Silence of the Lambs swept the nation (and the Oscars) a decade ago, Anthony Hopkins's character Hannibal Lecter became an icon of the cinematic world. I admit I only saw SotL a few months ago, and was blown away by it. The sequel, appropriately named after the series's most popular character Hannibal, is a complete and utter let down to fans of the original.

    FYI, I just recently found out that there's actually a prequel to SotL, called Manhunter. It was directed by Michael Mann, and Lecter was played by Brian Cox. The word is that it's just as good as SotL, and there are even rumors floating around that Hopkins is interested in its remaking, this time he assumes the Hannibal character.

He's baaaaack!

    This section's for those that missed the brilliant prequel to Hannibal, so if you're not interested in a recap of SotL, skip down a few paragraphs.

    FBI agent in training Clarice Starling has been appointed by her superior to question the infamous psychiatrist Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter in maximum security prison where he's serving consecutive life sentences. You see, there's another psychopath on the loose, coined Buffalo Bill by the media. Starling's job was to try to pry into the mad doctor's head and see if she can get some insight on how to catch Buffalo Bill.

    The famous phrase "Do not let him inside your head" obviously went in one ear and out the other for Starling as she and Dr. Lecter engaged in quid pro quo conversations where they would trade info. She would tell him about her life and her history while he would drop hints on who Buffalo Bill was. Their sometimes heated and passionate arguments where they would match wits is what vaulted into the Oscars.

Gruesome scene, this one is.

    Eventually, Hannibal escaped via an extremely gruesome procedure where he cut off the face of a security officer, used it as a mask, and left in a Hospital van in which he later confiscated (guess how?). Agent Starling then went forward by herself and hunted down Buffalo Bill in a tense climax that left me chewing on my nails. In the closing scene, she graduated from the FBI academy and got a congratulatory call from none other than Dr. Lecter.......... *Cue music*

    Ten years later, Agent Starling's a grizzled veteran of FBI stings, but still can't get no respect from those men at the Bureau. Meanwhile, a fux0red quazillionaire victim of Dr. Lecter is obsessed about getting revenge. One thing leads to another and then somehow, we meet Hannibal Lecter again, this time enjoying life in Italy.

    The script (based on the Thomas Harris novel of the same name) is by far and away the worst part of the movie. It's confusing, jumping from one place to another, showing us scenes that don't really make much sense. Why does Starling end up on Lecter's trail? Why does she relentlessly pursue him, seemingly without a cause? Sure, the movie gives us reasons, but they seem half baked and not very believable. While Silence of the Lambs was a psychological crime thriller at its best, Hannibal is nothing but an excuse to be as grand and gory as possible.

Julianne Moore does an amicable job replacing Jodie Foster.

    Of the superstar cast that made up SotL, only Anthony Hopkins returns as his role of Hannibal, and his performance is one of the few bright spots of the movie. Julianne Moore pinch hits for Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling, and puts up a valient effort, but in the end, she's blindsided more by how weakly her character is written than of her performance. Ridley Scott's directing can be summed up in one word: grand. With lush settings like Italy, and massive country side mansions, it feels like he's filming Gladiator all over again. It's not bad, but it could've been appreciated a lot more if the damn storyline (sorry for reiterating it again) was better.

    In SotL, what made us as an audience so fascinated by Hannibal Lecter is his cold blooded darkside mixed in with his weird sense of justice. He was like a volitile chemical combination, liable to explode and eat your liver with some fava beans and a chianti at any given second if you piss him off. He was just so calm and calculating, not to mention brilliant.

Hannibal on the loose. Not a good thing.

    In Hannibal, we lose that fear of him, that nervous giggle his character draws from us whenever he smiles and purrs "Goody goody". This time, we know that despite Agent Starling's dedication in hunting him down, he'll never hurt her, which is the most evident at the end. The people he kills, instead, are portrayed as sinners, and he's doing divine justice a favor in spilling their bowels. Hannibal becomes a protagonist, even a tragic figure that we sympathize with because he'll always be on the FBI most wanted list. His evil aura and constant threat to slaughter anyone that we've come to be fascinated with is gone in this movie.

    This past weekend, Hannibal broke the record for being the biggest R-rated opener in history. Too bad its shoddy script failed to impress many, judging by the viewer feedbacks I've read online. The movie was barely suspensful, its subplots were unconvincing and seemed unnecessary, Agent Starling's character is cliche'd and watered down, and its story didn't connect very well. Most importantly, it didn't even come close to living up to its predecessor.

Looks like he's balding a bit. Eating too much human liver can do that to a man, I heard.

Grade: C
-- Poorly written script (or in this case, novel). Clarice's character is paper thin. Hopkins's performance is golden, but can't save the movie.

Babe-o-meter: F
-- Looks wise, Jodie Foster's a notch above Julianne Moore in my book.